The preseason debut for Patrick Mahomes spanned all of 48 seconds and included all of one pass and 1 yard.
But hey, one touchdown, too.
Mahomes’ day was short in a Chiefs 20-17 loss to the Cardinals in Glendale, Arizona — so we can halt any big-picture conclusions about the outcome.
But the details? Yeah, there’s still plenty to glean there.
For the first time in the 2025 season — err, preseason — here are five observations from immediately after the game: 1. Jason Brownlee’s emergence at WR
I don’t know how exactly the Chiefs find a spot on the 53-man for Jason Brownlee.
But I know he fits on an NFL roster somewhere.
Brownlee offers a skill-set that differentiates him from the rest of Kansas City’s room — he makes catches in traffic.
We’ve seen the Chiefs try to keep that feature on their roster in the past, with Justyn Ross and Jody Fortson before him. The argument for Brownlee is simply that he’s better.
And he is. Brownlee has consistently high-pointed footballs in the end zone over the past week in training camp, and so the Chiefs dialed up a play for him in their opening series of the preseason that asked him to do it again.
With the ball on the 1-yard line, Mahomes turned and looked to the single-covered Brownlee. The throw was intentionally wide, leaving Brownlee a chance, and he grabbed it.
Can he grab a spot on the roster?
The Chiefs are deep at wide receiver, and Brownlee certainly wasn’t someone on many lists to open camp, even if you had them keeping seven there. But it’s evident — and not just because of one play Saturday — that he can play at this level.
2. Grading the KC offensive line
The talk of camp centers on one player: Josh Simmons.
So let’s talk about him here, right?
Simmons held up well as the blindside protector for Mahomes — and then during a handful of snaps in front of backup Gardner Minshew.
It’s important to note what Simmons did encounter and what he didn’t. He at last had the opportunity to line up against an opponent not wearing a Chiefs uniform. But the Cardinals weren’t exactly running a lot of exotic blitzes — and that will be an important and new test, too.
But so far, so good. For him. Kingsley Suamataia had an up-and-down night next to Simmons, at left guard. He was beaten cleanly and quite clearly by Mack Wilson on one rep.
It’s still a work in progress.
3. The cornerback rotation
Some of the best information to be gleaned from both training camp and preseason games are the rotations.
And the most intriguing Chiefs rotation to follow is at cornerback. The Chiefs brought in free agent Kristian Fulton to line up opposite Trent McDuffie on the outside — but also let McDuffie move inside on three-receiver sets.
But Fulton has practiced only once and therefore didn’t play Saturday.
With him sidelined in the preseason opener, Jaylen Watson started — as he’s done throughout camp, though he left the game in concussion protocol and did not return.
Chamarri Conner alternated between safety and nickel cornerback, and that’s a distinct difference in how the Chiefs performed a year ago. They allowed the second most yards (1,620) to slot receivers in the NFL last season. And right off the bat, the Cardinals turned their initial third-down attempt of the game into a first down by targeting, you guessed it, the slot.
It’s a spot the Chiefs need to improve.
4. Pass defense
The Cardinals fumbled the opening kickoff, but their starting offense moved the ball with relative ease against the Chiefs defense afterward — they averaged 8.1 yards per play on 16 snaps in the first quarter. Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray was 7 for 8 for 96 yards in the quarter. (Technically, all his passes were caught. He just inexplicably threw one of them right into the hands of Jaden Hicks, who had an active day aside from the interception too.)
But Murray found some windows.
Nazeeh Johnson, who has played with the 1s for a lot of camp, got beat on a deep pass that didn’t result in a completion but drew a pass interference flag. We’ve seen that happen in St. Joseph, too.
Chris Roland-Wallace played both nickel cornerback and safety, and is likely on the inside of the roster bubble. While occupying the latter, he picked off a pass.
But among the most telling developments? Joshua Williams, a member of the famed 2022 draft class, played well into the fourth quarter. Williams has been buried on the depth chart in St. Joseph, and he might be on the wrong side of the bubble. Could the Chiefs perhaps find a trade partner?
5. Some plays that popped If Jason Brownlee makes the team, it might be at the expense of return man Nikko Remigio — so it’s notable that Remigio had a 48-yard kickoff return to set up a Chiefs touchdown. A week ago, special-teams coordinator Dave Toub referred to Remigio as hands-down the best return man on the roster.
That’s also hands-down his best path to the 53-man roster.
• Felix Anudike-Uzomah got into the backfield on an early-down pass-rush set. He’s been a forgotten name this summer, but he’s had a better camp than his last two. He’s in a battle to move up the depth chart. He also played deep into the fourth quarter.
• Matt Araiza blasted a 67-yard punt, remarkable on its own, but rookie cornerback Nohl Williams ensuring he didn’t out-kick the coverage certainly popped. Williams laid a hit on DeeJay Williams and stopped him for no return.
