KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One seemingly couldn’t tell which team was playing its National Football League preseason opener on Friday night at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Kansas City Chiefs, making their debut, appeared crisp in building a 14-0 lead with their first-team offense during a 27-17 victory over the listless Arizona Cardinals (0-2).

Quarterback Matt Cassel finished 5-for-6 passing for 67 yards and running back Dexter McCluster caught three passes for 45 yards, as the Chiefs’ starters scored on their first two possessions and were done for the night by late in the first quarter.

“Another thing we wanted to do was to see how this new offense would operate,” Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel said. “We felt like they did a good job, particularly the first half with the offense driving the ball down and getting a score; the defense coming on the field and getting a stop to put the offense back on the field and got another score.”

In their initial touchdown, the Chiefs drove 72 yards in 12 plays, capped by Cassel’s 11-yard touchdown pass to running back Peyton Hillis at the 8:09 mark. After coming out of the backfield to haul in a Cassel aerial, wide-open in the left flat, Hillis ran untouched to the end zone.

Kansas City quickly made it 14-0, capped by Shaun Draughn’s 4-yard TD run at the 4:19 mark. All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles, coming off a 2011 season-ending anterior cruciate knee ligament tear, caught an 11-yard pass in the left flat to get the drive started.

After Hillis gained 28 yards up the middle, McCluster caught a pass on the left side from Cassel and darted 29 yards, setting up first-and-goal for the Chiefs inside the 10-yard line.

By the 3:32 mark in the first quarter, Brady Quinn took over for Cassel while the backups and others battling for roster spots began trickling in. Ricky Stanzi also played at quarterback in the second half for the Chiefs.

• Powell puts up 92 rushing yards

A bright spot for Arizona was running back William Powell, who rushed for 92 yards in nine carries, including a game-best 67-yard gain. His 2-yard scoring run capped a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive, helping slash Kansas City’s lead to 17-10 with 10:32 left in the third quarter.

Powell played at Kansas State in 2009-10, serving as a kick returner, as well as a backup running back to the Miami Dolphins’ Daniel Thomas, the two-time Big 12 Conference rushing champ (2009-10).

Powell’s senior season with the Wildcats was cut short because of a foot injury. He was leading the NCAA in return yardage at the time of going on the shelf.

Now Powell is out to make the most of his opportunity.

The likes of running back Beanie Wells has returned to practice for the Cards in coming off the physically unable-to-perform list after undergoing offseason knee surgery. Wells rushed for 1,097 yards and 10 touchdowns last season despite a sore knee.

• Bowe in town?

According to numerous media reports, there was a reported sighting of unsigned wide receiver Dwayne Bowe at Kansas City International Airport on Friday.

Crennel wouldn’t confirm nor deny the report.

“I wasn’t at the airport so I don’t know if Dwayne was in town or not,” Crennel said. “I’ve just been working with the guys that have been here and getting them better. We made some plays in the receiving game. We missed some plays in the receiving game. We’ll work on that and go from there.”

Bowe, the Chiefs’ leading receiver the past three seasons, was franchised this year but has refused to sign a contract tender that would pay him nearly $9.5 million for the year.

The Chiefs refused to give Bowe a long-term contract and he has been absent since training camp opened on July 27, although he is not expected to miss the regular season.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Preseason

Friday night

At Kansas City, Mo.
Arrowhead Stadium

Kansas City 27, Arizona 17
Team               1  2  3  4      F
Arizona            0  3  7  7 — 17
KC                   14 3  3  7 — 27

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
KC — Hillis 11 pass from Cassel (Succop kick), 8:09.
KC — Draughn 4 run (Succop kick), 4:13.
Second Quarter
KC — FG Succop 22, 11:20.
Ari — FG Feely 40, :02.
Third Quarter
Ari — Powell 2 run (Feely kick), 10:32.
KC — FG Succop 24, 4:33.
Fourth Quarter
KC — Gray 7 run (Succop kick), 13:31.
Ari — J.Johnson 18 pass from Bartel (Feely kick), 8:28.
A — 64,212.

TEAM STATISTICS
                                   Ari    KC
First downs                    17    21
Total Net Yards            283    356
Rushes-yards          24-153    41-166
Passing                       130    190
Punt Returns                1-1    4-68
Kickoff Returns           1-25    2-46
Interceptions Ret.         1-5    1-37
Comp-Att-Int         15-28-1    14-26-1
Sacked-Yards Lost      7-43    0-0
Punts                       7-52.0    5-40.4
Fumbles-Lost                2-1    1-0
Penalties-Yards           6-90    6-59
Possession                26:30    33:30

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Arizona, Powell 9-92, Smith 9-40, Clayton 3-14, Bartel 1-3, Lindley 1-3, Stephens-Howling 1-1. Kansas City, Gray 15-65, Hillis 4-41, Draughn 12-26, Quinn 3-13, Charles 3-12, Stanzi 3-7, Cassel 1-2.
PASSING — Arizona, Bartel 5-6-0-69, Lindley 6-11-0-48, J.Skelton 3-6-1-35, Kolb 1-5-0-21. Kansas City, Quinn 7-13-1-81, Cassel 5-6-0-67, Stanzi 2-7-0-42.
RECEIVING — Arizona, Byrd 3-33, Roberts 2-18, Sampson 1-21, I.Williams 1-21, J.Johnson 1-18, Fitzgerald 1-17, S.Skelton 1-12, Crump 1-9, Powell 1-9, Dray 1-6, Heap 1-6, Floyd 1-3. Kansas City, Maneri 3-69, McCluster 3-45, Copper 2-16, Newsome 2-16, O’Connell 1-15, Charles 1-11, Hillis 1-11, Wylie 1-7.
MISSED FIELD GOALS — None.