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ONE-ON-ONE BATTLE: NISWANGER VS. WILLIAMS
August 21st – 5:53 PM

Chiefs C Rudy Niswanger has seen the 3-4 defensive front for the better part of three weeks in River Falls. He’s banged heads with DT Ron Edwards and had a handful of nice battles with DT Tank Tyler. Tonight, Niswanger will be put to the test once again as one of the league’s best nose tackles will line head-up over Niswanger.

The Vikings boast Pro Bowl NT Pat Williams in the center of their defensive front. Extremely powerful and adept at shedding blockers to stop the run, the 317-pound Williams almost always requires a double team.

Be sure to watch 64 white battle 94 purple up front tonight.

VIKES SCRATCH THREE; ALLEN DRESSING
August 21st – 5:28 PM

Hot off the press, straight from the home locker room. Out for the Vikings are TE Jim Kleinsasser, TE Garrett Mills and WR Bernard Berrian.

DE Jared Allen, who has been battling an ankle injury, will dress against his former team tonight, but will not start. DE Brian Robison will start in Allen’s place. WR Jaymar Johnson will go for Berrian.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE CHIEFS/VIKINGS MEMORY?
August 21st – 5:03 PM

Most memorable Chiefs/Vikings game? Without question Super Bowl IV.

Maybe that question should be re-phrased a bit. What is your most memorable moment witnessed live between the Chiefs and Vikings (If you were at Super Bowl IV then this obviously doesn’t change)?

For me, the answer to that question would be the 2007 home opener vs. the Vikings. It involves KC Wolf, stadium police and a streaker. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOofejdChSg

CHIEFS OFFICIALLY SCRATCH FOUR
August 21st – 4:31 PM

The team has arrived and a LS Thomas Gafford is the first Chief on the field taking a few laps. We’ve received word from the locker room that four Chiefs will not dress tonight.

Out for KC: QB Tyler Thigpen, RB Kolby Smith, LB Zach Thomas and G Tavares Washington.

Minnesota scratches will be confirmed when they become available.

ONE TO WATCH - CHIEFS & VIKINGS
August 21st – 1:27 PM

With 160 men competing inside the Metrodome this evening, it’s hard to pick just one player on each side to spotlight. These two players, however, I find the most intriguing going into the second preseason game (and no, Brett Favre isn’t one of them).

Chiefs CB Maurice Leggett - Leggett was a great story a year ago. He came into camp as a little-known rookie free agent from NCAA Division II Saginaw Valley State. By the time that the cards all fell, Leggett was the primary nickel back, started three games at cornerback and won the Chiefs Mack Lee Hill Award (rookie of the year).

A year later, it seems Leggett still has his grasp on the nickel position (his sack last weekend came out of the nickel set), but he’s also putting his hat into the return mix. Leggett has worked on returns through much of the offseason (he did return five kickoffs in 2008) and, if practice reps are any indication, he will likely get a chance to show his stuff tonight at the dome.

The battle for return positions is both intriguing and wide open. Head coach Todd Haley has publicly stated that he’s looking for someone to step up and take charge of the return battle. Can Leggett be that guy?

If he performs well in this role tonight and wins the punt and/or kick return duties, his presence as a deep man will likely alter the look of Kansas City’s final 53-man roster. Time will tell.

Vikings WR Percy Harvin - ESPN’s John Clayton traveled straight from Vikings training camp in Mankato, MN before his camp tour parking in River Falls for a one-day stay two weeks ago. He arrived on the day that the Chiefs battled through wet conditions, so I was lucky enough to watch practice with him under the shelter of the Ramer Field press box.

Clayton told me two things about the Vikings…
1) Brett Favre would sign with the Vikings a few weeks into camp
2) Harvin is the second-most exciting player in Vikings camp (the first would be RB Adrian Peterson)

So far Clayton is batting 1.000 and we’ll see a glimpse of part two tonight. Harvin was electric as a big-play receiver at Florida a year ago. We’ll see how he matches up with CB Brandon Flowers tonight.

NEWS NON-FAVRE
August 21st – 10:48 AM

You might have to dig a bit to find any Vikings stories non-Favre related today, but there are some noteworthy mentionables regarding some knicked Vikings.

