Chiefs fall short in first preseason game
Craig McMullen
The Chiefs came up short in first preseason game against the New Orlean Saints Sunday afternoon.
It was a slow start for the Chiefs on both sides of the ball. On the first drive of the game for the Saints offense, Derek Carr lead the Saints 80-yards down the field for a touchdown to give the Saints a 7-0 lead.
In the second quarter with the Chiefs trailing 17-0, quarterback Blaine Gabbert threw a 43-yard deep pass to Richie James. The pass to James set up the Chiefs first touchdown of the preseason to James in the left corner of the end zone.
In the second half the Chiefs put in quarterback Shane Buechele who led the Chiefs on two touchdown drives.
“Coming out of the second half, the message was ‘energy’,” Buechele said. “We needed to have better energy on the sideline and on the field and we were able to put it together a couple drives. It’s always fun to have those guys pumped up and have energy on the sidelines.”
The first touchdown was a 15-yard pass to wide receiver Justyn Ross who played in his first game with the Chiefs after spending the 2022 season on the injured reserved.
“Just seeing the smile on his face after he caught that ball was the best part,” Buechele said. “He did a great job of running the route and just executing the play.”
The pass that had Chiefs fans going crazy on social media was in the final seconds of the third quarter. Buechele scrambled to get away from defenders and threw and 8-yard pass to wide receiver Keokoa Crawford.
In the fourth quarter with the Chiefs up 24-17 with under two minutes, the Saints found the end zone but failed on a two point conversion to take the lead.
With the Chiefs up by one, all the Chiefs needed was first down to seal the first preseason game of the the year. Quarterback Chris Oladokun threw a pass that was supposed to go to running back La’Michal Perine but instead intercepted by Saints defensive lineman Kyle Phillips to set up a game winning field goal.
Buechele finished the afternoon with 11 completions, 155 yard, and two touchdowns. Ross had two catches for 29 yard and a touchdown.
On defense Chief’s new linebacker Drue Tranquill and defensive tackle Danny Shelton both sacked Winston in the second quarter. Rookie cornerback Kahlef Hailassie picked off quarterback Jake Haener in the third quarter that set up the first touchdown pass from Buechele to Ross.
“Good to get a game in,” Reid said. “The ones got to pick up the tempo on both sides of the ball.”
The Chiefs next preseason game will be against the Arizona Cardinals Saturday Aug. 19, in the stadium where they won Super Bowl 57.
