The Kansas City Chiefs experienced their first loss of the NFL preseason on Sunday in the shape of a narrow 26-24 loss to the Saints in New Orleans. Luckily, the results of games this time of year aren’t the focus, but what the players do with their opportunities to make plays are what the coaching staff is particularly looking for.
Against the Saints, the Chiefs fell behind early 17-0 before scoring 24 unanswered points to put themselves in position to leave the Big Easy with a victory. However, fourth-string quarterback Chris Oladokun threw a late interception in a tied game and gave the Saints an easy field to send in a game-winning field goal.
After the game, head coach Andy Reid spoke with the media, and the first thing he touched on was how unhappy he was with how his starters performed in the first quarter.
“Some of the guys were a little flat in the beginning,” Reid told reporters. “You can’t do that. When you come to work, you need to come to work ready to go.”
Kansas City’s starting defense got ran over on the opening series, as former Raiders QB Derek Carr led his new Saints offense on a 12-play drive that marched 80 yards down the field and ended with a 4-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Keith Kirkwood.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense weren’t much better as they moved upfield in short bursts to the 48-yard line in seven plays before getting stopped a yard from the first down marker. Reid opted to go for it on fourth down via a tight end sneak, where Blake Bell motions from his usual tight end spot to under center and pushes forward after taking the snap. Unfortunately, the Saints were all over it, and the play failed to get the first.
Reid reflected on the play and admitted a simple change in direction could’ve been the difference, but overall, he doesn’t regret being aggressive in the first quarter of an exhibition game.
“After looking at it on the replay, we probably should’ve gone to the left and not the right,” Reid explained. “They ended up pinching on the left side, and we probably could have gone in that direction.”
Reid also explained that the only way to run plays like a tight end sneak is to call them in a real game.
“We’re trying to get where we can do that. We can’t work on that in camp. You get good work on it here. It didn’t work. That was the bottom line. We have to go back to the drawing board on it.”
Reid realizes that this is what preseason is for. It’s essential to try different things and experiment with certain plays before the games begin to count during the regular season. They’re also crucial for rookies who can use the experience from a live game to help develop and show the coaches why they should have a spot on the final roster.
Despite how Kansas City lost at the end of the fourth, several young players made plays that put them in a position to exit the Caesar Superdome with a win. Reid was particularly pleased with two rookies on Sunday: defensive Felix Anudike-Uzomah and wide receiver Rashee Rice.
“[The experience is] so valuable for them,” Reid told reporters. “They’re two guys who need that – the speed of [a] live [game], the whole deal – and not just a handful of reps, [but] putting a series together. I think that was good for both of them. Again, I have to evaluate the tape. We’re going to look at it. There are going to be some corrections. I thought, for the most part, they held their own and did a decent job there,” he explained.
Despite a few corrections that will be addressed over the week before their next preseason game, there were plenty of positives that can be built off of as well. Overall, Reid’s happy the first slate of tuneup games is in the books.
“All in all, it was good to get a game in,” said the head coach. “[With] the ‘ones,’ we have to pick up the tempo there on both sides of the ball; [it wasn’t] good enough. We have some things to work on there.”
Kansas City’s next game will be a road scrimmage against the Arizona Cardinals, scheduled for Saturday, August 19, at 7 p.m. CDT.
