Arrowhead Pride
On Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Chicago Bears for their first (and only) home game of the 2025 preseason on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Facing rainy conditions (and a 9 p.m. Arrowhead Time kickoff) last Friday night against the Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City kept many of its starters out of the game as it collected a 33-16 loss.
But on Wednesday, head coach Andy Reid confirmed that in this matchup, the Chiefs’ starters would see some action, giving us one more chance to see the team before the regular season begins in two weeks.
A week ago, Jaylon Moore got the nod at right tackle while Jawaan Taylor stayed out of the game. Taylor had been coming back from an injury during the offseason, so we assume the Chiefs didn’t want to risk aggravating it. But Moore did a fine job in his place, leading to speculation that Kansas City might consider giving Moore the starting job.
At left guard, Kingsley Suamataia once again struggled with pass protection in Seattle. The team has also considered playing Moore at left guard, but we have yet to see this in a preseason matchup. Reid has often said that “the best five” offensive linemen will play. If Moore ends up in this group, he could end up playing right tackle or left guard at some point this season.
Defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah suffered a hamstring injury during the waning moments of the Seahawks game. The injury was severe enough that he landed on the Chiefs’ Reserve/Injured list, where he could spend the whole season. This came just one week after defensive end Janarius Robinson went onto IR after fracturing his foot in the preseason Week 1 matchup with the Arizona Cardinals.
Both players were primed to make the roster. Other players will need to step up.
The Chiefs’ only defensive ends with NFL experience are George Karlaftis, Mike Danna, Charles Omenihu and Malik Herring. Karlaftis, Danna and Omenihu have all been key cogs in the defense during the past two seasons. In some situations, we’ve even seen them on the field simultaneously. Herring has mostly been a reserve player.
Rookie defensive end Ashton Gillotte will probably hear his number called most often — but after that, it gets murky. Watch to see how often Gillotte is out there.
One of training camp’s standouts has been rookie linebacker Jeff Bassa. The Oregon product still needs some development, but he has made an impact on defense and special teams during the first two preseason games.
Reserve linebacker Jack Cochrane will miss Friday’s game with an injury, which sets the table for Bassa to play more snaps as an inside linebacker as he continues to adjust to the NFL’s speed.
So far, Bassa has made most of his plays by using his downhill attacking style as a blitzer. He can improve in two...
