A few thoughts on individual performances in tonights game....
 

Don't really have any stats to back all this up but here's what I noticed as I was watching tonights game. Defense shows some promise but offense appeared to be really sputtering. Succup and Colquitt were solid on special teams while our return game was pretty bad. Anyways, I'm sure there's stuff I missed, but here's what I saw specifically -

The Good

Offense
Dwayne Bowe - the offense didn't really pick up until he got into the game. Had several nice plays, including a diving catch and didn't drop any passes. He might have been our biggest impact player in that game. Bradley had a couple nice grabs too.
First team Oline - didn't get to watch this unit too close. Looked like Albert was doing well though.
Dantrell Savage had several nice runs and a good catch out of the backfield.
Backup quarterbacks - looked like Croyle did a decent job moving the ball down the field and Thigpen had some success when he was in as well (mostly running though)

Defense
Dorsey and Jackson appeared to be getting good penetration. I thought I saw Jackson even get a sack or did they give that to Studebaker?
Derrick Johnson was all over the field...several tackles
Tamba Hali - same thing...a couple of his stops were in the backfield
Corey Mays - also racked up quite a few tackles. On the whole, the first team unit of linebackers did really well. Demorrio Williams played well when he was in too. Didn't hear them call Vrabel's name though....
Flowers was very effective. Forced a fumble, nearly had a pick six and played solid defense. I thought Leggett looked really good too - had a sack in the first quarter and was still making plays in the 4th
Alex Magee had a few nice stops at the line against the run that I noticed

Special Teams
Succop was very impressive. All kickoffs were into the endzone or close to it. That 48 yard field goal was absolutely nailed. Very impressive in the rain.

The Bad

Offense
The one sack we gave up looked like Brandon Albert's fault. It appeared it was Albert who totally whiffed on Connor Barwin but the announcers said it was Herb Taylor. Offensive line play dropped off when the backups came in.
The success we had running the ball appeared to be because of Jackie Battle and Dantrell Savage, two guys fighting for a spot with the team. LJ and Javarris Williams were "meh" at best and I don't even recall Jamaal Charles getting in the game.
I noticed Thigpen running for his life and Croyle throwing on the run quite a bit.
The offense really sputtered when Cassel was running it. He had Copper and Darling as his starting wideouts though. When Bradley and Bowe came in, things picked up. Cassel had a couple nice completions and it looked like a couple of the others were dropped.
Did Toomer or Engram even play??

Defense
Didn't seem as though our 2nd team defense put any pressure on the QB and they were able to move the ball down the field easier
Didn't hear Tank Tyler's name called more than once (for a tackle) and didn't hear Edwards called at all. How was our play at NT??

Ugh.....for Chrissakes....
Not pretty for our return game. Never saw anyone get past the 23 yard line on a KR or PR and nobody (Savage, Lawrence, Wright) really stood out and distinguished themselves. I noticed a couple drops too which I suppose happens in the rain.
Letting Matt Turk rumble for a first down was abysmal. He even fumbled the snap first. Someone clearly missed an assignment on that one...
Both Cassel and Croyle fumbled a snap apiece from under center. This led to two turnovers on our side of the field. Oddly enough, Houston didn't appear to have any issues hanging on to the ball though...hmmmm....

the middle killed us on D. dink,doink,touchdown.

both sides are terrible,some flashes but still dismal.

Succop boomed that shit. And I ain't talking about his figgie.

For ugh the Brodie Croyle intentional grounding play was so bad it was laugh worthy.

That's Croyle's lovable hick streak.

Jarrad Page wiffed on a tackle and missed another. Why isn't Mike Brown starting instead of Page? Brown was in on that sweep play that only got 2 yards easily could have been a first down.

I'm waiting for you to maybe concede that Haley getting tough with Bowe during the last week or so MAY have contributed to his performance tonight.

Just a thought though :P

Houston had problems with LS/Punter exchange twice. Two opportunities to capitalize but our ST failed...

Yea cuz Bowe never played that good in games aginst starters.

The key stat would be 'Zero Drops'. In a fairly heavy rain, from what I could tell, no less. Bowe had a tremendous impact in the limited time he was on the field, and maybe, just MAYBE, it might indicate he's responding positively to what Haley's trying to teach him.

