When referencing the Kansas City Chiefs defense over the next few weeks, "depleted" will be a required modifier.
Kansas City got rocked 44-14 at home by Seattle and that might not be the worse news from Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium. Starting defensive linemen Anthony Toribio (ankle) and Glenn Dorsey (knee) left the game. According to Kansas City sideline reporter Josh Looney, Toribio was taken to the locker room, and Dorsey watched the rest of the game from the sideline.
The seriousness of the injuries is not known, but karma has not been on the side of the Kansas City defense. Brandon Flowers is still out with a heel injury and his status for the Sept. 9 opener against Atlanta is unknown, FS Kendrick Lewis is out for the foreseeable future with a shoulder injury and OLB Tamba Hali will miss the Atlanta game because of suspension.
The pieces that were leftover on Kansas City's defense struggled to slow Seattle rookie QB Russell Wilson, who made his first start. The Seahawks scored on their first six series and did not have to punt until the fourth quarter. Wilson threw for 185 yards and a touchdown, and rookie RB Robert Tubin ran for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Combine Friday night with last week's 31-17 loss to St. Louis, and that's two straight games that Kansas City's defense has struggled against an offense that isn't thought to be a juggernaut.
Bowe with quiet debut, first-team offense struggles: Dwayne Bowe played sparingly in his preseason debut, catching one pass for nine yards.
It wasn't an ideal situation for Bowe, who began practicing this week after sitting out training camp. The Kansas City first-team offense struggled to sustain drives and never got in much of a rhythm.
Matt Cassel was 19 of 34 for 168 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Cassel played late into the third quarter as coach Romeo Crennel waited for him to have some positive results until he pulled him from the game.
Cassel had back-to-back turnovers in the third quarter. The first was a fumble in the red zone when he was hit from behind by DE Cordarro Law. The second was an interception right to Seattle's Earl Thomas, who returned the pass 75 yards for a touchdown.
Crennel brought Cassel out for one more series, and after he got a first down on an eight-yard pass to Jon Baldwin, backup Brady Quinn took over.
Eachus gives Chiefs one positive: It's not easy to find a positive from Friday's loss, but the Chiefs finally had some positive results in the fourth quarter when undrafted rookie RB Nate Eachus ran for 98 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
Eachus ran behind backups on the offensive line and the Chiefs got a good push on the left side from rookies Donald Stephenson and Jeff Allen. Stephenson figures to be the Chiefs top backup at tackle, and Allen is backing up Ryan Lilja at left guard.
Eachus is a long shot to make the 53-man roster, but he might have played his way onto the practice squad.
Follow Chiefs reporter C.J. Moore on Twitter @CBSSportsNFLKC and @cjmoore4.
