On to Kansas City

[ErniesPinkStripes]

Can anyone explain why this wasn't a penalty?

Uhh, did you see the colors of that uniform? Black and Yellow = hard nosed football = leading with the crown of your helmet = perfectly acceptable

 

[A Defiant Goose]

A tale of two teams. This teams under BB has never lost 4 of 6 games going into the playoffs.

I'm going to take my chances and say with the injured players coming back for the game and an unrivaled sense of urgency (which was not existent in neither the Jets nor Dolphins game imo) will give us the Patriots of the first 11 games and not the last 5 (I know they lost in Denver but they still put up a damn good fight considering the injuries and the venue)

 

[sb1]

If this team cannot beat the eagles, jets and dolphins i don't see them beating KC who is the hottest team in the nfl right now.

Momentum going into the playoffs is extremely overrated but I see it as if they aren't good enough to beat KC they would have never had a shot against the NFC team next month anyway.

 

[Kontradiction]

The quick passing game is going to be essential in this one. It's not just Hali and Houston, KC can generate a push up the A and B gaps and get pressure into Brady's face from there. Having Edelman and Amendola back should hopefully make them respect Brady's ability to get the ball out quickly and limit their playbook defensively as far as how exotic they can get with their blitz packages. That said, I have to expect they'll stick Marcus Peters on Edelman. Peters is extremely physical at the LOS. The Pats need to set Edelman in motion to give him as many free releases as possible. I expect Gronk will get doubled with Berry helping out up top for him. Lafell, Amendola, Martin, and White HAVE to take advantage of this and win one on one battles. It's time for Lafell to cut the ********. He has to produce here. Lafell is the team's threat outside the numbers and he's going to be looking at a very physical game. He has to go up and fight for 50/50 balls because the Chiefs are going to make him earn everything that he is going to get.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Not the matchup i wanted but we will see. Alex Smith's the type of QB i hate to play. He hardly beats himself. Athletic. Stopping the run should be priority number 1. Chiefs do a good job running the football.

 

[Mack Herron]

Not the matchup i wanted but we will see. Alex Smith's the type of QB i hate to play. He hardly beats himself. Athletic. Stopping the run should be priority number 1. Chiefs do a good job running the football.

Agree. Smith doesn't take many risks. Running game also includes Smith, who can pick up big yards on his own. Watch the TE and make him work it down the field.

 

[Kontradiction]

Agree. Smith doesn't take many risks. Running game also includes Smith, who can pick up big yards on his own. Watch the TE and make him work it down the field.

They're almost a poor man's version of the early 2000's Patriots. Staunch and opportunistic defense, competent running game, and a quarterback that doesn't make many mistakes. They won't beat themselves, even with that walrus as their head coach. The Patriots are going to have to play a very complete game.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

So long as they don't f*ck up on some crucial special teams turnover or the patented Brady "WTF?!" interception I think the Patriots pull away in the 2nd half, 30-17

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I share the concern of a lot of you that the chiefs pass rush is fierce. However we have faced many good pass rushing teams in the past and beaten them. The key obviously will be the o-line and ability of Edelman and amendola to gain separation quickly.

 

[primetime]

They're almost a poor man's version of the early 2000's Patriots. Staunch and opportunistic defense, competent running game, and a quarterback that doesn't make many mistakes. They won't beat themselves, even with that walrus as their head coach. The Patriots are going to have to play a very complete game.

This is a game where getting going early is crucial. The Chiefs don't have the firepower, especially without Maclin, to hang if the Patriots put up early points.

One good thing is that KC's offensive line is as bad as the Patriots. Smith takes a lot of sacks, and would take even more sacks if he wasn't so mobile.

 

[ensoul]

I'm going to take my chances and say with the injured players coming back for the game and an unrivaled sense of urgency (which was not existent in neither the Jets nor Dolphins game imo) will give us the Patriots of the first 11 games and not the last 5 (I know they lost in Denver but they still put up a damn good fight considering the injuries and the venue)

I really didn't understand the lack of urgency in the last two game considering they were playing for homefield. Obviously there is more urgency now but there are still guys injured and who know how Edelman will look after two months off.

Vollmer is back but beside that there won't be a whole lot of improvement with the offensive line. Keeping brady upright is going to be an impossible challange.

If the oline was even halfway decent I'd like their chances. With their oline in shambles I think KC wins this game.

 

[JMC00]

Glad to know that the Pats defense has no say in this game, apparently. A defense that will be the 1st game since I believe Dallas that all 11 starters + Sheard will be active at the start of the game.


dolts- Hightower missed
jests- Sheard
lolphins- Sheard
redskins- Collins and Sheard
giants- Collins
jills- Collins and Coleman (I consider the #3 CB in this defense to be notable)
broncos- Collins and Coleman
eagles- Hightower
texans- Hightower
titans- McCourty
jests- McCourty and Chung
lolphins- Hightower, Jones and Coleman


So as you can see the Pats for months have played games where they've missed 1 of their top 3 defenders this season. Well IMO the top 3 which has been Collins, Hightower and Sheard.

