What We Saw: Preseason Week 2

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Chiefs @ Cardinals

Final Score: Chiefs 38, Cardinals 10

Writer: Ben Brown (@BenBrownPL on Twitter)

Patrick Mahomes started slow, going 3/8 before drinking Michael’s Secret Stuff and driving the Chiefs down the field on a 10 play, 92 yard scoring drive. That was all we needed to see from Mahomes on this night, and the game was out of hand pretty soon. Arizona’s offense struggled mightily with both Colt McCoy and Clayton Tune at the helm. The Chiefs provided plenty of offense in this one, and if you like penalties then this game was one for you. There were 16 penalties and it felt like all of them were in the first half.

Three Up

Rashee Rice – After a bad drop on his first target from Mahomes, Rice caught everything else thrown his way. Had a lot of run with the starting offense as well.
Keaontay Ingram – As Cardinals radio analyst Ron Wolfley put it, “this kid would ride a goat into a stampede”. Do with that analysis as you will
Kansas City QBs – All four had a rating of 109.0 or above. They all played well, and the combination of Mahomes, Shane Buecchele, and Blaine Gabbert completed 20 in a row at one point

Two Down

Isaiah Simmons – The 8th overall pick in 2020, Simmons had a terrible game defensively. With his 5th year option declined in the offseason it’s looking more and more likely he’ll be elsewhere in 2024
Clayton Tune – After impressing last week, Tune took a big step back in this one

Kansas City Chiefs

| Preseason Week 1 |

Quarterback

Patrick Mahomes: 10/15, 105 yards, TD

Mahomes started slow, going 3/8 through the air before completing his last seven throws of the night. One was a clear drop by Rashee Rice, though. Those seven throws came on a 10 play, 92 yard scoring drive in the 1st quarter. That was it for Mahomes on the night.

Shane Buechele: 10/10, 105 yards | 2 carries. 14 yards, TD

Notes

38 yard catch and run by Rice made up the bulk of his yardage
2nd QB in the game, has he jumped Gabbert on the depth chart? Played with many of the starters against Arizona’s 2nd team defense
15 yard scramble for the TD, made a defender miss to boot.

Blaine Gabbert: 7/8, 120 yards, 2 TD

Rebounded from a poor showing last week with a much better game this week. Looked much more comfortable, though Arizona didn’t get much pressure on KC QBs all night long.

Notes

Throw an accurate ball to the corner of the end zone challenge… overthrew a wide open Justyn Ross by a mile

Running Back

Clyde Edwards-Helaire: 4 carries, 10 yards | 2 targets, 2 receptions, 8 yards

Notes

Patient run, followed his blockers to pick up 7
Juked a defender on a screen, made him miss, earned another few yards

Jerick McKinnon: 1 carry, 19 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 13 yards

Notes

3rd and 20, dump off screen to him for 13 yards
Huge hole up the middle, 19 yard gain. Easy.

La’Mical Perine: 6 carries, 41 yards | 1 target, 1 reception, 6 yards

Notes

Nice run up the gut for 1st down

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Rashee Rice: 9 targets, 8 receptions, 96 yards, fumble (recovered)

On paper Rice had a phenomenal game. However, he dropped an easy catch from Mahomes with a defender bearing down on him and also nearly fumbled the ball away later in the game. His 38 yard catch and run came against blown zone coverage. It seemed he was facing zone for the majority of his time on the field. With his quick feet and shifty body it’s easy to get open and avoid defenders in zone, but his hands remain the biggest question for me.

Notes

On the receiving end of 1st pass of game from Mahomes, dropped. Slant across the middle from Mahomes. Had a defender bearing down on him
38 yard catch and run, couldn’t have been more open. Blown zone coverage by the defense.
Faced very little man coverage. Mostly zone
Nice inside slant, catch, juke to make a defender miss. Long gain. Then fumbled the ball up in the air, nearly lost it, tackled hard on his head. Came out of the game.
Came back two plays later

Justin Watson: 1 target, 1 reception, 18 yards, TD

Notes

Had a 15+ yard reception negated by an OPI on him. Forced 3rd and 20
Came all the way across the field to catch the TD from Mahomes

Travis Kelce: 2 targets, 1 reception, 20 yards

Notes

Dropped a shovel pass, took his eyes off the ball
Next play got open across the middle of the field as Mahomes scrambled, classic Mahomes/Kelce connection

Richie James: No stats

Notes

Nice end around handoff from Mahomes negated by penalty. Had some snaps with the starting O

Justyn Ross: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 18 yards

Notes

Received a rep with Mahomes, ball was thrown at his feet but he couldn’t come up with it
Third and three, gorgeous whip route to get open and earn the first down. 12 yard gain. From Mahomes
Wide open in the end zone, Gabbert overthrew him. Gorgeous move to shake his defender. Got some praise from Mahomes on the sideline after

Skyy Moore: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 6 yards

Notes

Mahomes trusted him with a ball across the middle on 3rd down, big catch

Marquez Valdes-Scantling: 2 targets, 1 reception, 21 yards

Ihmir Smith-Marsette: 4 targets, 4 receptions, 92 yards, TD

Notes

44 yard catch on a gorgeous ball from Gabbert
Broken tackle at the 10 yard line, bounced off the defender and took the ball to the house

Arizona Cardinals

| Preseason Week 1 |

Quarterback

Colt McCoy: 5/8, 25 yards | 1 carry, 6 yards

Clayton Tune: 12/24, 133 yards | 6 carries, 35 yards

I was impressed by Tune last week, not so much this week. Big step back from the rookie signal caller.

Notes

Another inaccurate throw to the sideline, something he did a ton of last week. Late on the out route
Clayton Tune “throw an accurate ball to the sideline” challenge. Come on, man
11 yard TD catch to Dortch overturned, was down at the one
Overthrew another wide open receiver, you guessed it, near the sideline
Anotha’ one
TD pass negated by a penalty

David Blough: 3/4, 31 yards

Running Back

James Conner: 2 carries, 15 yards

Notes

Avoided a defender in the backfield, hit an open hole. Nice six yard gain
Looked awesome on a toss to the right side. Still has it

Keaontay Ingram: 7 carries, 28 yards, TD | 3 targets, 2 receptions, 20 yards

Ingram played very well in this game. He’s a goat rider – get on the goat and run him into a stampede. (No, I still don’t know what that means). He was shifty, he ran with power, he caught the ball out of the backfield, and he made guys miss. The backup to James Conner looks like a name you should know in case Conner goes down at some point this season.

Notes

2nd RB on the field. Nice 11 yard run, made a defender miss with a jump cut and another with a spin move.
Ducked another would be tackler in the backfield, only gained three yards but it should have been a loss
2nd and 5, dump off from Tune under pressure, awesome juke to make a defender miss and move the chains

Emari Demercado: 8 carries, 12 yards | 3 targets, 3 receptions, 22 yards

Corey Clement: 2 carries, 3 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, 4 yards

Wide Receiver/Tight End

Marquise Brown: 2 targets, 1 reception, 12 yards

Notes

Wasn’t on the same page with McCoy on first target

Rondale Moore: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 7 yards | 1 carry, 3 yards

Notes

Jet sweep negated by hold
3rd down reception, secured it for the conversion
Overthrown on next 3rd down attempt, may have slowed down before the throw. McCoy was not happy as he went to the sideline

Trey McBride: 2 targets, 1 reception, 4 yards

Notes