The Kansas City Chiefs third and fourth-stringers struggled in the second half on Saturday afternoon, with KC losing a 14-0 halftime lead in falling to the Chicago Bears, 19-14 at Soldier Field, in the preseason opener for both teams.
After the Chiefs defense forced a 3-and-out from the Bears to start the game, Patrick Mahomes drove the Kansas City offense down the field, connecting on 6 of 7 pass attempts for 60 yards, and hitting Blake Bell for a 5-yard touchdown pass. A scoring strike from the arm of Shane Buechele to the arms of Justin Watson gave the Chiefs a 14-0 edge at the break. Offseason pickup and anticipated starter at free safety, Justin Reid, solidly hit the PAT after the second score as the Chiefs continue to experiment with him as a potential emergency kicker in the event of an injury to Harrison Butker.
Chicago second-year quarterback Justin Fields was 4 for 7 for 48 yards, before being replaced by veteran Trevor Siemian. Chicago played without star defenders Roquan Smith, who is in a contract standoff, and Robert Quinn, who was held out by head coach Matt Eberflus.
While the final result saw a five-point loss on the scoreboard, there were many positives taken out of the game by head coach Andy Reid:
Earning praise from Reid was first-round draft pick George Karlaftis, a defensive end out of Purdue:
Perhaps the brightest tory coming out of camp is the ability shown by 7th round draft pick Isiah Pacheco, a running back out of Rutgers University who is already challenging for regular season playing time within a well-established group that includes veterans Clyde Edwards-Hellaire and Ronald Jones:
Upon their Monday return to St. Joseph, the Chiefs welcomed free agent pick-up Danny Shelton for his first day of training camp. Shelton, a former Brown, Lion, Patriot, and Giant, was signed by Kansas City last week to help stabilize the interior defensive line. Waived on Monday were offensive lineman Evin Ksiezarczyk, cornerback Lonnie Johnson, and wide receivers Omar Bayless and Gary Jennings. Two more players will need to be cut by Tuesday’s deadline to reach the 85-man limit for this point of camp.
The Chiefs return to Arrowhead Stadium to play the Washington Commanders on Saturday afternoon at 3 o’clock. The final session of training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph will wrap up on Thursday.
