By Matt McMullen – Chiefs.com Reporter
The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Los Angeles Rams, 20-12, in the preseason opener on Saturday afternoon, but despite the result, several notable performances stood out throughout the game.
“[It was] good to get a preseason game under our belt,” said Head Coach Andy Reid. “There were some good things, and there are some things we got to clean up…We were able to get a good look at some of our young guys, and I thought there was some real production there, on both sides of the ball, from the young guys.”
Kansas City’s defense, specifically, turned in a strong showing on Saturday – particularly in the first half. The Chiefs held Los Angeles to a 1-for-5 mark on third down through the first two quarters of play, yielding just six total points on five possessions.
Safety Jaden Hicks was soundly in the middle of that effort with a team-leading seven tackles, but perhaps the third-year defensive back’s top play of the day took place when he broke up a would-be touchdown at the goal line late in the first quarter.
That overall performance limited the Rams to just a pair of field goals as halftime arrived, and on the other side of the ball, rookie tailback Emmett Johnson had the Chiefs moving up and down the field with 59 rushing yards on just 12 carries. Penalties prevented Kansas City from finishing numerous promising drives with touchdowns though, which included a holding call that wiped out a 4-yard touchdown run by Johnson midway through the second quarter.
Still, while Kansas City had to settle for two field goals and a 6-6 tie heading into the break, Johnson’s performance left an impression in spite of the ultimate results.
“He ran hard and aggressive,” Reid said. “He had some yards after contact out there, which is a big thing. He was one of the positives coming out of this. I thought he did a nice job.”
Three quarterbacks took the field for Kansas City on Saturday as Justin Fields, Garrett Nussmeier and Chris Oladokun each had an opportunity to lead the Chiefs’ offense for multiple drives. It was Nussmeier, the Chiefs’ seventh-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, that led Kansas City on an 11-play, 51-yard series that culminated in a go-ahead 59-yard field goal by kicker Harrison Butker early in the third quarter.
Nussmeier finished his outing by completing 13-of-19 passes for 98 yards, demonstrating the ability that made him one of the top quarterbacks in all of college football during his time at LSU.
“I thought he did some nice things,” Reid said. “For his first time out there rolling, I thought he handled it well and made some nice throws. He had some long yardage situations that he had to get himself out of, and he did a good job there.”
Los Angeles then proceeded to respond with consecutive touchdown drives that pushed the Rams ahead by two scores, however, but Kansas City – led by Oladokun – made a game of it when rookie tailback Jaydn Ott hauled in a 27-yard pass deep into Los Angeles territory late in the fourth quarter. Ott’s efforts set up another field goal by Butker and cut the deficit to a single score, but the Rams recovered the ensuing onside kick, and that was that.
In terms of injuries, offensive tackle Chu Godrick (ankle) left Saturday’s game early.
Next up, the Chiefs will return to St. Joseph for their final week of training camp at Missouri Western State University before taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this upcoming Saturday.
