Chiefs End Pre-Season Futility, 17-13

From Arrowhead Stadium

There was happiness visible on the Chiefs bench in the closing seconds of the team’s 17-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.

After a 2-14 season in 2008, then 0-4 in the ’09 pre-season, a 4-12 record in the ’09 regular season and then 0-3 going into the ’10 pre-season, a victory of any type was badly needed.

So even though the Packers rested most of their best players, the Chiefs were going to enjoy the victory. And there was plenty that went down involving the game and here’s our coverage. Enjoy!

• GAME STORY: Able to beat the Packers JV team.
• COMMENTARY: No time to celebrate.
• SIDEBAR: Defense does its job.
• NOTES: Dexter McCluster gets it done again
• GAMEBOOK
• Pre-Game Stadium Report

Notes: Rookies Honored As Captains

From Arrowhead Stadium

It was an unusual scene when the captains of the Chiefs and Packers met at midfield for the pre-game coin toss.

Representing the Chiefs was the team’s 2010 NFL Draft class of seven players. Eric Berry, Dexter McCluster (right), Javier Arenas, Jon Asamoah, Tony Moeaki, Kendrick Lewis and Cameron Sheffield (in street clothes) went out to represent their team.

It was the idea of head coach Todd Haley, who has raved about the intangibles of the group since the first day they walked into the building.

LITTLE GUY HAS ANOTHER NICE NIGHT

McCluster continues to make things happen, whether on offense or special teams. Now, if he can just keep his teammates from getting penalties and taking away some of his yardage.

Against Green Bay, McCluster carried the ball three times for 37 yards, two of those running plays coming out of the Wildcat formation. He did not catch a pass, but he returned two kickoffs for an average of 21.5 yards. All this was in limited work over the evening.

In the pre-season, where he essentially only played in three games, McCluster:

• Ran for 108 yards on 17 carries, a 6.4-yard average.
• Caught seven passes for 40 yards.
• Returned two punts for a 9.5-yard average.
• Brought back five kickoffs for a 30.8-yard average.

EVEN MORE WILDCAT FOR OPPONENTS TO SEE

When they got the ball to start the third quarter, the Chiefs pulled out the Wildcat formation with McCluster handling the ball. On first down, McCluster ripped off a big run down the left side, only to lose a large part of the yardage to a holding call on FB Tim Castille. On the repeat of first down, McCluster ran for nine yards and a first down.

On the next play, McCluster took the snap and handed off to WR Jeremy Horne on an end-around going from left to right. Horne had forward progress for four yards, but when he was walled off by the Packers defense, he reversed his field.

Horne ended up losing 12 yards on the run and the Wildcat went back in the box and was not seen again Thursday night.

NOW THAT’S A BIG FULLBACK!

When he lines up at nose tackle with his 300 pounds, Derek Lokey is actually considered a bit underweight for the position.

Not so when he lines up at fullback, something he did last week against Philadelphia and he was out there again against Green Bay on Thursday night.

“I’ve been campaigning for it,” Lokey said after the game. “I did some of that when I was in college (University of Texas) and I’ve been trying to get them to give me a chance.”

So far Lokey has done nothing but block; he’s not touched the ball either in a handoff, or as a receiver. Haley wants to see if he can catch the ball. Lokey says give him a chance.

“I can catch the ball,” he said. “Give me a shot.”

ZEBRA REPORT

Ed Hochuli, aka Mr. Muscles, and his crew worked the game. Despite the fact that only the Kansas City area and Milwaukee-Green Bay were getting the television broadcast, Hochuli made sure he got plenty of TV time. No referee/crew chief among the league’s officiating crews turns on his microphone and speaks more than Hochuli.

There were two replay challenges by the Packers, one in each half. Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy lost the first one, when an on-field ruling of an incomplete pass was upheld. But in the second half, McCarthy challenged the placement of the ball after a running play by Kregg Lumpkin. The officials ruled him down without crossing the goal line. But after McCarthy threw the red flag, the review showed that Lumpkin had the ball in his possession when he crossed the goal line, thus it was a touchdown.

