3 Biggest Takeaways From Chiefs’ Preseason Opener

Here are three key observations from Saturday’s preseason opener.

1) Chiefs’ starting defense got red-zone takeaway, but allowed Arizona to have its way.

On his first drive against the Chiefs’ starters, Kyler Murray drove the Cardinals 47 yards in eight plays, easily converting a third-and-6 with a 12-yard pass to Michael Wilson. He also hit Marvin Harrison on a 15-yard gain. James Conner also pierced the red zone with a 7-yard run before Kansas City finally made a big stop.

On first-and-10 from the Chiefs’ 17-yard line, Murray grossly underthrew Marvin Harrison in the flat and Jaden Hicks easily picked off the pass.

That pass marked Murray’s only incompletion, however. He finished 7 of 8 for 96 yards, including a 21-yard completion to tight end Trey McBride.

Last season, Kansas City finished tied for ninth among NFL teams in the red zone, allowing touchdowns on 52.63 percent of possessions inside the 20. The Chiefs also ranked ninth in total yards (320.6 yards allowed per game) but fourth in scoring defense (19.2 points allowed per game).

2-Chiefs will have interesting decisions at wide receiver.

Some teams say they can’t have too many good quarterbacks. The Chiefs might have too many good wide receivers and might need to figure out a way to keep eight on their final 53-man roster. Special teams will factor into that decision.

Nikko Remigio returned a kickoff 48 yards early in the second quarter to set up a Chiefs touchdown, a big step toward securing his spot. Tyquan Thornton, meanwhile, is a special-teams staple on all four core units and returned a punt Saturday night.

And while Brownlee doesn’t have the special-teams versatility, he’s had a great training camp and caught a Mahomes touchdown pass in the first quarter Saturday. Brownlee made a crisp move at the pylon to embarrass starting cornerback Max Melton and secure the back-shoulder toss from Mahomes.  

Rookie fourth-round pick Jalen Royals figures to replace Rashee Rice after the league levies its multi-game suspension. And along with Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, the odd man out could be Skyy Moore. The Chiefs used Moore on Saturday at wide receiver, kickoff returner and punt returner.

3) Chiefs will need to again depend on Roland-Wallace for versatility.

Roland-Wallace got two takeaways Saturday – an interception and a fumble recovery on the game’s opening kickoff. But the second-year player might have to return to his versatile ways by playing cornerback and safety, at least for next week’s preseason game at Seattle.

Starting cornerback Jaylen Watson left early with a concussion, meaning he could miss at least next week in the concussion protocol. And, the Chiefs got devastating news Saturday when they lost safety Deon Bush to an Achilles’ injury.

Meanwhile, unrestricted free agent Kristian Fulton just returned to practice on Thursday, so his status is uncertain for next week. Roland-Wallace should get a lot of playing time next week.

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