The Kansas City Chiefs learned a lot during Friday night's 15-13 loss in their preseason home opener. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid summed up the lessons with his overall assessment of last night's game.
"There were some good things we can take out of this, and there were some things we need to work on," coach Reid said.
"The good things I thought our defense for the most part did a nice job. You've got to eliminate quarterback scrambles, and you've got a pretty good day there. Offensively, we've got to go back and have to be able to throw the football in this league and we've got to do a little better of a job protection up front and we'll do that. They gave us a lot of different looks, so that will help us down the road. We don't do very much game plan for this, so we get all of the different blitz looks and some of them are new ones and it's our first time seeing them. You have to handle it and pick them up and things go a little smoother. There are a bunch of things we can learn from it. I thought that special teams did a great job. I thought (Quintin) Demps was good. Knile Davis, I thought, on the offensive side, was a positive. And again, I thought the defensive end as a unit did a nice job."
Some of the "good things" coach Reid was referring to are listed below.
DEMPS TAKES KICKOFF TO THE HOUSE:
S Quintin Demps recorded a 104-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to put the Chiefs up 7-3 in the first quarter. In regular season action, Demps has one career kickoff return for a touchdown, a 100-yard effort at Baltimore (11/23/08) as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
SUCCOP ON STREAK:
K Ryan Succop converted both field goals he attempted in tonight's contest; a 47-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 23-yard effort in the second quarter. To date, Succop has connected on all four preseason field goal attempts in 2013. In 2011, Succop tied a Chiefs record for most consecutive field goals made with 22, matching the mark set by K Pete Stoyanovich during the 1997-98 seasons.
SMITH GRABS FIRST INTERCEPTION IN KC:
CB Sean Smith recorded an interception off QB Colt McCoy and returned it three yards. Prior to his arrival in Kansas City in 2013, Smith recorded five-career regular season interceptions in four seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Smith also added two passes defensed and one solo tackle in tonight's contest.
DAVIS' START AT ARROWHEAD:
Rookie RB Knile Davis got his first start at running back. In his debut, he rushed 10 times for 37 yards (3.7 avg.) and caught three passes for 31 yards (10.3 avg.), leading the team in both categories.
COLQUITT PINS OPPONENTS DEEP:
P Dustin Colquitt punted six times, landing four of those punts inside the 20-yard line. In two preseason games in 2013, Colquitt has punted 13 times and has landed eight of those punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
CHIEFS RACK UP SACKS:
Four different players each recorded a single sack in tonight's contest, dropping San Francisco quarterbacks for a combined 23 yards lost. LB Zac Diles sacked QB B.J. Daniels for a seven-yard loss; Akeem Jordan sacked QB Colt McCoy for a five-yard loss; NT Jerrell Powe sacked QB Scott Tolzein for a six-yard loss and LB Ridge Wilson dropped Daniels for a five-yard loss.
WYLIE RECORDS BIG RETURN:
WR Devon Wylie recorded a 52-yard punt return in tonight's contest. In two preseason games, Wylie has three punt returns for 83 yards (27.7 avg.).
TOP TACKLERS:
CB Jalil Brown led the team with five tackles (four solo), while LB Justin Houston and NT Dontari Poe each recorded four solo tackles.
TACKLES FOR LOSS:
The Chiefs recorded 14 tackles for loss in tonight's contest. LB Justin Houston and NT Dontari Poe led the way with two tackles for loss each. Ten other Chiefs players each recorded one tackle for loss.
SPECIAL TEAMS BLOCKS KICK:
CB Vince Agnew blocked a 49ers extra point in the fourth quarter of the contest.
SPREADING THE LOVE:
Eleven different players caught passes for the Chiefs in tonight's contest.
