Matt Cassel was booed last month in Kansas City during a celebrity game at Kauffman Stadium. It might be just the preseason, but Cassel is on his way to winning back Chiefs fans.
Cassel had another solid outing in a 31-17 loss to St. Louis on Saturday night. Cassel completed 13 of 18 passes for 142 yards. Two games in, he is 18 of 24 for 209 yards and a touchdown in three quarters.
The night did not start ideally as Jon Baldwin fumbled Cassel's second pass, setting the Rams up to go ahead 14-0. Cassel settled in and led two scoring drives, including a 2-minute drill at the end of the second quarter.
The most impressive aspect of Cassel's performance through two games is his command of new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll's offense. Cassel has taken advantage of the freedom to change plays at the line of scrimmage and has typically made the right call.
That was the case during Cassel's final drive when the Chiefs took over on their own 20 with 1:10 left in the second quarter, and Cassel led a 7-play drive that set up a 44-yard Ryan Succop field goal to end the half. Cassel found TE Kevin Boss twice and targeted him three times on the drive. The free agent pickup was Cassel's favorite target on the night, finishing with four catches for 62 yards.
Secondary struggles without Flowers: The Chiefs have been without star CB Brandon Flowers since July 31. His absence was noticeable against the Rams.
Sam Bradford had no trouble picking apart the Kansas City secondary. In only two series, Bradford completed 6 of 9 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns.
Second-year CB Jalil Brown started in Flowers' place and Jacques Reeves also saw time in the left corner spot. It was a disappointing performance for the defense, considering the Rams scored only three points in their first preseason game against the Colts.
Stanzi struggles in his big audition: Ricky Stanzi got his shot at the backup quarterback spot, and it could not have gone much worse for the second-year quarterback.
Stanzi was indecisive and was unable to put any points on the boards in four series. Stanzi completed 3 of 4 passes for 24 yards and an interception. It was a batted pass that was intercepted on the ricochet, so it was tough to pin that on Stanzi as a mistake. Stanzi did get sacked four times and fumbled on a 4th-and-1 when he tried to escape out of the pocket, one of his several examples of indecisiveness.
Coach Romeo Crennel had said he wasn't sure if Brady Quinn would play Saturday. The fact that Quinn took over for Stanzi in the fourth quarter is probably not a good sign for Stanzi's bid to beat out Quinn for the backup QB job. Quinn also performed well, completing 5 of 6 passes for 70 yards and a 37-yard touchdown to Jeremy Horne.
Kendrick Lewis injures shoulder: Safety Kendrick Lewis left Saturday's game holding his right arm and throwing his helmet on the ground in frustration. According to Kansas City Star columnist Kent Babb, Crennel said that Lewis injured his right shoulder, the same shoulder Lewis had offseason surgery on.
Follow Chiefs reporter C.J. Moore on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLKC and @cjmoore4.
