Several Kansas City leaders have missed an opportunity against the Steelers

The pre-season games are a chance for players to gain alignment and play time. This week, several Kansas City leaders missed the opportunity against the Steelers.

The Kansas City Chiefs lost 17-7 to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night. If you missed it and want to know how the game unfolds, here is the result: it was a boring game, without a story, without inspiration, without rain, in fashion, at the snoozefest where only a handful of Chiefs were doing all that was worthy of their place on the list. If I had to summarize the game to one word, it would be: disappointing.

I am one of those who likes preparatory games. I'm pretty nerd of training to see the guys on the bubble arguing over the last places. I am actually interested in knowing who the offensive linemen are. I even pay attention to reserve players who are trying to attack special teams because I know it could have a bigger impact on who occupies this final place on the list of 53 players than on their performance at their current position.

So when I say that the second preseason game of the Chiefs was disappointing, it has nothing to do with the fact that Patrick Mahomes only played for a quarter (25) (although one more player would have been good). It has nothing to do with the fact that the Chiefs lost the game. This is because I have not seen enough of these players from the bottom of the list fit in and earn their place.

In the fourth quarter, a Pittsburgh player screamed at the Steelers' offensive shouting, "They want to go home. They continued to nibble their defense against an almost apathetic Chiefs defense. Unfortunately, it's an accurate description of how 90% of the chefs looked for the entire game.

Let me be clear. My outlook on the Chiefs season has not changed dramatically by this sad performance. The Chiefs are absolutely Super Bowl candidates and if they faced the Steelers again this weekend, which meant that the game counted, I would confidently choose the Chiefs to win the match.

What has bothered me is that a lot of players who are still fighting for time or a place in the workforce have lost a very good opportunity to win those jobs in this game. If this continues, I would not be surprised if leaders are looking for players who are not currently on the list to fill these positions when the lists will be reduced in a few weeks.

Before I get to the Chiefs who miss their chance, I want to thank five players who, I believe, took the time they had to strengthen their role on the team.

Hardman mole
Two pre-season games, two touchdowns for Hardman. I liked how he reached and plucked on a saturday with his hands. Hardman is clearly more than a fast guy and a man back, he will have a real role in the offense.

Tanoh Kpassagnon
Kpass continues to look like a new man in Steve Spagnuolo's defense. He played a lot last night and what was really impressive was that he was still shining late in the third quarter as the Chiefs' defense looked totally disgusted.

Ben Niemann
Niemann will never be a star player in the NFL, but if you want to see someone who is doing everything possible to play, that is Niemann, your type. I will not be surprised if he gets some first representatives of the chain once the season starts.

Darwin Thompson
Thompson is just better than Carlos Hyde and Darrel Williams. He has demonstrated a real playing ability in the NFL in both games and should clearly be the type that points to starter Damien Williams when games count.

Cody Thompson
Marcus Kemp looked like a lock to do the lineup, but as I'm typing this, we think he tore his ACL in Saturday's game. I'm sure Thompson would not have wanted that to happen, but the fact that he pulled himself together and came off the screen produced all the other outsiders combined on Saturday while another spot from the WR team had opened up was huge for him.

Now that we've covered the few good things in the game, here are the Chiefs who, I think, needed the most on Saturday, but did not do it.