Kansas City is a real threat

[JarOfMayo51]

I can't take their offense seriously.

Same here, just shut Spencer Ware down and force Alex Smith to air it out to a bunch of no name WRs.. Kelce is good, but Chung has handled him before

Maclin is the only legit WR on the roster and he's been very mediocre this year and is struggling with injuries

Their defense is no joke tho, they have a lot of playmakers at all 3 levels of the defense and can cause some problems

 

[Rob0729]

Same here, just shut Spencer Ware down and force Alex Smith to air it out to a bunch of no name WRs.. Kelce is good, but Chung has handled him before

Maclin is the only legit WR on the roster and he's been very mediocre this year and is struggling with injuries

Their defense is no joke tho, they have a lot of playmakers at all 3 levels of the defense and can cause some problems

I think it is less about the receiving talent and more about the scheme and QB. The West Coast Offense is an antiquated scheme.

Yes, there are other teams that use a modified version of the WCO including the Raiders who have an outstanding offense, but they modified to adapt to the new NFL. Reid is more of a traditionalist. And it doesn't work.

And let's face it. Alex Smith is efficient although not spectacular, but that is because he plays it safe all the time and goes for short easy passes rather than trying to open up the offense.

 

[Brick27]

They're the type of team that could maybe beat Oakland on the road in the playoffs during the divisional round (Beat them @Oakland already earlier this year), saving the Pats from having to do that task. Sounds okay with me.

 

[luuked]

I think it is less about the receiving talent and more about the scheme and QB. The West Coast Offense is an antiquated scheme.

Yes, there are other teams that use a modified version of the WCO including the Raiders who have an outstanding offense, but they modified to adapt to the new NFL. Reid is more of a traditionalist. And it doesn't work.

And let's face it. Alex Smith is efficient although not spectacular, but that is because he plays it safe all the time and goes for short easy passes rather than trying to open up the offense.

This.

Also the key to win against KC is to avoid shooting yourself into your own foot (i.e. turnovers). If they can't be opportunistic I don't think they can win against any of the AFC playoff teams. You can't fully prevent it but you can try to minimize risks. Win the turnover battle and KC is dead in the water.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Huge wins on the road back to back in Denver and in Atlanta. They are legit and would pose a challenge. They have their defense healthy this year which was not the case during last years playoff game.

 

[Rob0729]

Huge wins on the road back to back in Denver and in Atlanta. They are legit and would pose a challenge. They have their defense healthy this year which was not the case during last years playoff game.

I blame Denver for the loss than KC for the win. The Broncos would have won the game in regulation if they chose not to score the TD and just ran down the clock. They scored too quickly and then got too conservative on defense. In regulation, they might have not lost if they didn't stupidly decide to kick an impossibly long field goal giving the Chiefs the ball at mid field.

 

[FourierSeries]

Andy Reid + playoffs + clock management = same old Andy Reid coached team.

That, and Alex Smith is their QB.

 

[mosslost]

excepting the AFCS teams and the Dolphins; I think every potential playoff team is a threat to the Pats, but do think we will win any if at Gillette.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Not sure how anyone wouldn't think they are a real threat, considering their record since starting last year 1-5. The teams that concern me the most, in order, for the Patriots in the postseason:

1. Denver (Home or away, that defense makes them a really tough out, especially without Gronkowski. Will be interesting to see if we can use the 2-RB set in two weeks - Lewis and White - as that has given them huge problems against other opponents.)
2. Pittsburgh (Ladarius Green is healthy, so they now may even have a better TE1 than us. Arrrrrgghhhh!)
3. Kansas City (Balanced on both sides of the ball and can beat you in many ways.)
4. Baltimore (They always play us tough, especially in the playoffs.)
5. Oakland (Let's not overlook them...you don't luck your way to 10-2, and they have a great offense.)
6. Miami (They've always had our number in Miami; at home, I like our chances, but they would at least cause some normal pre-game hyperventilating.)
7. Buffalo (If they get in, the nothing to lose team whose coach happens to throw a really tough defense at Brady once every 3-4 matchups.)
8. 2017 AFC South Playoff Partcipants

 

[SVN]

Yes so fierce it has as many sacks and less hurries than the Pats pass rush.

You are obviously right about the sacks and hurries but would you rather have ford/hali/houston in your front or what we have right now? Yes denver's oline is atrocious but did you see how they manhandled its oline ?

 

[JMC00]

(Ladarius Green is healthy, so they now may even have a better TE1 than us. Arrrrrgghhhh!)

Ya.... Green is not better than a healthy, full-go Bennett.

(Balanced on both sides of the ball and can beat you in many ways.)

Their really not though. Their defense is not that good. Ya they have a ton of takeaways but they are in the bottom 10 in yards allowed and bottom 3 in 3rd down defense. Fact of the matter is if you play just ok defense against them and don't turn it over you are gonna beat them.

I mean if their defense didn't get the takeaways it did they would probably be the worst defense in the league and really thinking about it they aren't even that great at taking the ball away 8 of their turnovers, a 1/3 of their turnovers were against the jests when they picked fitzpatrick off 6 times and had 2 fumble recoveries

 

[SVN]

KC pass rush will give us issues but I would rather see KC than oakland. Any offense which can get after our secondary ,I would rather avoid. Plus the stout raiders oline + our anemic pass rush could make it a shootout which can go either way.

 

[Joey007]

If the game is in Kansas City, I'd be a little worried. That's a tough place to play, and the last time we did we got our doors blown off (granted, it was the catalyst that turned that season around, but still). It's not quite at Denver level as far as just weird things happening, but it's a place I'd like to avoid.

If the game is here, I'm not really sweating the Chiefs.

And we seem to have the tiebreakers over KC. So a matching record with them is all we need.

 

[Deus Irae]

KC is the biggest threat to the Patriots, this season.

 

[mosslost]

KC is the biggest threat to the Patriots, this season.

including Super Bowl?

 

[BobDigital]

All the top 3 teams in that division will be tough. AFC will have good playoffs this year. No Indy's making it to the conference final this time

 

[Kontradiction]

Since starting 1-5 in 2015, The Chiefs have gone 19-3 in the regular season. But of course they're not a threat.

 

[Deus Irae]

Since starting 1-5 in 2015, The Chiefs have gone 19-3 in the regular season. But of course they're not a threat.

 

[TennisBallHead]

Did they get a real QB? No? Then they're not a threat.

 

[Kontradiction]

Did they get a real QB? No? Then they're not a threat.

Smith is exactly the type of QB that gives Belichick defenses fits. Want another example? See: Pennington, Chad. Smith makes it harder on Belichick because he can scramble too.