The Kansas City Chiefs’ first preseason game of the year is underway as they face off against the Chicago Bears in the Windy City. The first half of the game is officially in the books, with the good guys winning 14-0. It was a good start to the preseason for Kansas City, with the starters on both sides of the ball looking sharp.
Here are a few quick takeaways from the first half of play:
The grass conditions at Soldier Field are embarrassing
The grass at Soldier Field is a complete mess as the result of a recent Elton John concert. We knew the field was in poor shape well ahead of the game, but it wasn’t right up until kickoff that the grounds crew for the Bears decided to do anything about it.
There are Soldier Field employees working to fill in divots on the turf 15 minutes before game time. pic.twitter.com/ad6Ag3XMAq
— Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) August 13, 2022
Stadium staffer on the field carrying a bucket with what appears to be sand-like substance filling divots on the field. pic.twitter.com/Sr3xwrgAxv
— Herbie Teope (@HerbieTeope) August 13, 2022
For a multi-billion-dollar industry, you’d think that the NFL would have something to say to the Bears about the poor condition of their field. This has been a persistent issue for Chicago for years and years. It’s a huge safety concern for the players to have divots in the grass turf that they’re playing on. Thankfully, there have been a limited number of injuries in the game. The Chiefs have managed fine despite the poor conditions, but I can assure you they’re not thrilled about it.
21 personnel heroes
The Chiefs’ offensive starts got an 11-play touchdown drive before Andy Reid chose to sit them down. The preseason is known for the team running some exceptionally vanilla scheme, with some pretty basic play calls. Justin Reid said it best, you “line up and test the wills.”
For the starters, Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy opted to stay in 21 personnel for the entire opening drive. In doing so, they had one tight end, a running back, a fullback and two receivers on the field.
Here were the players who got touches in the opening drive:
- RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire
- FB Mike Burton
- TE Travis Kelce
- RB Isiah Pacheco
- WR Marquez Valdes-Scantling
- TE Blake Bell
It’s a safe bet that the Chiefs will continue to spread the ball around during the preseason and the regular season. I’m not sure the usage of 21 personnel was anything more than a quirk of the preseason, but it’s good to see them getting some practice out of that look regardless.
George Karlaftis' motor flashes
All we’ve been hearing about throughout Kansas City Chiefs training camp is the relentless motor of rookie DE George Karlaftis. He’s always working and trying to find a way to affect the quarterback. Well, that motor flashed on his first NFL sack (of the preseason).
Check it out:
The Greek Freak of the @Chiefs @TheGK3 | #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsCHI on @NFLNetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/3mvoWh7UD3 pic.twitter.com/i31I3q9dFa— NFL (@NFL) August 13, 2022
With an effort like that, working inside of the tackle and flushing the quarterback out of the pocket, many more sacks should be on the way for the rookie. He continued to flash throughout the first half, forcing two straight incomplete passes with his pressures at the end of the second quarter.
