Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley watches his team practice in River Falls, Wis. Haley and the Chiefs will get their final test of the preseason tonight in St. Louis.

Kansas City, Mo. ? Here’s how the final preseason game usually plays out: the starters hang around the sideline yukking it up in baseball caps while players most people have never heard of battle for the final roster spots.

Coaches and the most die-hard of fans love it. Might as well be a sandlot game for most everyone else.

It’ll be a little different for the Kansas City Chiefs tonight in St. Louis against the Rams.

The Chiefs need to figure out who’ll open the season at quarterback. Starter Matt Cassel is out with an injury they won’t talk about and neither Brodie Croyle nor Tyler Thigpen has distinguished himself as a clear-cut favorite to take his place.

There’s the issue of play-calling. Coach Todd Haley fired offensive coordinator Chan Gailey on Monday, 13 days before the season opener, and will take over an offense that’s scored two touchdowns all preseason. That leaves one dress rehearsal before the juggling act becomes real.

And, even though it’s just a preseason game, the Chiefs could use a victory. They haven’t won a game of any kind in nine months and have just six the past two years.

A final tuneup? More like making sure the car can just get out of the garage.

“All of the pieces are pretty big right now as we get down to the wire,” Haley said. “Every day is an evaluation.”

The biggest piece is quarterback.

Cassel injured his left knee against Seattle on Saturday and won’t play against the Rams. Beyond that? No one’s saying. He could be back for the season opener against Baltimore, could be out two more weeks, maybe more.

That leaves Croyle and Thigpen, who are a combined 1-18 as starting quarterbacks.

Croyle has been the Chiefs’ most consistent quarterback through training camp and the preseason. His biggest problem? K.C. still hasn’t scored a touchdown with him under center.