In the second half, Haley threw his red flag on a possible Packers fumble that on the field was ruled down by contact. Hochuli went under the hood and came back with a decision not to change the call, costing the Chiefs a timeout.

Overall, the Chiefs were flagged for five penalties for 42 yards. There was an offensive pass interference call against WR Jeremy Horne that wiped out a seven-yard gain by McCluster. On the first offensive play of the second half, McCluster ripped off a 27-yard run out of the Wildcat formation. But C Rudy Niswanger was hit with a 10-yard holding call, wiping out 23 yards of that play.

There were three fourth quarter penalties on defense. CB Jackie Bates was called for an illegal contact penalty, giving the Packers a first down. DE Alex Magee was hit for five yards on an illegal use of the hands. Late in the period, CB Travis Daniels was hit for a 12-yard defensive pass interference call.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Punting – Dustin Colquitt punted five times for a 45.2-yard average. His net average was 39.8 yards and his long punt went for 61 yards.
• Kickoffs — Ryan Succop kicked off four times, sending his kicks to the goal line, goal line, five-yard line and then a surprise mortar kick that went to the 26-yard line. Only once after a kickoff did the Packers begin the possession outside the 20-yard line.
• FGs & PATs – Succop missed from 51 yards when he hit the left upright. He came back and kicked a 26-yarder and made all of his PAT kicks
• Returns – On punt returns, Arenas ripped off a 44-yarder to start the night and finished with two returns for an average of 23.5 yards. On kickoff returns, McCluster had two and Javarris Williams one and they averaged 21.3 yards between them.
• Coverage – Darn good night for coverage units, as they held returner Jason Chery to a 9-yard on three punt returns and then a 16-yard average on kickoff returns.

PERSONNEL AND PARTICIPATION

A dozen members of the Packers did not dress for the game, including starting QB Aaron Rodgers and starter RB Ryan Grant. Also out were starters LT Chad Clifton, DE Cullen Jenkins, OLBs Clay Matthews and Brad Jones and CB Charles Woodson.

For the Chiefs, they had five players who did not participate: CB Maurice Leggett, OLB Cameron Sheffield, G Darryl Harris, RT Ryan O’Callaghan and OLB Tamba Hali. Starting for O’Callaghan was Barry Richardson, with Andy Studebaker stepping into the starting lineup for Hali.

Also, WR Chris Chambers was dressed but did not play in the game. Chambers was a limited participant in practice last Tuesday and no obvious injury is apparent with the veteran. But his nightw as over before it even began.

EXTRAS

Honored in pre-game ceremonies was Kansas City’s “Mr. Music” Tony DiPardo. Along with his wife and family, DiPardo was taken to mid-field in a wheelchair where he was honored with a special trophy and tribute on the video boards.

Commentary: No Time To Celebrate

From Arrowhead Stadium

It was pretty hard to tell from Todd Haley’s post-game demeanor that he had finally gotten off the schnide and his team captured the first pre-season game victory of his short head coaching career.

There was no celebration, no hooting and hollering, not even a smile from the head coach as he stepped to the podium and faced the media horde for the normal post-game inquisition. His body was there, but his mind was elsewhere.

Moments after the game clock showed 00:00 and he had shaken hands with Packers coach Mike McCarthy, Haley already put the 17-13 victory into the history banks and moved on. There’s a lot of work to do in the coming hours, days and more than a week. Haley made it very clear what was on his mind.

It wasn’t beating the Packers JV squad – it’s getting ready to play the San Diego Chargers on September 13 to start the regular season.

“We have these next 11 days here to get prepared to start the season,” Haley said. “It was important for our team to make positive strides and I feel like we did that through the pre-season in all areas.”

A lot has to happen in just the next few days. It starts with the Chiefs trimming their 75-man roster to a 53-man active list and an eight-man practice squad. All that must be done by 5 p.m. CDT on Saturday. …Read More!

GAME STORY: Chiefs End Pre-Season With a Smile

From Arrowhead Stadium

Remember the last time the Chiefs won a pre-season game? I didn’t, so I had to look it up.

It was August 28, 2008, more than two years ago. The Chiefs beat the St. Louis Rams at Arrowhead, 21-17. They claimed the Governor’s Cup after the game.

