The usual caveats:  don’t take the pre-season too seriously.  That means:  don’t overreact to Russell Wilson’s lone-drive intercepton.

With that out of the way … how about that ending, huh?!  In what was a truly boring, nondescript affair, the final few minutes were pure fun.  I would say I hope every game is exactly like that this year, but I don’t think my heart could take it.

Things started off pretty blah, with the Chiefs getting a big runback on the opening kickoff.  With the facemask penalty, it didn’t take much for them to lead off the scoring with a touchdown.  Alex Smith hit on a pretty pass to the goalline in that drive, as the defense was just okay, but again:  first pre-season game.

After the Wilson interception, it was time to take a look at the reserves.  Christine Michael got the start at running back, and looked amazing.  Indeed, probably the best I’ve ever seen him play.  He may be making good on his 2nd round status right before our eyes.  If health holds up between him and Rawls, I think the running game is in GREAT hands.

All the running backs after Michael didn’t really make an impression, though.  Indeed, there really wasn’t a lot to like about ANY of the offensive reserves.

Trevone Boykin looked like an undrafted rookie, leaving me and my brother lamenting the loss of B.J. Daniels.  Daniels would be, hands down, the best #2 QB on this roster right now.  With as bad as Boykin looked, I was hoping for better out of Heaps, but he too looked very much the undrafted rookie.  I looked forward to him getting an extended look, though, to see if he could turn it around, but to my initial dismay, they brought Boykin back into the game in the 4th quarter.  After a 3 & Out on his first drive back, though, Boykin showed why the team likes him so much.  He threw a nice fade pass for 26 yards up the right sideline, then later he scrambled for 15 yards on 3rd & Long to put us in field goal range to bring the game back to within a touchdown.  After the defense sort of did its job, with a little over a minute to go, Boykin threw a nice seam pass for 18 yards, a 32 yard pass to Tanner McEvoy to get into Kansas City territory, and with time running out, a 37-yard quasi-Hail Mary to McEvoy again, against 1 on 1 coverage for the touchdown (a 2-point rushing conversion sealed the win).

In a pressure-packed situation, Boykin showed touch on the deep ball, he showed toughness, he showed his elusiveness, and he showed great poise in not letting the game get the better of him.  All in all, a helluva way to recover from a mostly rocky start (even if it was against third stringers).

There’s a lot to like about this McEvoy kid.  The converted quarterback is 6’6, with good hands, a big body, and is someone who makes excellent use of that big body with his positioning and his high-pointing of the ball.  I don’t know if he’ll make the team, but I also don’t know if we’ll be able to sneak him onto the practice squad.  It would be a boon if we could, but I think the NFL is going to like his size and someone will snap him up.

I didn’t see much to hate about the starting O-Line, but again, they didn’t play all that much.  I saw a TON to hate about the reserves, though, as our backup QBs were under near-constant pressure the rest of the way.  Some of that, obviously, was on the QBs holding the ball too long, but a lot of it was simply giving defenders free runs at our backfield.

That’s pretty much it for the offense.  A lot of those back-end-of-the-roster wide receivers didn’t help their causes by dropping balls.  More good news for McEvoy, I suppose.

On the defensive side of the ball, I thought the run defense was pretty spotty.  Seemed like Kansas City could’ve done whatever they wanted on the ground, but they have a ton of QBs they want to look at; pretty much the only reason why the game was as close as it was, if you ask me.  They probably should’ve been leading by 20 late in the 4th quarter, if they’d taken a run-heavy approach.

I liked what Cassius Marsh brought to the table, both in pass rush and run defense.  He was all over the field, doing his thing.  So was Frank Clark, but again, I always like what these guys do in the pre-season.  Carry it over into September and beyond and we’ll talk.

Everyone is talking about Tyvis Powell, and for good reason.  An interception and a lot of excellent special teams plays; he’s almost a lock to make the team.

That’s pretty much it for the defense too.  Not a lot of sparkle, particularly from the pass rush, which is disappointing and a little scary.

Steven Hauschka was the MVP of this game by a million miles, with three field goals of 49 yards or more.

And now it’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for!

Steven A. Taylor’s Long Snapper Corner

I … uh, see, the thing is, I was drinking.  So, I didn’t get a good look at whoever was doing the long snapping Nolan Frese, I guess.  But, I didn’t notice any errant snaps, so good job, Frese!

I’m a good blogger-type person.