Because of injuries, the Kansas City Chiefs are only dressing three wide receivers.

Larry Johnson has not played in a regular season football game since November 4th, 2007. The Chiefs' fullback is a brand-new rookie.

The offensive line is still very much in flux and unstable as a unit.

What kind of production can we possibly expect from this offense?

Let me make an unpopular prediction - Our offense is going to be extremely unproductive this weekend against the Patriots and for at least a few weeks after that. Let me tell you why. And this is more about the direction of the team over the next few weeks than specifically about this Sunday's match up.

I am in no way a believer in this offensive line until I see actual production on the field. I need to see it with my eyes for me to believe it. I need to see Larry Johnson running through big gaps in the line, defensive players flattened and most importantly in the rushing game stats.

I still feel stung from last season when I thought, not especially strongly mind you, but I thought that the Chiefs line would be adequate going into the regular season. And frankly, I have not seen really anything in the preseason to make me think that the line has improved much over last year's squad.

That mistake and the misjudgement by the Chiefs coaching staff has really jaded me to being a homer. It can make you look ridiculous and make you really question your judgement.

Next, behind Dwayne Bowe, the Chiefs have nearly zero depth at wide receiver. I know Maurice Price and Will Franklin are solid prospects and me saying zero depth is in no way criticizing their talents or the talents of Darling, Webb or Robinson.

My point is about our reveiver draft picks - they are unknown wide receiver talents in the NFL. Unknown. We really have no clue how much they will help this team. They should help this team. Wide receivers are notoriously hard to judge coming into the NFL draft. Past drafts are riddled with sickeningly high draft pick choices spent on wide receivers who never lived up to a tenth of their hype.

If the pressure is that high on a top WR draft pick and the odds that poor, then certainly those odds worsen as you drop into the fourth round (Franklin) and down to the undrafted college free agents (Price).

Again, we just don't know with these guys. Even Bowe is still proving himself after a huge rookie year. Expectations are heavy on him as well.

To top it all off, the Chiefs are starting the regular season tomorrow against what was last year one of the greatest regular season football teams of all time. At the very least, this game will be a major, major test for a young team. I like that we are playing the Patriots right off the bat. Baptism by fire. Let's throw them in and see what they can do.

What about your thoughts about this Chiefs offense?

It was a rainy morning in River Falls, WI, and because of that, the Kansas City Chiefs worked out inside. Here are a few updates from UW-RF site and WPI. The AM practice pictures are here. The Chiefs should be taking the practice field around 3 PM for a more robust practice session.

• "Kansas City’s starting five on the offensive line remains, left to right, Branden Albert, Brian Waters, Rudy Niswanger, Adrian Jones and Damion McIntosh. Albert, KC’s second first-round pick, showed no ill effects from the ankle he sprained earlier this offseason, and was light on his feet."


• "The Chiefs rotated wide receivers with the first-team offense. Dwayne Bowe, Bobby Sippio, Devard Darling, Jeff Webb and Will Franklin all received reps with Brodie Croyle under center. Oliver Hoyte, Mike Cox and Chris Manderino split reps at fullback."


• "Dwayne Bowe is full of energy. With Jared Allen gone, he’s definitely the heartbeat of this year’s Chiefs team. Today he played free safety with the walkthrough defense (normally comprised of offensive backups), and playfully acted like he might deliver a big hit to anyone who caught a ball in front of him, including his cousin Bobby Sippio. Bowe stayed after the walkthrough for an energetic game of catch with tight end Tony Gonzalez and linebacker Donnie Edwards."


• "Head Coach Herm Edwards held a press conference at the close of practice. He discussed the importance of holding a walk-through versus a full-strength practice. "We have so many young guys; it’s good to give them a walk-through like this," Edwards said. He also said this morning’s walk-through would settle the players’ anxiety and serve as a teaching session. Walk-throughs also give the special teams’ players an opportunity to run more drills. The only injury Edwards said was affecting the team right now was the recovery rookie wide receiver Kevin Robinson. Edwards said that Robinson had his knee cleaned out about a month ago. "He’s on the mend," said Edwards, "but he should be ready to play in the preseason game at Chicago.'"


• "Tamba Hali and Ron Edwards were two of the defensive linemen who saw quality time during the mock-snap drills. Rookie DaJuan Morgan was also seeing some first-string time in the safety position. Throughout the practice, the defense seemed more leisure than the offense, primarily focusing on one drill, using only two strings of players."

Oh man, it felt good to post this. Training camp has officially started! More updates later tonight and don't forget about AP's birthday tomorrow! We're turning two!