BALTIMORE, MD – A defensive slugfest for the majority of the night, the Chiefs 13-10 lead snowballed into a lopsided loss when the Ravens hung up 21 unanswered points in the final eight minutes of action.
In the regular season, Friday night would have been a monumental collapse. In the preseason, 21 fourth quarter points in less than an eight-minute span is a frustrating byproduct of young players making a push for one of the final spaces on the active roster, or even practice squad.
Baltimore’s 31-13 win pushes the Chiefs to 0-2 midway through the preseason; familiar territory for a team that hasn’t won more than two preseason games since 2003 (and that’s when the Chiefs played a five game slate with the Hall of Fame Game).
A loss like Friday’s is never easy to watch, but the Chiefs got far more out of their second exhibition game than they did their first. Let’s revisit our pre-game focus areas to see how the Chiefs did.
Original pre-game text is italics with post-game review in bold.
Baltimore Take Five
1) Front Line Performance
We don’t know how long the Chiefs plan on playing their starters, but we know it will be more than last week. Matt Cassel
is likely to attempt a pass and Jamaal Charles will probably get his hands on the football. Defensively, we’re likely to see many of the starters make their preseason debut as well.
In Baltimore, Ravens starters played several series in the exhibition opener and are expected to do so once again Friday night.
Whether it’s for 15 plays or for an entire quarter, we’re expecting to see front line players from both teams square off against one another. Even with diluted playbooks, Friday night provides an excellent preseason measuring stick for the Chiefs.
How will the Chiefs top performers fare against the Ravens’ best? Have the Chiefs been able to close the gap on the team that ended their 2010 season?
We should get our first real taste of where the Chiefs progress towards September 11th stands.
With the majority of starters playing into the second quarter, the Chiefs gave us a better preview of what 2011 might look like. For now, it appears that the defense is ahead of the offense.
The Chiefs defensive unit carried the momentum of an impressive string of training camp practices into M&T Bank Stadium Friday night. It looked more like a late-December grinder than it did a mild September evening.
Going against Kansas City’s first-team defense, the Ravens were held out of the end zone and punted three times in four series. Baltimore’s lone score came on a 49-yard Billy Cundiff field goal and the Ravens didn’t see pay dirt until late in second quarter when the their first-teamers drove 81 yards in six plays against the Chiefs second-team defense.
Offensively, the Chiefs first-teamers were unable to muster much consistency. It wasn’t until Tyler Palko and the second-team offense operated out of hurry-up mode that Kansas City sustained a drive.
Matt Cassel completed less than half of his pass attempts, while Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles averaged just 3.0 yards per carry.
2) Eye On The Line
The first question involves the overall health of Kansas City’s offensive tackles. How many will be playing against the Ravens?
Jared Gaither and Ryan O’Callaghan both missed the Chiefs final practice in St. Joseph, while Barry Richardson was forced to leave the workout early. That’s three tackles with starting experience sitting on the sideline as the Chiefs broke training camp. Branden Albert is the only other tackle on the roster with any game experience.
Enter the Chiefs rookie free agents.
When Richardson excited, undrafted rookie Butch Lewis stepped in to take the remainder of first-team snaps at right tackle. Whether or not Lewis sees extended action remains to be seen, but Kansas City’s young offensive lineman all need to show significant progress from their first-week performance.
Matt Cassel may not have attempted a pass against the Bucs, but a botched snap with Darryl Harris still setup an easy Tampa Bay touchdown. Once the second-and-third units entered the game, backup QBs Tyler Palko and Ricky Stanzi faced heavy pressure nearly every time they dropped back.
Despite some impressive escape routes, Chiefs quarterbacks were sacked six times. One of those takedowns resulted in a safety.
On the injury front, Barry Richardson was able to make the start at right tackle while Jared Gaither and Ryan O’Callaghan watched the game in street clothes.
The Chiefs went through a first-half scare when starting left tackle Branden Albert lay injured with an apparent leg injury on the M&T Stadium turf. Trainers tended to Albert for several minutes before the three-year starter was able to leave the field on his own power. Crisis averted.
When Albert exited, rookie free agent Butch Lewis entered the game earlier than expected. He’d play multiple positions on the offensive line throughout the night and, at this point, is getting more looks than any other undrafted player on Kansas City’s offensive front.
Overall, line play improved dramatically from the preseason opener. Matt Cassel was sacked once and Tyler Palko avoided any takedowns – although it looked like a long night was in store for reserve QBs when Palko was sacked and fumbled inside the Chiefs own five-yard line. The play was challenged and later overturned to an incomplete pass.
Working with the third-team offense throughout the fourth quarter, Ricky Stanzi once again faced heavy pressure and was sacked four times. To the line’s credit, Baltimore was able to pin their ears back after Jackie Battle limped off the field with what appeared to be a foot/ankle injury and left Kansas City no real rushing threat in the fourth quarter.