There was no Governor’s Cup to cradle Thursday night. But there was a victory, and those are so few and far between for the Chiefs in the last four years, it matters not that it will be a winning effort quickly forgotten.

The Chiefs beat the Green Bay Packers 17-13. OK, it was more like the Chiefs beat the Packers JV squad by less than a touchdown in front of another sparse crowd at Arrowhead. (Paid attendance was announced as 63,843. Many came to the game disguised as red, yellow and orange seats.)

The victory pushed their record to 1-3 for the now-finished pre-season in what quite possible could be the last four-game slate of exhibition games the franchise will play, with an 18-game regular season and shortened pre-season coming in labor negotiations.

It was also the first pre-season victory in the short head coaching career of Todd Haley.

“Overall that’s good for our team to go out there and get a win,” Haley said after the game. “Now we have 11 days to get ready for the opening of the regular season. From the big picture that I could see from the sidelines, through the first half I felt like we had taken a positive step.” …Read More!

Pre-Game/Chiefs-Packers From Arrowhead

From Arrowhead Stadium

6:30 p.m. — It’s 30 minutes to kickoff and either this is going to be a late arriving crowd, or a not-arriving crowd. There are very few people sitting in stadium seats right now as the rain has pretty much stopped. But the real test is the parking lots to the east and west of the stadium – they still have plenty of open spots. Traffic is heavy on 435 coming in from the north, and I-70 eastbound is slow going coming up to the Blue Ridge Cutoff.

6:25 p.m. — A huge rainbow is sitting above Arrowhead right now as the sun has peaked out from behind the clouds to the west, while it continues to rain on the field. The dark clouds and bad weather appear headed to the east.

6:15 p.m. — The Chiefs have 70 of their 75 players dressed tonight. The entire team is on the field going through warmups and there are no late surprises with players not dresserd to play tonight.

6:10 p.m. — Not expected to dress for the Chiefs tonight are CB Maurice Leggett, OLB Cameron Sheffield, G Darryl Harris, OT Ryan O’Callaghan and OLB Tamba Hali. All missed practice time in the last week due to injury.

6:07 p.m. — The Packers just released their list of players who will not dress for the game and it’s topped by QB Aaron Rodgers and RB Ryan Grant. Also not dressed will be CB Charles Woodson, S Will Blackmon, CB Brandon Underwood, LB Clay Matthews, LB Desmond Bishop, , LB Brad Jones, OL Bryan Bulaga, OT Chad Clifton, DE Cullen Jenkins and OL Allen Barbre. Starting at QB will be Matt Flynn.

6:05 p.m. — In his pre-game kicking routine, Ryan Succop was good from 53 yards out kicking towards the west uprights and 49 yards to the east uprights. On the field that wind is gusting in several different directions. …Read More!

What To Watch For Vs. Green Bay

The Chiefs close out the 2010 pre-season Thursday night at what figures to be another half-filled Arrowhead Stadium. The Green Bay Packers are in town, and they’ve shown this August they will be the best team the Chiefs play in the schedule that does not count.

Too bad the Chiefs and Packers figure to play their starters like QB Aaron Rodgers (right) for only a quarter or so as everyone’s attention has already turned towards the start of the regular season next week.

The Packers arrive in Kansas City coming off a game where they scored 59 points against the Colts. Remarkably, 31 of those points came in the second half, when the starters were on the bench for the most part.

Although nothing is forgotten quicker than the final pre-season game each year, there are plenty of items for the Chiefs to get done in this game, whether it be as a team, a unit or individually. Here are some things to look for as the original participants in the first Super Bowl meet again.

…Read More!

Leftover Scrapple From Philly Game

One of the things that players who are scrambling to make the roster of an NFL team must do is separate themselves from the herd.

For instance, if there are a bunch of defensive linemen all fighting for one or two spots, it’s going to be the guy who steps up his performance, who makes the coach notice him on field, who does more than one thing that can set him at the head of the class.

That’s what Jackie Battle (right) has done. A third-year running back, Battle has been able to survive in the NFL since he was added to the Chiefs roster at the end of the 2007 season as an injury replacement. His first NFL carry went for three yards and a touchdown against the Lions in Detroit. Battle was part of three games that year, nine games in the next and just five games last year before he went to the injured-reserve list in October with a shoulder injury.