I couldn't see sh*t w/ my connection but heard Mays' name being said quite a bit.
Hmmm, wonder if he can catch?

McIntosh was good tonight. Really, he was.

Let's get crazy - does Croyle have any trade value if he keeps playing well?

Goddamn I hope so.

Reerun texted me he was playing well. My response was that I hope we can trade him to MN.

(I haven't seen the game)

If you can fuse Thigpen and Croyle together.

Battle and Mays.

Make sure we get Croyle's brain in there. Just need Thiggy's legs.

I'd have to think Thigpen has some decent tradevalue as long as he's going to a team that features the Wildcat/spread offense. Should have decent value actually given his performance last year. Maybe a 6th RD pick which could turn into a conditional 5th? Hopefully we can swing a deal for him because last time I checked, he was pretty much last on our depth chart and is really on the bubble regarding whether he even makes our roster at the final-cutdown time.

Fixed it.

So which is it: Either Thigpin is on the bubble and likely not to make the roster or he has decent trade value? He can't be both...

This, pretty much. The lack of overall talent shows.

The Chiefs' radio guys said it was Albert, too, so you're right.

If Croyle makes the roster, no way you cant keep Thigpen. Its not like Croyle has shown the ability to make a season let alone a game. If Croyle ever makes it in a game... be rest assured... so will Thigpen.

was engram/toomer playing tonight?

Well to elaborate, Thigpen has very little value to us but would have value to a team running the spread. My comment from earlier assumes that Gutierrez will eventually beat him out for the #3 QB spot. Given Gutierrez's history with Pioli and experience in this offense, this is a very realistic possibility. My thoughts on trading him involve us parting with him before too much time passes so that other teams don't pick up on the fact that he might not make our team, therefore, he'd still have some tradevalue based upon performance last year. But yes, you're right, no one will give us anything for him if it's three days before final roster cutdown and Gutierrez has already moved ahead of him on the depth chart.

Hope that makes more sense....

Watching the game over again quickly, there were a few things that jumped out at me...

* LJ missed a HUGE hole on the first drive when Gailey dialed up a draw play. There was a cutback lane with Darling coming down to crack back, and LJ completely missed it. He would still be running.

* Devard Darling set up wrong on the WR slip screen. He came in motion, and should have stopped right where he ended in motion. Instead he came back inside to the ball, and got caught up with the LB's. If he would have stayed outside, he most likely would have picked up the 10+ yards and then some. Instead, it was a short gain.

* Cassell missed Mike Cox short for a first down on his roll out right to avoid pressure. Cox came open very late, and would have been an easier pass for Cassell hitting Cox on the run rather than hitting Ryan on the sideline...which he dropped. Still a good play by Cassell.

* The defense got good pressure. Especially Hali, Dorsey and Jackson. Mays was magnificent, and McGee kept showing up all over the place. The frustrating play for me was the long 3rd and 10 Houston converted. Re-watching, It was actually decent D in which Houston had the perfect O call on to pick up the first down.
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It does, thanks. What confuses me is that Gutierrez was cut by the Pats for that scrub Andrew Walter. How good could he possibly be? (Gutierrez, I mean)

Great question...I wondered about this too. I didn't see either on the field, ever. I saw Engram give Thigpen a pat on the back after his TD pass so it was clear to me that he at least suited up. I never saw Toomer at all.

I wonder if tonight's game will push Haley into a decision, one way or another on whether or not to sign Ashley Lelie....

You know, that sort of baffled me too. At this point last year, I thought I remember hearing that Gutierrez was actually ahead of Cassel on the depth chart or that some people in New England thought he would make a better backup. Gutierrez just turned 25, maybe the Patriots wanted a more experienced QB, where as KC was happy to land a QB who had experience in the offense they were looking to install?

Engram played with the first team on a couple of occasions, running underneath routes. The #1 O just didn't throw the ball very much.

Toomer #13 was suited up on the sideline, but I never actually saw him enter the game.
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Andrew Walter isn't horrid. He's got some talent. He was just infested with the Oakland suck.

I don't know, dude. I saw him in several Raider pre-season games and he blew dead bear chunks...not impressive.

