Preseason Week 3 - Game of Inches

In the Chiefs third preseason game they showed flashes of what the team should be built on, as well as a lot of what has kept them from being consistent and winning a playoff game since 1993. Bad field position was the main culprit tonight. It seemed like the Seahawks started every drive on their own forty leaving the defense helpless with its back almost immediately against the red zone.

The first quarter was pathetic offensively but fairly impressive defensively considering how often and quickly they were on the field. The first drive set the tone for the rest of the night with three consecutive negative plays, including a sack on third down, followed by a punt from inside their own 20. Anytime you find yourself punting from there you're inevitably going to give the other team the advantage. As a defensive player myself, I know that it is hard to stay in the mindset of keeping them from scoring when they only need 20 to 30 yards to be in field goal range. However, the defense did do a good job in the first quarter, allowing only two mid-range 3 pointers. The offense had only 3 yards.

The second quarter saw the momentum shift as the defense became visibly gassed, which lead to some embarrassingly undiciplined play. Rookie QB Russell Wilson took advantage of the D completely losing containment with 31 and 27 yard runs on back-to-back drives. The exhaustion became very clear as - after some shoddy tackling on a run by rookie Robert Turbin (93 yards and a TD) - Wilson rushed them to the line and found a wide open Kellen Winslow in the end zone. The Chiefs looked lost and ready to get off the field. The very next drive was more of the same with two roughing the passer penalties on Tamba Hali and three long passes. With the exception of one long drive, on which Cassel methodically moved the team down the field with short completions. The offense was mostly to blame for the performance of both themselves and the defense with only 102 yards.

At the half, the game was already decided and following a fumble and interception from Cassel on the first two drives, and a terrible first drive by the defense the backups entered. Anyone watching the game learned a new name in Nate Eachus. While he may struggle to make the final cut down to 53 players next week he was the only shining star in this game. In the backfield he ran hard and finished every run right with two hands on the ball and his pads down. He ended the game with 98 yards and a touchdown right before time expired with a final score of 44 to 14. While we are deep at the running back position, I would be disappointed to see him go. As he jogged to the sideline and sat on the bench, you could see the excitement and it looked like that was one of the greatest moments of his life.

Follow him on twitter @Nate_Eachus

Picture by standardspeaker.com