10 Observations from Chiefs-Cardinals on Friday Night
The Kansas City Chiefs won their second game of the preseason on Friday night by a score of 17-10 over the Arizona Cardinals
While football is a team game and success is ultimately about wins and losses as a group - the takeaways from a preseason game, which contain no real strategy outside practicing scenarios for the regular season, are largely about evaluating individual players and seeing how they perform in a live environment.
That said, there are a lot of individual takeaways from the Chiefs’ performance down in the desert, and a few that should leave fans especially optimistic about a couple of positions we’ve been talking about all offseason.
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Here’s 10 observations from Chiefs-Cardinals Friday Night!
Multiple Chiefs’ cornerbacks were making plays!
From the moment the Chiefs’ defense first took the field against Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray and company, it was the cornerbacks who were setting the tone for the defense - starting with back-to-back physical plays from standout second-year defensive back L’Jarius Sneed.
This entire game was another reminder of the type of cornerback you’ve got to be to play for a Steve Spagnuolo defense, which didn’t allow a first down through the Cardinals’ first four possessions.
Following Sneed’s display of physicality, Charvarius Ward, who has shown this ability throughout his career, came down and got in the mix for a tackle-for-loss as well.
In the passing game, Mike Hughes, who came over in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings this offseason as another former top draft pick to join the defensive backfield - along with DeAndre Baker, made a couple of fantastic pass breakups.
Baker’s best one in the end zone to highlight a fantastic day overall from the Chiefs’ cornerbacks.
Mecole Hardman had 8 targets, 1 career highlight
He’s been one of the most-talked about players over the offseason - Mecole Hardman, who with the departure of Sammy Watkins this offseason has been one of the names associated with making up for some of that production and impact.
While he finished with eight targets (4 catches for 39 yards) and you’d probably expect more production from him with that amount of action - the touchdown catch he made and the separation he had created with a few of his other routes that didn’t connect are still a good sign.
It was a good performance for Hardman to build on for next week.
Patrick Mahomes wasn’t a Top 5 positive, and that’s OK
It wasn’t the sharpest game for Patrick Mahomes throwing the football, which included a couple of intended throws to Hardman that were off-target, but we did see him move around the pocket well.
He also scared Chiefs Kingdom half-to-death running options to pick up first downs. In any case, there’s no reason to worry about 15, but frankly, it wasn’t his best day.
Juan Thornhill after the game, “I’m back!
One guy who did have a game to stack upon was third-year standout Juan Thornhill, who is getting plenty of run as he continues to feel his way through the return from an ACL injury a year ago.
Thornhill’s interception may be one of the best defensive plays-on-the-ball that you’ll see all year - preseason or not.
After the game, Thornhill declared “I’m back,” and we’re all here for it.
Byron Pringle made strong case for more targets/time
Along with Hardman, former K-State standout Byron Pringle is also another player whose name has been thrown around a lot regarding replacing the “X” receiver position held by Sammy Watkins for the past few years.
Pringle made a few nice plays on Friday night, including a nice juggling catch on an errant throw near the sideline that was reviewed, along with a key 3rd-and-5 contested reception across the middle for a first down, and a beautiful seam route down the heart of the Cardinals defense for one of the best plays of the night on a throw from Chad Henne, who had a fantastic game himself on Friday.
Chris Jones is a legit DPOY candidate
It’s a question anymore. Chris Jones is going to be on another level this year.
Jerick “Jet” McKinnon is going to help this team
Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams are the top two running backs for the Chiefs heading into 2021, and while that’s not much of a debate - don’t sleep on Jerick “Jet” McKinnon’s ability to make a difference on this team potentially as the third running back.
On Friday night, McKinnon caught a touchdown, laid-out a would-be tackler on a highlight special teams play, and had a few other catches out of the backfield that could serve this team well at points during the season.
McKinnon - the former San Francisco 49er and Minnesota Viking before that, flirted with a 1,000-yard season of combined rushing and receiving yards back in 2017 for the Vikings. He could provide a nice pass-catching option out of the backfield as a player with a slightly different skillset than they have right now with their other guys.
And Darwin Thompson isn’t making the decision any easier as he’s playing well himself.
Jody Fortson showed blocking ability late in the game
For the darling of Chiefs’ training camp this year, Fortson made his case for the 53-man roster late in the game on Friday Night - demonstrating that his switch from receiver to tight end wouldn’t be a problem because of “physicality.”
The Chiefs’ OL was moving bodies, and it was beautiful
It’s just beautiful. For the second week in a row, the Chiefs’ new offensive line was just moving people around with a level of aggression and physicality that we haven’t witnessed from this group at this level in a while.
Catch this episode of “Outside the Trenches,” when we spoke with OL Masterminds Founder, Duke Manyweather, who trains offensive linemen throughout the offseason, including two new Chiefs rookie starters in Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey.
You won’t find better discussion about OL play and the young players protecting Mahomes than from this man right here.
Anthony Hitchens’ speed is noticeable
For a guy who was already a net-positive strictly from his ability to ‘quarterback’ the defense and get everyone lined up correctly, the athleticism we’re seeing from Anthony Hitchens is noticeably different, and a fantastic sign for those optimistic Chiefs fans.
With young, athletic guys around him that were drafted in the past two years in Willie Gay and Nick Bolton, the improvement we’re seeing in Hitchens is a welcomed-site for a defense that’s not short on leadership, talent, or intrigue.
If only our QB can get on track, Kansas City could be unstoppable… If I knew how to bet, I would bet on our quarterback!