But at some point, just surviving does not cut it. The way his pre-season has gone, it’s doubtful that Battle will have to wonder about his status in the next week when the roster gets cut to 53. It would be the upset of the season so far if he’s not on the squad.

Against the Eagles, he ran 10 times for 49 yards, including a 21-yard gain. He also caught one pass for four yards and he was part of just about every one of the major special teams units.

In this pre-season, he’s the team’s leading rusher with 113 yards on 25 carries. He also has the team’s longest run, that 21-yarder he ripped off in the fourth quarter against Philly.

“Jackie Battle has been trying to get noticed the last few weeks,” said head coach Todd Haley. “He’s trying to separate himself from the rest of the competition and that’s a good thing for us and him.” …Read More!

Chiefs Can’t Seal The Deal, Lose 20-17

From Arrowhead Stadium

The Chiefs wanted to show improvement Friday night. They did that against the Philadelphia Eagles. They wanted to get their defense up and running, maybe get their first sack and takeaway of the pre-season. They did that, with five sacks and an interception.

They wanted to continue to run the ball like they’ve been able to do. They did that, banging out 168 rushing yards, as Thomas Jones, Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster and Jackie Battle all had nice runs.

Most of all, the Chiefs wanted to win, because that’s not something they do very often these days. But they couldn’t accomplish that goal. The Eagles scored a late touchdown to pull out a 20-17 victory.

As always, there was plenty to talk about. Here’s our coverage:

• GAME STORY – Defensive effort fails to win.
• COMMENTARY – Coming off the ropes.
• SIDEBAR – Rookie LB injures neck.
• SIDEBAR – Chiefs show defensive personality.
• NOTES – McCluster’s big night
• PRE-GAME NOTES
• GAMEBOOK

NOTES: McCluster Shows His Skills Again

From Arrowhead Stadium

If you missed the hit that Philadelphia’s Asante Samuel put on Chiefs WR/RB Dexter McCluster don’t worry – it’s already been repeated a dozen times on ESPN and other sports shows that deal with repeated showings of football field collisions.

But get this – as brutal as the hit was, McCluster says he didn’t feel a thing.

“No, it was no big deal,” said McCluster. “That’s why I wanted to and did get up immediately off the ground. It was a nice hit, but it didn’t mess me up at all. I didn’t feel anything.”

If there was any thought or belief that the Chiefs were going to keep McCluster under wraps until the regular season, they pretty much blew those thoughts out of the water Friday night. McCluster was catching, running and returning all over the place:

• He ran eight times for 47 yards, with a 15-yard run thrown in.
• He caught three passes, but gained no yards. His longest catch was 3 yards. He had a 23-yard play wiped out by a holding penalty against the Chiefs offensive line.
• He returned two punts for 19 yards.
• He returned three kickoffs for an average of 37 yards a return, with a 41-yard long return.

That’s 16 touches in the third pre-season game. Over three games, he has 26 touches and has produced 241 yards.

McCluster says bring it on, he can do more: “Absolutely, I’ve got a lot more in the tank.”

TRAINING ROOM WAS BUSY FOR CHIEFS

In the pre-season the Chiefs do not release information on any injuries, although they’ve acknowledged when CB Maurice Leggett and OLB Cameron Sheffield went down with neck injuries.

So it’s hard to tell how serious any of these physical situations may be, but here’s a rundown to the extent we could put one together.

– OLB Tamba Hali had his lower right leg worked on during the second half and did not return to the defensive field.

– RB Jamaal Charles came off the field after taking a hit on the knee and spent time with the trainers and doctors. He came back out for the second half, but did not return to the game.

– RT Ryan O’Callaghan did not dress for the game because of a right groin injury that kept him out of practice for several days this week. No prognosis on his immediate future.

– QB Brodie Croyle was dressed, but did not play Friday night. In warm-ups, he did not throw the ball in the drills at any point. He was hurt now two weeks ago, suffering a right arm injury against Atlanta.

– CB Mike Richardson who missed several practices during the week was dressed but did not play. No word on what his injury may be.

