Chiefs vs. Saints: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More

The NFL's exhibition season is finally getting into full swing this week, with teams across the league finally stepping off the practice field and into real game settings—if only for a couple possessions. 

While each team will want to get its slate off to a good start, there are perhaps no two teams more eager to do so than the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints, who kick off their preseasons against one another Friday night. Both sides are coming off seasons—and subsequent offseasons—filled with strife, turnover and (hopefully) improvement in the regular season.

For Chiefs fans, this will be their first glimpse at a man whom Eagles fans got quite used to over this past decade. New head coach Andy Reid will be making his debut in red, bringing with him perhaps the most improved roster in the league.

Alex Smith is Kansas City's new starting quarterback. He takes over for the misery-packed duo of Brady Quinn and Matt Cassel, a friendly duo who led the club to a 2-14 record and the first pick in the 2013 NFL draft. Reid's first major move as coach was choosing Eric Fisher over Luke Joeckel, and he also drafted tight end Travis Kelce and running back Knile Davis in Round 3. This team should, in theory, be vastly improved offensively.

Standing across the field will be Sean Payton, who likely is just happy to be there. The Saints coach spent his 2012 season exiled from the sidelines, suspended for the entire campaign due to the BountyGate scandal. New Orleans wasn't top-pick-overall bad with Payton out, finishing 7-9, but he did watch on as the offense became turnover-prone, and the defense had one of the worst seasons in NFL history.

The Saints also face some personnel challenges, and defensive coordinator Rob Ryan will be able to fix both issues. Friday we'll get out first good look at whether either side will fix its problems. 

With that in mind, let's check in on everything you need to know about the preseason opener.  

Game Information

When: Friday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans

Watch: CST/WVUE FOX-8

Live Stream: NFL Preseason Live (paid service)

Radio: Saints Radio Network, Chiefs Radio Network 

Spread: Saints -3 (via Vegas Insider)

Over/Under: 36.5 (via Vegas Insider)

Injuries

Players to Watch

Chiefs: RT Eric Fisher

It's inherently difficult to judge the performances of offensive linemen without the handy all-22 film. It's nearly impossible to pick up on the intricacies of a play, note the block schemes and gaps that needed to be filled and see where a play went right/wrong in live action.

Anyone can see when George Selvie embarrasses Dallas Thomas on national television. When you draft a guy to be your franchise tackle for the next decade, though, you sure as hell don't want to see anything like that. But if you do, it's one play; no need for pink slips here.

That's what makes Fisher such an interesting watch in this game—even if he's only on the field for a few plays. We forget now that Kansas City's decision to take him over Joeckel was pretty controversial at the time. Joeckel was widely seen as the safer choice. Almost everyone you talked to had Joeckel pegged for the top overall pick. Fisher was more of a curiosity item, equipped with superstar skills and athleticism but questions about his ability to handle NFL-level talent. 

So far, the transition from Central Michigan stud to NFL world-beater hasn't gone swimmingly. ESPN's John Clayton notes while Reid is impressed with his progress, Fisher has struggled against veterans during practice. His consistency has waxed and waned like any rookie, with a hand injury at least giving Kansas City some solace. It's unclear just how bad the situation has gotten in practices—Reid has stayed encouraging throughout—but it'll be interesting to see how he handles his first game situation.

For his part, Fisher seemed excited.

“It’s going to be huge for me,’’ Fisher said, per Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star. “I finally get to experience the NFL for real. I’m excited to get down there.’’

We're not going to get a great judgement from one game. No one knows just how long Reid plans on keeping his starters in for this contest, though the first and final preseason games tend to give those stars the shortest stays. 

What's more, Ryan isn't going to go all-out and show his most intricate blitz packages. Fisher will mostly be seeing vanilla looks against top-tier talent. While that's not a perfect space in which to assess, it's the best anyone in Kansas City will have until preseason game No. 2.

Saints: S Kenny Vaccaro

I'll say this about Vaccaro: He's certainly making an impression this year in Saints camp. The team's first-round pick was brought in to bring toughness and protection to the back of the New Orleans defense, and it seems like he's at least brought the former.

In the first week of practice, he was already mixing it up with teammates—and not just your average practice-squad camp body. Vaccaro and Jimmy Graham nearly started an all-out brawl after getting into a scuffle, per Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com. He's also been among the hardest-hitting and most intense players during practices, drilling Pierre Thomas in a non-contact drill and discarding Travaris Cadet like a rag doll by throwing him to the ground by his shoulder pads.

If you think that's a little over the top, well, Vaccaro said that's just the way he plays.

"

I love football. I'm reckless. That's just the way I am. I have a physical nature. If anything you have to slow me down before you speed me up. I approach every practice like that and it's not going to stop until somebody says, "Hey, relax," Every team needs a guy that's going to be like that -- a little craziness, a little edge to him.

"

While fans were initially excited about adding an aggressive player to the roster, that quickly turned into trepidation earlier this week. Vaccaro was involved in a tackle in a Saints scrimmage Saturday that left wide receiver Joe Morgan with a torn meniscus and partial ACL tear, per an ESPN report.

Amid a bit of backlash, Morgan was expected to be integral to the New Orleans offense—Morgan took to Twitter to defend his teammate:

That said, Vaccaro's aggressiveness has been quite the topic of conversation. Right tackle Zach Strief acknowledged that the former Texas standout can push his aggressiveness too far at times, especially considering these players are, you know, his teammates and such.

All of this has to make Vaccaro an interesting wild card during what would otherwise be your standard preseason contest. Remember, aggressiveness does not necessarily equate to excellence from the safety spot. Guys in Vaccaro's position have multiple responsibilities on every play, and making the initial read at the line of scrimmage is vital.

Smart aggressiveness is (obviously) good. If Vaccaro reads right, he can blast in and make spectacular plays on the ball the way he did at Texas. The problem is that any misstep in this league can lead to a touchdown. And if Vaccaro's practice reports are any indication, I'd be more worried about that over-aggression than I am excited about his intensity at this point. 

Prediction

We all know that making preseason predictions is guesswork and you don't ever, ever want to make a wager on these contests, right? OK, good.

But if the excitement is too much to bear and the office pool for some reason starts in the preseason—you all should fire Bob from accounting for even suggesting that—selecting the opener is more about assessing a team's depth—particularly on offense.

Neither defense is going to show anything other than vanilla looks during the preseason's opener, giving the contest a feel of little more than a sanctioned scrimmage. Anyone who's ever been through a sanction scrimmage will tell you how easy those are for offenses.

A quick gander at the Chiefs' initial depth chart shows one thing above all else offensively: They're up a creek without a paddle if Smith gets hurt. Sitting behind the former 49ers signal-caller is a threesome led by Chase Daniel, who spent his first three seasons in New Orleans and threw exactly nine passes. Behind him are Tyler Bray and Ricky Stanzi, the former interesting as a long-term project and the former...no thanks.

But Kansas City does have an excellent, excellent backfield. Jamaal Charles won't see much work, but rookie Knile Davis and Cyrus Gray are both interesting and explosive pieces who make a solid contrast with bruiser Shaun Draughn. There isn't much of a palette here to work with as a whole unless one of the backup quarterbacks excels, though.

As for New Orleans, the home team at least superficially looks more talented. Seneca Wallace and Luke McCown are both NFL quarterbacks with experience. The team's never-ending stable of running backs remains on the team, each of whom should get a few carries assuming health. And defensively, there's always the possibility that Vaccaro just loads up and decides to clothesline the living hell out of someone.

It's not much of a reason, but I'm grabbing the Saints here for a cover.

Score Prediction: Saints 24, Chiefs 17

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