A few observations:

Niswanger looks overmatched at center on every play. The other center, cuharic (sp), isn't worth learning how to spell his name, and should be on the street.

Pollard continues to be a major liability in coverage, and the LBers aren't getting enough of a drop in coverage.

It's silly to think that Bowe won't be starting game one. Message sent and received.

Croyle should be solidly #2. Yes, he's an injury waiting to happen, but in the meantime, he has a rocket arm with good accuracy.

We need a lot more consistency with ST coverage and returns. Garbage.

On the whole, the D looked decent, but I'm concerned with the play of all our safties.

These are the things to pay attention to in a preseason game, ladies, not the final score.

Our oline as a whole looked like shit LJ was fighting to get back past the line of scrimmage, not sure why copper/darling started. Cassell was in quite a few series but never really got an opportunity to show himself, he made a couple nice throws. Succop looked impressive strong leg, I have a gut feeling he's going to be special for us. Bowe, toomer, engram, bradley should all be above copper/darling. colquitt had a nice punt. lbers weren't dropping enough in coverage. I seen the chiefs of last year getting gashed run after run for 8 yards while not getting out of the backfield on offense. shaub was 7/7 against us. we showed a couple flashes defensively. flowers did good against their second string struggled against the first. thigpen is a better runner than passer.

Time to buy a Succop jersey.

You would have two Gay backup quarterbacks.
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This is going to sound completely crazy, but i see Croyle having some sort of career in this league. I think someone is going to give him a chance, or he's gonna win a job in camp, or something one day, and I truly see him having a few moments where he rips it up.

imo, the OL looked like last year: good to stong on the left side, below average to bad on the right...lj looked fine but it still seems like he's in a hurry and misses holes...

DL...ups and downs, weak in the middle...did dorsey do anything?

Hali was better than anyone expected...doesn't mean he'll be good, but he's exceeded very low expectations so far....

LBs made some plays but don't appear to be able to cover yet, will be a problem all year i imagine...Mays certainly stood out, need to see it continue...

I think Jackson looked strong but couldn't really tell with the pixelated feed

Flowers = Total Bad Ass...we need one of him at every level of the defense

Cassel was fine despite everyone's concern trolling...his passes were on target and if our back up WRs could catch we'd have gone some where...his scramble and pass to Ryan was nice, composed play...

Croyle looked solid, but can never quite seal the deal...very surprised to see him bounce back from the knee injury so fast

thigpen's talent is best displayed in the 4th quarters of preseason games...

our fg kicker has a leg stronger than the octomom's vag...

Bowe looked good and focused and no bs....he'll be first team soon if he isn't as we speak....point received...the concern trolling on this has been hilarious (see mecca, gamethread or whitlock)

Charles is the one really getting sent a message, i think (unless he's injured), but no notices or concern trolls about it...he had a couple of carries? clearly behind Battle at this point

pretty much what we we thought was a problem coming in was a problem: WR, NT, right side OL...

vanilla stuff, from which I learned - according to chiefs fans - that a) Thigpen should start b) Haley doesn't know Bowe is a good WR c) our offense is just like Herm's d) and that you can grade play calling in a preseason game....all in all a fine table setting for the season..

Watching this for the first time this morning.

Dorsey just forced the OL to hold on him, that really helped out the play, FWIW.

WTF is with the D? They're stopping the run and can't stop the pass...Twilight zone.

Charles has been in to block on both 3rd downs. Don't really know what to think of that.

if this was a season game and Schaub would have played the whole game we would have lost by 30. Our safeties and LB pass coverage is awful.

Dorsey is getting penetration pretty consistently, even though he's getting double teams quite a bit.

Ron Edwards is absolute horseshit.

thanks, couldn't make out a lot of details on the feed....seemed like dorsey gets moved around on later series, but i could be mistaken

i think, in general, besides just running basic plays in order to have film on these guys, and i mean basic plays...the coaches were much more interested in exposing our second string players, probably to see how agressive we need to be on the waiver wire....

good to hear

They are getting gashed up the middle on runs, and Ron Edwards is being pushed around rather easily.

Can someone tell me where Hali was lined up, and how he looked?

The can mentioned that he looked better than expected, can someone elaborate?

are you waching it again?

what do you think of the OL from center to RT?

