Well, it’s finally here: something that resembles a thing that is not entirely unlike the NFL took place on Friday, and a team that somewhat resembles what the San Francisco 49ers might be this season played a team that somewhat resembles an approximation of what the Kansas City Chiefs might be this season.
The preseason is the preseason, and while I’m sure everyone is excited that football is back, that game really wasn’t good by any stretch of the imagination. Prepare to read that at least three more times (and possibly more given we’re dealing with the 49ers, but for now, optimism can’t hurt).
The 49ers beat the Chiefs, 27-17, but most of this happened when the starters were done. Brian Hoyer didn’t see the field for long, nor did the starting offensive linemen. Aaron Lynch posted two sacks and looked great, as did many players in the front seven.
As usual, I captured some gifs during play, which you can find on my Twitter feed, and as usual, I have some general, unsorted thoughts that I’m just going to post in order below. Tomorrow, we’ll have more follow-ups on the game, a DOOM INDEX poll and a bunch more.
Go ahead and use this as an overfill thread following the first recap.
- Rashard Robinson sure was bad on the opening drive, and the touchdown can definitely be blamed on him. He got the most hype of anybody in training camp, so that wasn’t a good look.
- Of course, he did have an interception a bit later that showcased some good hands, even if it was a bad throw from the quarterback.
- I thought it was interesting how quickly they replaced the entire offensive line. They might feel more comfortable with some of those position battles than you’d think, and there may not be much left to battle for at some of those positions.
- Aldrick Robinson sure does have some jets on him, doesn’t he? That catch and run was a thing of beauty, and he showed up multiple times in the game.
- The longest red zone opportunity in the world was certainly a sad one, but I ultimately thought it was called well by Shanahan. He ran it when he was supposed to run it, and with starters in there, he has to show confidence. There were not starters in at that point, but still. The play-calling should remain consistent.
- Matt Barkley threw the ball well and executed the play action much better than I expected, though there were times I thought he held onto the football for too long.
- Aaron Lynch sure looks beefy, doesn’t he? He’s put on some weight, but he sure looked good on Friday. He played against a lot of backups and made them look like ... backups. I really hope he plays well enough to get a serious role on the defense.
- C.J. Beathard’s touchdown to Kendrick Bourne was pretty nice. How is that Beathard Hype Train coming along, folks?
- Marcus Rush kind of kicked the tar out of the 49ers, didn’t he? Rush is a notable fourth quarter preseason star for the 49ers of the past, and now he’s doing the same for the Chiefs.
- Solomon Thomas didn’t make huge plays, but he played a whole lot in the game, an that was a good sign. He had a quarterback hit and applied consistent pressure to go with his two tackles.
- Both Joe Williams and Matt Breida looked great in the open field. They showed good vision, but I thought both were lacking in short-yardage situations.