– CB Maurice Leggett was back with the team after his neck injury last weekend against Tampa Bay. It’s doubtful he’ll be back this week, but will probably be held out until the week of getting ready for the regular season opener.

PERSONNEL FILE

A handful of Chiefs did not take part in the game. O’Callaghan, Leggett and G Darryl Harris did not dress. Not getting on the field along with Croyle and Richardson were WR Verrand Tucker, RB Javarris Williams, OT Bobby Green Wood and TE Cody Slate.

On defense, Demorrio Williams and Corey Mays started at inside linebacker. On offense, Rudy Niswanger opened at center and Barry Richardson played at RT for the missing O’Callaghan.

On offense, the Chiefs opened in a one-back formation, with Jamaal Charles as the only running back. He promptly fumbled on his first carry.

For the Eagles, they did not use 10 players and six of those did not dress for the game. That included centers Jamaal Jackson and Nick Cole. When Friday night’s starting center Mike McGlynn went down in the second quarter, they were forced to use their fourth snapper, first-year player A.Q. Shipley.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Highlighting the kicking game performance on Friday night was P Dustin Colquitt, who thanks to a bad decision by an Eagles’ returner, finished up with a 73-yard punt. Overall, he kicked seven times, with a 44.1-yard gross average and a net average of 39.9 yards. He punched four punts inside the 20-yard line.

Punt coverage was pretty good, as Philly had returns of eight and two yards.

On kickoffs, Ryan Succop was not quite as strong with distance as he has been earlier in the pre-season. He kicked off four times, with the ball coming down at the three, seven, minus-six and five-yard lines. Kick coverage was not so good, as the Eagles got off a 47-yard return and overall averaged 28 yards o n three returns.

Succop made his only FG attempt, from 43 yards.

On returns, the Chiefs averaged 8.1 yards on punt returns and 29.2 yards on kickoff returns. McCluster had the longest return, taking back a kickoff 41 yards.

ZEBRAS

Bill Leavy and his crew walked off six flags against each team during the game.

For the Chiefs, they were hit with a 15-yard taunting penalty against LB David Herron on a kickoff return. RG Ryan Lilja was flagged for holding, wiping out a 23-yard completion from Cassel to McCluster. FS Kendrick Lewis was called for defensive offside. LT Branden Albert was hit with two penalties: a false start and a holding call. The Chiefs offense took a pair of delay of game penalties on purpose, trying to set up better field position for Colquitt on a punt. The Eagles accepted one, turned down another.

IN THE HOUSE

The paid attendance was announced at 64,809, but there were a lot of empty seats all around Arrowhead, including the pricey seats in the lower level.

Finally, A Worthy Defensive Effort

From Arrowhead Stadium

It has been slow in coming together, this 2010 Chiefs defense. New coordinator Romeo Crennel is still learning about the talents of his players and he and the defensive staff are still fitting the pieces together.

What we saw Friday night against the Philadelphia Eagles is a lot closer to what Crennel and head coach Todd Haley have in mind for this defense that has been so bad in recent seasons.

“We’ve been in pads 31 days (of the pre-season),” Haley said after the game. “The reason you’re in pads for 31 days is to be a physical football team. I think that tonight you saw that coming out and I think that’s a good sign for our team and a good sign of the direction we’re going.”

The Chiefs went out on defense and did two things they had not done in two previous pre-season games. They got a sack, five of them in fact, and they forced a turnover, as rookie safety Kendrick Lewis picked off a Philadelphia pass. The Chiefs offense was able to use that takeaway to get a touchdown.

In the final accounting, the Chiefs defense allowed 271 yards, with 106 in the running game. But 80 of those 271 yards came on the final drive of the game, against the No. 3 defense. They chased Eagles QB Kevin Kolb out of the game with four sacks and an interception, as he was just 11 of 25 for 103 yards. …Read More!

Rookie LB Suffers Neck Injury

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From Arrowhead Stadium

For the second time in two games, the Chiefs held their collective breath as a teammate was taken off the field immobilized on a backboard and strapped to a cart.

