Chiefs Eagles from Section 111 Row 6 by MP

So we begin another NFL season and yet another that I will continue to hope the Chiefs get better and head back to playing a respectable level of football.

I was very excited to head to Arrowhead to see the "New Body Same Soul" for the first time against the Philadelphia Eagles Friday night live and in person. Equally exciting was the renewal of our half season tickets where we are 6 rows from the field this year!

We arrived right as the gates opened and quickly found a new wrinkle from the Chiefs this year. First cars to the parking lot get to park furthest from the stadium!! Hey genius idea, think about that one. You go to an event and pay 22 beans to park and you get to get out of the way so those arriving later can park closer! Smooooooooth!!

I put that past me and headed into Arrowhead about an hour before kickoff to check out the new digs. They have a nice homage to former Chiefs in a museum type set up on the main concourse with Red lighting added for effect. Some new mural work on the walls were nice and much better from a line standpoint with concessions and also restrooms. I think they may have even thrown in a couple of extra porta-whizzers in the parking lot!!!I love my seats but couldn't help but notice that all of the renovation dollars could not been seen once you are looking at the field. No new seats, all the other stuff the same from a watching the game point of view.

Now we get to game time. First play from scrimmage and Jamaal Charles coughs it up and BANG....57 seconds in, Eagles up 7. The Chiefs offense in the first quarter was as bad as I have ever seen it. I think Cassel finished the game completing 14 or 15 passes for 85 yards! Yes, I said 85 yards!! Can you believe that? He simply cannot or they will not allow him to throw the ball down the field. They competed well all things considered, and in the second quarter ran something I think they need to run all the time, the No Huddle. While running that they marched the ball down the field and with a variety of short quick hitters from Charles, Dexter McCluster, and Thomas Jones they scored on a short pass from Cassel to Dwayne Bowe to tie it up at 7.

The defense was the best part of the deal. They got after Eagle QB Kevin Kolb all game long, collecting 5 sacks and numerous hurries. I never saw them with the exception of Tamba Hali a few times last year, get after any QB like they did Kolb. Most impressive was Andy Studebaker and DeMorrio Williams at LB and watching rookie Safety Eric Berry close on the ball. Berry will be a big-timer!! Most disappointing was fat, nose tackle playing DE, Glenn Dorsey. Tyson Jackson another top choice from LSU, like Dorsey was equally pathetic.

The defense played well and the offense was decent and it turned into a good, but ugly game. Rookies WR/RB McCluster and return specialist Javier Arenas were fun to watch and should prove to be very good draft picks. The Eagles got a fluky TD against a weak Chiefs prevent defense to win 20-17. Still the Chiefs lose again and bottom line, I do not care if pre-season or not, we need wins!!!

The long ride back I listened to 810 Sports and Todd Haley talk about the fact the Chiefs were going to play that way all year. More or less making excuses for the Chiefs already. Personally I think if Haley lays an egg against San Diego and maybe another early home loss, I would get him out of here and back to doing something he knows, Golfing! Matt Cassel must improve. He seems to lack vision of the field. He should not have the excuses of poor offensive line play like he did last year, they looked much better.

Overall it was still fun. Walking out of the Stadium I looked up and saw the "middle level" or where the yellow seats are, and from outside you can see the new enclosed area with new bar, new seating area, all posh stuff. It seems to me the renovations were made to placate the "blue bloods", not the true fans. I thought there were some nice touches and a few cool deals, but really to me it was the same as it has been. That is still fantastic, but maybe I was expecting too much. The parking thing chapped me quite a bit, but hopefully they will come to their senses on that.

I always look forward to going, but am becoming impatient with the Chiefs. "New Body Same Soul" is the season motto with the new Arrowhead....maybe the Chiefs motto should be "New Stadium Same Disappointment." If Todd Haley and Matt Cassel cannot figure it out soon, that is exactly what it will be.