The Kansas City Chiefs take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Saturday to open up their preseason schedule. There is so much excitement and expectations surrounding this Chiefs team. It all starts with this game and competing against the Bengals. While it is only the preseason, there will still be a handful of key things to watch for in this contest. Let’s go ahead and take a look at three key things to watch for in this game.
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How Much Will the Defense Show
With an entire new scheme and fundamentals on the defensive side, it will interesting to see if the Chiefs are more vanilla or not in this contest. I don’t expect coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to show everything. But, I also would not put it past him to show multiple looks, especially with some of the backups fighting for spots. The cornerback group is also the weakest position for Kansas City. Seeing how much time certain guys get to play like D’Montre Wade and Mark Fields for example, and the rotation amongst the corners will be intriguing.
Wide Receivers and Running Backs
This wide receiver group has plenty of guys fighting for final roster spots. There is also a ton of these receivers who are a bit unknown and have something to prove. Again preseason results should be tempered accordingly. But don’t be surprised to see some big plays from guys like Rashard Davis, Jamal Custis and Cody Thompson. Meanwhile, Gehrig Dieter has been out of practice for an extended period of time. Could his spot be in jeopardy already?
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At running back, the Chiefs coaches have continuously reiterated that the starting job belongs to Damien Williams. However, he missed roughly a week and a half of practice with a hamstring injury. That may not diminish his role at all. Yet, his absence from practice has created a bigger opportunity for Carlos Hyde and Darrel Williams to show what they’ve got. People are also excited to see the flashiness of rookie Darwin Thompson, as well as Tremon Smith in a new role, who recently moved from cornerback to running back.
Mahomes… Of Course
The reigning MVP of the NFL, Patrick Mahomes, will get plenty of snaps in the first preseason game. At least according to Andy Reid, Mahomes will get the entire first quarter. While training camp may not be too telling, Mahomes has almost looked even more accurate in practice so far. The big armed quarterback has so much speed surrounding him for this season. Fans are perfectly dubbing Mahomes’ weapons as the Legion of Zoom. Seeing what we have seen from training camp translate to the first game action of the season should be exciting. And being able to watch any throws from Mahomes arm this early in August will be highly anticipated by Chiefs fans.
– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.