Friday night, it was rookie OLB Cameron Sheffield. In the third quarter he went to tackle Philadelphia RB Mike Bell and they collided in a helmet-to-helmet hit. Bell got up. Sheffield did not.

The Chiefs pronounced it a neck injury, but had no other information on Sheffield’s condition after the game. …Read More!

Commentary: Coming Off the Ropes

From Arrowhead Stadium

It was a strange juxtaposition in the hour or so after the Chiefs dropped pre-season game No. 3 to the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17.

Todd Haley talked about how his team had taken a couple of early haymakers in Friday night’s game but had held on and actually started counter punching and causing damage to the Eagles.

An hour later, sitting in the press box, the television was on and there was Sylvester Stallone, sitting in the guest chair on Late Night with David Letterman. The sound was muted so the conversation between Letterman and Stallone was impossible to hear, which is OK since neither one really has much that’s noteworthy to say these days.

But there was Rocky Balboa, wearing glasses with light purple lenses and a purple shirt, purple tie and some sort of Italian suit that sells in the four-figure range. He was no longer Rocky Balboa, the Philadelphia pug heavyweight with the battered face that never gave up in the ring, no matter how much blood he spilled.

On Friday night, that was the Chiefs, and particularly their defense. They were Rocky, getting pounded by Apollo Creed. They got knocked around by a superior opponent in the first round, wobbled woozily around the field, but they were able to survive to the bell. They caught their wind, got their wits back about them, fought back and ended up landing some big punches of their own.

They hit the Eagles with everything but the knockout punch they needed. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the staying power of Rocky, because in the end they ran out of gas and gave up the winning score in the game’s closing minute.

“They say in boxing that it’s not how hard you punch, it’s how you react after you’ve been punched,” said Haley. “We took a couple pretty good body blows; there might have been a couple of head shots, haymakers, whatever you want to say.

“But guys fought back and made plays.” …Read More!

Game Story: Despite Improvement, Another “L”

From Arrowhead Stadium

When coaches, players, media and fans constantly say “the Chiefs need to learn how to win” it gets tiresome. But the 2010 Chiefs proved Friday night that while it might be overused and aggravating, it’s so true.

With a victory in their hand, all the Chiefs No. 3 defense had to do was top the Philadelphia Eagles No. 3 offense one final time. Philly started the possession with two minutes to play, and the ball at its 20-yard line. Plus they had no timeouts.

Eight plays, 80 yards and 101 seconds later, rookie QB Mike Kafka found rookie WR Riley Cooper in the end zone for an 18-yard TD pass with 23 seconds to play. It was the deciding moment of the Eagles 20-17 victory over the Chiefs.

“I feel like that’s the way our games are going to be for a little while,” said head coach Todd Haley. “We are team that hasn’t won a lot of games over the last few years. We are making this transition into becoming a good team and that’s the way the games are going to be.

“I don’t think there are going to be many pretty ones. It’s still going to come down to the team that plays the best will win.”

That was true Friday night before a sparse crowd at the new Arrowhead Stadium. Ultimately, the Eagles made enough plays to win the game. They did it at the start of the game, and then later at the end of the game.

What gave the Chiefs hope is what happened in between, when the defense put on its best performance of the preseason and the starters left the field with a 14-10 lead.

“I was really proud of the team and how they bounced back,” said QB Matt Cassel. “We had about as bad a start to a game as you can have, but we got ourselves back in and eventually got the lead.” …Read More!

Leftovers From Tampa

Somewhere Between TPA & MCI

There is definitely one part of the Chiefs play on Saturday night against Tampa Bay that showed it was improved from this point in 2009.

That’s Matt Cassel and the first-offense’s passing game.

Cassel is throwing the ball quite well these days and that was evident against the Buccaneers. Let’s remember that Tampa Bay is not a contending team and its defense leaves much to be desired. But he was on the mark Saturday night, missing on only five passes. One of those was to stop the clock at the end of the second quarter. Another incompletion came when a pre-determined route didn’t create an open receiver and he threw the ball into the Houston bench.

Here are Cassel’s passing numbers for the first two pre-season games last year and the first two this August:

…Read More!

