The Kansas City Chiefs still aren’t saying for sure whether Matt Cassel will play tomorrow but it could happen.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing for him to play against the Ravens on the road will a bad wheel.  Look for the Chiefs to keep the passing game short to get the ball out of his hands as fast as possible.  That means that Dwyane Bowe will be taking a lot of hits but he has the body to handle that.  RBs Larry Johnson and Jamaal Charles will also like get the football often as the Chiefs would be prudent to try to shorten this game and give themselves a good shot to win it.  With Joe Flacco looking good this pre-season the Chiefs might want to play keepaway.  The hard thing about throwing short passes and running the ball is that means you have to out-physical the Ravens’ D and I don’t know if that is even possible.

Look for the Ravens to open the playbook this season starting tomorrow.  The Chiefs only had 10 sacks last season so look for Joe Flacco to take some shots downfield on first down in this game.  Look for Derrick Mason to have the most catches and yards receiving for the Ravens tomorrow, but, Demetrius Williams could have a few big plays in him.  TEs Todd Heap and L.J. Smith will also get in on the action in the passing game against the Chiefs tomorrow.  The Ravens will likely crank out the three headed monster at RB in this game with Ray Rice getting the first shot.  Le’Ron McClain and Willis McGahee will also get some action against the soft Chiefs’ D.

PREDICTION:  BALTIMORE RAVENS 30, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 10

The Chiefs got a lot of yards in this game but it didn’t result in many points.  Tyler Thigpen was not effective at all in this game completing 2 of 7 passes for 49 yards with 2 interceptions.  Brodie Croyle also stunk it up in this game as he only completed 5 of 16 passes for 85 yards.  Matt Gutierrez was the best Chiefs’ QB on this night and that’s not saying much.  He completed 7 of 14 passes for 118 yards.  Dantrell Savage led the way for the Chiefs on the ground with 73 yards on 4 carries (18.3 ypc).  Larry Johnson was also very solid with 5 carries for 58 yards (11.6 ypc).  Jackie Battle was also very busy carrying the ball 8 times for 28 yards (3.5 ypc) and he caught 4 passes for 63 yards (15.8 avg).  The Chiefs only had the ball for 24:28 of this game but they still rolled up 376 total yards on offense (170 rushing, 206 passing). 

DT Tank Tyler (9 tackles) and S DaJuan Morgan (7 tackles, interception) led the way for the Chiefs on D in this game.  The Rams finished up with 328 total yards in this game (76 rushing, 252 passing).  The Chiefs finished the pre-season with a 0-4 record.

The Chiefs have lost Devard Darling for the season due to a torn ACL.  Darling caught 3 passes for 19 yards (6.3 avg) this pre-season for the Chiefs.  This is a shame for Darling who was starting to come into his own as a late bloomer.  Darling played in all 16 games (9 starts) for the Chiefs last season and he caught 17 passes for 247 yards (14.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.

The Chiefs have released veteran WR Amani Toomer.  Toomer caught 2 passes for 29 yards (14.5 avg) during the pre-season for the Chiefs.  The Chiefs apparently liked Ashley Lelie, Mark Bradley and Bobby Engram better than Toomer so they probably won’t miss him at all.

Matt Cassel is likely out for 2-4 weeks due to MCL and ankle injuries putting the start of the season in jeopardy.  Cassel has completed 11 of 19 passes for 114 yards with 1 TD pass (92.9 QB Rating) this pre-season.  He has been without a doubt the best QB on the Chiefs’ roster.  If he can’t go when the season opens, Tyler Thigpen will get the call.  He has completed 15 of 29 passes (51.7%) for 96 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 interception (56.1 QB Rating).  He has also carried the football 6 times for 41 yards (6.8 ypc) in the pre-season.  Thigpen proved last season that he is a capable starting QB so the Chiefs are fortunate that they didn’t trade him before the season started.

The Chiefs have fired offensive co-ordinator Chan Gailey.  The Chiefs were only averaging 11.0 points per game and 288.3 total yards of offense (109.7 rushing, 178.7 passing).  Head Coach Todd Haley will assume the Offensive Co-Ordinator job.  Haley was great in that job last season for the Cardinals so it will be interesting to see how he handles working two jobs at once.

The Chiefs have released 33-year old DE Alfonso Boone.  Boone played in 15 games for the Chiefs last season and he made 17 tackles, defensed 1 pass and he had 1 sack.  Boone played two years for he Chiefs appearing in 30 games in which he made 42 tackles, defensed 6 passes and he has 2 sacks.  This is a good sign for the Chiefs’ D-Line as Boone was really running on fumes last season.