The last two runs on the scoring drive went right over him.

it looks like more of a 4-3 under than an actual 3-4, they still have 4 guys come to the line just one dude stands. So it's still like Hali is playing DE.

Umm. I think most of the time he is on the left. I need to pay better attention, but he looks much much faster. Been getting in the backfield more consistently. Hasn't been run over as of yet.

Hali also accounted for a 5 yard offsides penalty and finished the game with a couple tackles. He did look quicker and more disruptive with the rush than he did playing end.

cdcox disagrees.

This is my first time watching it, and I'm focusing specifically on Dorey and Edwards on defense, and Albert and MacIntosh on offense.

I'm recording it so I can focus on different players at another time.

What I've seen to this point is that Dorsey is hitting the B gap, and really giving Hali opportunities to make plays from his standup OLB position.

Edwards is absolute dogcrap.

Albert doen't look quite as strong as he did before he lost the weight, but still has the quick feet.

And MacIntosh looks a little quicker, but is still the suck overall.

I could be wrong. I need to pay better attention.

hali and Vrabel have been flip flopping quite a bit.

Hali is still a weak run defender at the point of attack, but he has looked quicker and faster, and shown some speed in backside pursuit.

The other thing I will add about Hali is that I have not seen him in coverage. Any reason Tyler isn't in there? Is Edwards....better?.....:Lin:

Yeah, his offside penalty :banghead: was from the right.

I don't know.

I plan on watching Tyler when the second unit is on.

JackieBattle has much better vision than LJ.

Good Jesus. McIntosh is bad.

Plus he looks like he has MUCH more speed last year. I hope he makes it. He's a bruiser.

From what I'm seeing, Corey Mays is making a lot of plays in the middle, and that is in large part because Dorsey is commanding so much attention at the LOS.

gracias

Pollard is playing hurt, but still playing well. I haven't seen a missed tackle yet.

It looks like he has some pretty nice instincts.

It looked like Albert was completely caught off guard by Connor Barwin's speed on that sack.

I had to turn it off.

Niswanger was meh.

Goff was downright bad.

McIntosh was McIntosh.

We didn't run the ball behind the right side of the line until AFTER Goff had left the game, and even then, the one time they did, Charles was stopped for a 1 yard gain.

It's only pre-season, but we're going to face much better defensive fronts than Houston in the regular season - better lock this shit up.

Din't pay close attention to Niswager, but he did look like he got completely abused on a couple of plays I noticed.

As for McIntohs, I just can't envision this FO and staff going into the season with him as the starter.

I will point out, however, that there was huge hole on the right side earlier in the game that LJ could have made one quick cut to if he had any vision, and as Big Rock said in anther thread, he'd still be running if he sees it.

If you watch it a 2nd time, watch Goff.

Bad in the run game, terrible in the pass game. The majority of the pressure was coming from his man.

Rudy was OK in the run game, but was getting abused in pass protection.

McIntosh is still terrible at RT. I thought Goff played like a sack of buttholes too. I didn't see enoug of Herb Taylor or Richardson to say.


I noticed Ron Edwards getting blown off the ball and Boone didn't do shit. Dorsey and Jackson both looked like they moved their guys a step back and made good penetration. McGee did pretty good from what I could see also.

The corners looked very good, and while Pollard isn't great in coverage he was dishing out some good hits.

The TEs look terrible.

They've got Richardson in at LT...With Taylor at RT.

WTF?

Yeah, I was planning to watch it again, and Niswanger and Goff were going to be the focus.

I really thought it didn't matter if you were out of the pocket, I've seen that same play by Brady with no flag.

Ricchardson was all SEC at LT at Clemson, and has gotten some second team snaps there in TC.

He was in earlier at RT and looked like shit, but has looked credible here at LT.

It seems he just can't transition to RT.

You have to throw the ball past the LOS. Just a mental breakdown by Croyle.

Anyone else notice Brown going in as the 2nd OG?

Bowe is a real difference maker.

No, did he?

He doesn't do it often, and it's the preseason. He won't ever do that again. He made his statement on the field. What happens though if Croyle looks much better all preseason? I know Haley says that he has an open competition, but I'm guessing that he wouldn't, which sucks (although Brodie just can't stay healthy ever...).