Freeman Fractures Thumb & Other Notes

From Raymond James Stadium

It happened early in Saturday night’s Chiefs-Buccaneers game here in Tampa. QB Josh Freeman felt pain in his thumb and knew something was wrong.

On his third passing attempt in the game, Freeman’s right thumb struck the helmet of Chiefs OLB Tamba Hali on his follow through.

“The next play, I couldn’t really grab it or grasp the ball too well, so I just tried to grip the points,” Freeman said.

But Bucs coach Raheem Morris took his second-year quarterback out of the game and sending him to the locker room for x-rays. The pictures revealed Freeman fractured the tip of his right thumb and will not play during the last two weeks of the pre-season.

Freeman is expected to be ready to play in the regular season opener for the Saints against the Cleveland Browns on Sept. 12.

“I was hoping it was just jammed,” Freeman said. “But it was a little different pain than just being jammed. When I saw the x-ray, they said there was a little fracture. When I heard that and saw the x-ray, I was kind of freaking out. They said, “Hey, just take care of it and it’ll be a couple weeks.’ When I heard that, it made me feel a lot better.”

Morris can only hope that the thumb heals in three weeks and Freeman is ready to go for the opener.

“How big of a setback? It’s a team setback obviously when you lose your first quarterback,” Morris said. “We’re lucky. It’s an injury we expect him back the first week of the season. That’s very fortunate. It could be worse.

“I’ll have to get a feel for that, when he can practice exactly. Right now we know he fractured the tip of his thumb on his throwing hand. He has an even demeanor about it.”

Freeman was especially unhappy because he was scheduled for some extended playing time in the next few months.

“It’s kind of frustrating because this game I was supposed to get a lot more reps and throw 15 or 20 passes,” Freeman said. “I was looking forward to it, getting out there and getting to stretch the field with Mike Williams a little more and getting to work with Reggie (Brown). Other than that, I can turn my attention to Cleveland and these first few games and start getting ready for them. There’s different ways you can spin it, but I’m choosing to spin it positively.”

SPECIAL TEAMS ROUND-UP

It was pretty much a good night for the Chiefs kicking game in all areas. What went down:

• KICK COVERAGE – Javier Arenas only got one chance to return a kickoff, but he punched it out for 54 yards. He showed good power and vision. Quinten Lawrence returned four kicks for a 17-yard average and was very pedestrian in his results.
• FIELD GOALS – Ryan Succop hit 28 and 29-yard Field Goals.
• KICKOFFS – Possibly the best game of Succop’s short career when kicking off the tee. His first kickoff was a bit short, landing at the Tampa Bay seven-yard. After that, his kickoffs were landing at the minus-one and minus-one and minus-eight yards. On those three kickoffs, the Bucs started their possession at the 18, 20 and 20-yard lines.
• PUNTING – Dustin Colquitt kicked four times, averaging 44.3 yards per punt, with a net average of 39 yards. He had a 60-yard punt in the second half.
• PUNT COVERAGE – Tampa Bay returners averaged seven yards punt return with the longest being 13 yards.
• KICK COVERAGE – only one of three kickoffs produced any return yardage as there were two Succop touchbacks and an 11-yard return.
• PUNT RETURNS – There was little business being done in the punt return game. Arenas had one return for one yard. He called fair catches on two other returns.

ZEBRA REPORT

Walt Coleman’s crew was barely visible in this game. They walked off a single five-yard penalty against the Chiefs offense when G Ikechuku Ndukwe was called for a false start in the fourth quarter.

They did have one call reversed on a challenge by the Buccaneers. Todd Haley did not throw his red challenge flag. The Buccaneers were hit with three penalties.

PERSONNEL MOVES

Four players did not dress for the Chiefs – QB Brodie Croyle, RB Kestahn Moore, FS Jon McGraw and G Darryl Harris. In the game, QB Bill Stull and DE Bobby Greenwood did not play. It was the first NFL game for both Stull and TE Tony Moeaki. At center, Casey Wiegmann started over Rudy Niswanger.

The Buccaneers did not dress RB Clifton Smith, OT Demar Dotson and WR Marc Stovall. Two players were dressed but didn’t get on the field of play – WR Chris Brooks and DE Brandon Gilbeaux.