 

[Rhodey]

Boys will be ready to go, time to kick off the repeat!!!

Hoping the Steelers can beat Denver, but got to take care of business no excuses to lose this one. I know its the playoffs and thats all the motivation you need, but I think most of the team remembers what happened in KC last year

Whilst you guys are in Kansas City, the Patriots (and their fans) will be in New England.

 

[BobDigital]

Should be a good game but the Pats should win with a healthy Edelman.

Keys

#1 Get the ball out fast and gain yards doing it.
#2 Find ways to slow down the pass rush.. I think passing a ton and gassing it opposed to trying to be balanced in the way to go. Their run D is pretty good.
#3 Stop the run. Chung will be a huge part of this game as TE coverage and in the box safety go.
#4 Slow down Kelce. You won't stop him nor should you devote everything to do it. Just slow him down.
#5 Keep Alex Smith in the pocket. Easier said than done.

The Pats need to play smart controlled D taking away the run and alex's smith's running while trying to make someone other than Kelce beat them. Honestly even if you don't take away the run as much as you would like as long as you don't let Smith run also it should be okay. If Maclin can not go their options on limited and we need to exploit that.

On offense no turnovers to give short fields and be quick to abandon the run if it does not work. A lot of White and Edelman until their pass rush slows down and hopefully Vollmer will help stabilize the OL.

 

[primetime]

Glad to know that the Pats defense has no say in this game, apparently.


and a defense that will be the 1st game since I believe the 1st Miami game that all 11 starters will start the game.

Despite the high score, the Chiefs offense didn't do much in the last game, especially before Watt got injured. People here are substantially more afraid of Alex Smith than they should be. He's a guy who throws a 4 yard checkdown in 3rd and long situations as a matter of course.

The only respectable teams they played in their 11 game winning streak were the Steelers and Broncos, and the former was Landry Jones' first career start and the latter was the game where Manning played historically badly and then got hurt. Beating the Lions, Bills, Manziel Browns, Mallett Ravens, and Chargers and Raiders twice isn't really saying much.

 

[ivanvamp]

Despite the high score, the Chiefs offense didn't do much in the last game, especially before Watt got injured. People here are substantially more afraid of Alex Smith than they should be. He's a guy who throws a 4 yard checkdown in 3rd and long situations as a matter of course.

On the contrary, Alex Smith is exactly the kind of quarterback we should be very worried about. Doesn't turn the ball over very much. Is not a "running" QB, but absolutely can be very dangerous with his feet, so you need to commit a guy to him in that way, and that removes a guy from the pass defense. Move the chains kind of guy.

Last year he went 20-26 (76.9%), 248 yds, 3 td, 0 int against the Patriots.

He's the kind of guy we always think isn't that good but ends up throwing for 250+ yards and a couple of scores and we wonder why the Pats couldn't suffocate him.

The Pats *should* win on Saturday. When healthy, they're the better team. But it's gonna be a very, very tough game.

 

[JMC00]

Despite the high score, the Chiefs offense didn't do much in the last game, especially before Watt got injured. People here are substantially more afraid of Alex Smith than they should be. He's a guy who throws a 4 yard checkdown in 3rd and long situations as a matter of course.

314 yards of offense (94 of those yards on 1 drive). Texans with 5 TOs had 226 yards of offense.

Ya I know Texans defense is good but not like the chiefs were marching the ball up and down the field.

 

[Off The Grid]

Anyone knows if Alex Smith has ever played at Gillette? (either with the Niners or the Chiefs)

No he hasn't, actually. In fact, the Monday Nighter was his first time against us ever. Good Question.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Can't let the QB scramble for a first down on 3rd and long! These back breaking plays will extend drives.

Pats defense will play well. The question is can the offense get their act together and put some points on the board?

How many points wins this one? 17? 24?

 

[tasmlab]

I will agree with you that Hoyer sucked, he was downright brutal. Some of that was caused by KC's defense though. This is gonna be a really tough game. People are saying KC didn't beat anyone good on their 11 game win streak except Pitt without their QB and Denver with a horrible Peyton Manning. Well the Pat's lost 2 games to awful teams in Philly and Miami, who were getting KILLED in games prior to facing the Pats. So I don't see this as a guaranteed win. Tough opponent, obviously would've rather faced the Bungles.

Ancient history, but I hope the ghosts of Chiefs 2008 and 2014 are enough to keep the Patriots focused on taking them seriously.