It’s a near certainty that former Chiefs DE Jared Allen will be held out tonight. Allen sprained his right ankle earlier this week and his missed the majority of practice sessions over the course of the week.

QB Sage Rosenfels (who was once battling for the Vikings starting quarterback position) will also likely miss tonight’s exhibition affair with a right ankle injury. Other Vikings who have missed practice time this week include WR Bernard Berrian (hamstring), TE Jim Kleinsasser (hand) and CB Marcus McCauley (undisclosed).

On the Chiefs injury front - S Bernard Pollard, G Tavares Washington, RB Kolby Smith, LB Zach Thomas and QB Tyler Thigpen all missed part or all of the AM session on Wednesday. The Chiefs PM session was washed out and held indoors, while yesterday was a Vikings focused walk-thru.

CHIEFS HEAD TO MINNY THIS AFTERNOON

August 21st – 9:45 AM

What a preseason situation the Chiefs have found themselves in. When was the last time you’ve seen a preseason contest gain such national attention? Tonight’s Chiefs/Vikings preseason matchup has reached national media coverage that rival that of a playoff game. Notice I keep emphasizing the word PRESEASON. It’s easy to lose perspective when the entire football world is talking non-stop about a preseason game. I was actually at dinner last night when “Favre, Favre, Favre” chants broke out, mid-dining…and I wasn’t at the Sizzler.

Yes, for those of you who haven’t had internet, television, newspaper or human contact over the past few days, QB Brett Favre is now a Viking and he’s expected to make his Minnesota debut against the Chiefs tonight. This game went from an unassuming exhibition matchup to a straight-up madhouse overnight.

The once certain to be half-filled Metrodome has turned into a sold out venue sure to be packed with purple people eaters decked out in crisp #4 Vikes jerseys (fresh with formaldehyde scent). Ticketmaster even had to set up additional infrastructure just to meet the sudden rush of Vikings tickets demands.

“I think this will be a great challenge for us, an excellent pre-season game,” Head coach Todd Haley said. “Minnesota being indoors Brett Favre and all that, those fans will obviously be excited and I think it’ll be a game I’m kind of looking forward to. We’ll get a lot of out of it as a team.”

Vikings fans will be showing their horns loud and proud tonight, making it a perfect atmosphere for the Chiefs to experience tonight. The fireworks will launch, Favre’s name will be called out by the stadium PA and #4 will come trotting out of the tunnel to absolute fan insanity. The pandemonium in store for the game’s opening kickoff cannot be simulated. The only way to experience something like this is to actually go and experience something like this.

When you think about it though, the buzz surrounding Favre’s Vikings debut couldn’t be better prep work for the Chiefs. In fact, the Chiefs have hit a preseason goldmine. Kansas City may be the only NFL team that will have prepared for a hostile regular-season road crowd during the preseason. The first-team offense will get a real-time simulation of deafening crowd noise against an adrenaline-fueled defense amped for the 2009 home debut.

“It’s great,” Chiefs QB Matt Cassel said yesterday about the buzz surrounding tonight’s game. “I think people are excited about it and it brings energy to the game.”

That Vikings defense also happens to be one of the league’s elite, particularly along the front seven. Minnesota returns three Pro Bowlers from a year ago in the trenches (DE Jared Allen, NT Pat Williams and DT Kevin Williams) and is led on the second-level by former 2006 first-rounder LB Chad Greenway.

Pre-Favre, the Vikings offense boasted the NFL’s best rusher from a season ago as RB Adrian Peterson took home the league’s rushing crown with 1,760 yards on the ground. Post-Favre, the Vikes offense still centers on Peterson, but head coach Brad Childress and company hope that the addition of Favre stretches defenses to open up even more room for Peterson to run. Respecting the Vikings air attack is now is must with Favre throwing to WRs Bernard Berrian, Bobby Wade and explosive rookie Percy Harvin.

You can’t ask for a better preseason scenario. Tonight, Kansas City will go up against a very good football team in a very tough environment. This is an August preseason contest masquerading itself as a primetime mid-season battle.

Complete 16 page release (PDF)