Last weekend, football fans suffered a setback when the Hall of Fame game between the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers was canceled due to poor field conditions. For Chiefs fans, the wait for football is about to come to an end. The Chiefs will square off at home against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1 of the NFL preseason schedule.
Kansas City enters the preseason with question marks, just like every team around the league. Between the quarterback play, offensive and defensive lines and special teams, this is where an offseason of hard work begins to come to fruition.
It's fair to say that game results don't necessarily matter, so the opponent in this case, the Seahawks, aren't all that important here. For the record, though, the last time the Chiefs and Seahawks met resulted in a Kansas City victory by the score of 24-20 at Arrowhead Stadium on Nov. 16, 2014.
To get ready for the season's first game, let's look at five things to look for in Week 1:
1. The Quarterback(s) Play
Fans will tune in to see how Alex Smith throws the pigskin, but his performance among the quarterbacks is probably the least important in this game. Rather, how new backup quarterback Nick Foles and other QB's on the roster perform will be heavily looked at. Tyler Bray, Kevin Hogan and Aaron Murray will all be competing for, presumably, the third spot on the depth chart for quarterback.
Early indications from Chiefs camp is that Hogan has looked exceptional and has the most room to grow and may have the highest ceiling of the three. The Chiefs will have to make a combination of roster moves to trim the amount of quarterbacks on the roster. Play in both preseason games and camp will go a long way into the decision-making.
Foles, has received a majority of the second-team reps in the last week, has been shaky at camp so far at times. It may take him a while to find his rhythm in a new offense under Reid, as he has had his fair share of struggles in the last couple seasons.
2. Tyreek Hill's Speed
There's been a ton of commotion at camp about the speed of newcomer wide reciever Tyreek Hill. The 165th pick in the 2016 draft, Hill is a product of West Alabama and will spend time on special teams, too.
Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub even compared Hill to Devin Hester. "Speed wise--he's the fastest person I've ever had, hands down," Toub said. "I say that and I coached Devin Hester. Devin Hester is probably a tenth of a second slower than Tyreek [Hill].
"I see a lot of similarities. With the with the way they catch the ball--natural catchers ... The difference between Devin and him is the size. Devin's a big man, and he can break tackles. That just shows how powerful he is. Can Tyreek [Hill] break tackles? So, that's what we're going to find out in the preseason game."
3. Newcomer RT Mitchell Schwartz
The Chiefs need the offensive line group to improve drastically in 2016 to protect Smith and provide holes for running back Jamaal Charles. In order to help do that, Kansas City signed one of the best offensive linemen on the market in tackle Mitchell Schwartz.
Schwartz, who has not missed a snap in and started all 64 games he has played in during his NFL career, provides stability on the right side of the line for Smith.
4. Tight Ends: Can They Hold Onto the Ball?
According to Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star, the tight ends at Chiefs camp have really struggled to hold onto the ball. While Travis Kelce and Ross Travis have been able to reel balls in, the others haven't done so hot.
"The Chiefs' tight end corps continues to be plagued by drops. Sometimes the throws aren't perfect, but tight ends have to be reliable receivers, a security blanket, if you will, and Demetrius Harris, James O'Shaughnessy and to a lesser extent, Brian Parker, have dropped more passes than you'd like."
Travis, Harris, O'Shaughnessy and Parker will all likely see playing time Saturday afternoon. This is their time to make an impact and show they can compete and catch passes.
5. Special Teams
The Chiefs don't do live situations with special teams during camp, so the preseason is the prime time for guys to get their reps and, for some, to prove that they are worthy of the 53-man roster.
Because the team doesn't see practice during camp, according to Toub, these games are extremely important. "We don't do any live situations," Toub said Monday. "We don't do any live tackling in our drills during training camp--it's all during the preseason game[s]. So, that's where we get most of our evaluations. Those games are really, really important."