Battle’s absence forced Kansas City to shift fullback Mike Cox to the tailback role. A blocking back, Cox owns just four carries for three yards in 39 NFL games.
3) Get Your Return Men Ready
Baltimore K Billy Cundiff tied the NFL record for touchbacks in a season last year. Move the kickoff line up five yards and prepare for another long night of touchbacks, right?
Wrong.
Cundiff may very well set a new touchback mark in 2011, but Chiefs returners should get a chance to make a few plays Friday night. After Cundiff banged all three of his kickoffs into the end zone in Baltimore’s preseason opener, Ravens Coach John Harbaugh instructed his thunder-footed kicker to place kickoffs higher and shorter against the Chiefs.
Harbaugh’s decision isn’t a reaction to Kansas City’s return personnel. He simply wants Baltimore’s coverage units to get in some preseason work covering kickoffs. Harbaugh even went as far as calling the new kickoff rules “a yawner” – a stance which most fans seem to agree.
Kickoff returners prepare; opportunities to return kicks will be present Friday night.
We were bamboozled!
It looks like John Harbaugh pulled a fast one on everyone, or Billy Cundiff isn’t physically capable of not kicking touchbacks.
Declaring before the game that Baltimore’s kickoff unit would use this game to, you know, actually practice covering kickoffs, Harbaugh saw Cundiff drill four of five kickoffs for unreturnable touchbacks.
Jeremy Horne had finally seen enough and returned kickoff to the 20-yard line after fielding it six yards deep into the end zone. Only when Baltimore switched to a new kicker late in the fourth quarter did a kickoff not bang to the back of the end zone.
4) Rookie Standouts
The Chiefs rookie class received its first dose of NFL football last week. Against Tampa, each of Kansas City’s nine draft picks played extensive snaps and a load of undrafted free agents got on the field as well.
There were some notable debuts. Jalil Brown appeared to be one of the few bright spots in the 25-0 loss, Jerrell Powe’s pursuit of Josh Johnson was a fan favorite and Allen Bailey tallied a sack. But now that the anxiety of strapping on a Chiefs helmet for the first time has passed, who is ready to take the next step?
Which rookie will find the end zone? Who will force a turnover? Who is ready to turn in the first standout performance of the preseason?
This week, we’re looking for rookie difference makers.
Without question, Justin Houston was a difference maker Friday night. Not only did the third-round pick show his promise as a pass rusher, he also created havoc on special teams.
Houston finished the night with a team-high 2.0 sacks and forced a fumble while covering a punt in the first quarter. The Chiefs would convert that turnover into an early 3-0 advantage. His performance offers hope that Houston can be an early-season force despite missing the first week of training camp and an entire off-season program.
Houston’s only glaring error came late in the game when he was unable to corral Ravens backup QB Tyrod Taylor behind the line of scrimmage on a bootleg. What could have been a hat trick of sacks for Houston turned into a five-yard TD run for Taylor that put the game away. The run will also be part of Taylor’s NFL highlight reel.
5) The Backup Quarterbacks
The Chiefs backup quarterback situation remains one of the most discussed topics of the preseason.
Not much has changed since Tyler Palko and Ricky Stanzi posted near-identical stat lines against Tampa Bay. Palko has handled the majority of second-team reps thus far, but neither quarterback has been able to take complete ownership of the No. 2 job.
Will either quarterback be able to differentiate themselves in Baltimore? The Chiefs are giving both plaeyrs a long look this preseason, but the club has yet to rule out bringing in an experienced backup at the position
Palko and Stanzi aren’t just competing against each other. They’re competing against the league’s pool of available quarterbacks as well.
Entering the game midway through the second quarter, Tyler Palko delivered his best performance since joining the Chiefs. He showed poise, efficiency and, most importantly, confidence.
Palko thrived while operating out of the hurry-up offense just before halftime, guiding the Chiefs on a nine-play, 80-yard drive to tie the game 10-10. Palko connected on three of four throws including the eventual touchdown hookup with Terrance Copper. He carried a 133.3 QB rating into intermission and finished the night the best line of any quarterback to take the field.
Palko’s performance came off the heels of a frustrating opener.
“I think anytime you step out on the field, the goal is to score points and move the ball, but sometimes things are out of our control,” Palko said. “We may be missing one assignment here or missing a throw there. It may be a perfect storm of things just not going right, but sometimes you have those days. You go back to the drawing board, look at the tape, and be critical of yourself, and that’s what we did, and I’m sure that’s what we’ll do when we go back, and we’ll see where we can get better.”
Midway through the preseason, Palko has completed 12-of-21 passes (57.1%) for 129 yards with one TD and no INTs. He’s the Chiefs leader in all passing categories and owns a 91.2 quarterback rating.
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Kansas City Chiefs : News
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