Post Game Thread- Pats beat the Chiefs

[A Defiant Goose]

They threw beer in his face as well.

Oh I know.

 

[sean10mm]

I loved watching the Patriots be able to run pretty much at will from the start of the game. Even when they had peak Blount, it was usually more of a "It's the 4th quarter, the other team is tired and we're up by 10, so let's truck some fools" kind of thing. Not in this game. The first half was basically the Pats partying like it was 2004.

The defense and special teams didn't, uh, quite hold up on that front in the 2nd half.

Great win regardless.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Game wouldn’t have even been this close if coach let ghost just kick the ball out of the end zone. Gave them 3 short fields, with one being inside the 5. Great game though.

Also:

-Going for it on 4th down
-Squib kick

 

[Tunescribe]

I think the bubblegum state of the NFL is being overemphasized here. This was always going to be a crazy game. I thought it would end up as something like 36-33 with elite offenses squaring off against subpar defenses.

But 43-40 won by a short shot at the buzzer? I hope you're right but fear you're wrong. The egregiously imbalanced way defense has been legislated out of the game, the old adage "defense wins championships" is swiftly becoming an anachronism. As I said, maybe winter will help even things out a tad but that won't matter to dome/warm-weather teams where players like Brees will continue padding their passing records and "touchdown" becomes synonymous with fast-break layup.

 

[long distance]

 

[UFGatorPat]

No punts. But the offense was a problem. Clearly.

We had a turnover on downs and a fumble instead.
Offense played great at times, defense played great at times.

 

[Coolade2]

Um tyrik Hill is fast. Almost unstoppable. Hunt..? That's the guy they screwed up on.

 

[ashley]

I think our special teams and defense were both bad...really like the way our offense has been playing though. Alot of weapons now and Dorsett was a non factor last night.

Hoping we can add a defender before the trade deadline, not sure who, but maybe someone that can cover in the secondary or another linebacker. A pass rusher would be great as well.

I blame the kicking game more than the defense for how close the game was (although the D didn't help itself). A squib kick when we're ahead? Not one, but TWO short kickoffs when KC is known to have a great return game? C'mon man! Agreed on the Goat and the Gost, although that fumble by Brady was an ugly, uncharacteristic mistake. Throw it away TFB (you were still awesome).

 

[SVN]

This one lived up to the billing

As I walked from the media elevator to the field I thumbed out a tweet I suspected might get some pushback.

“That was a great, great game.”
That conclusion should have been self-evident. But launching a tweet like that into the vortex of snark and negativity that swirls on Twitter during Patriots games is asking for a mass debunking.

The “yeah, buts . . . ” and laments about which guy sucks, what play call was stupid and how this team won’t be winning Super Bowls playing like that usually come raining down.

But this time, the *****ers, moaners and punch-bowl turds were vastly outnumbered by people realizing just what they watched.

Two teams putting up almost 1,000 yards of offense (500 for the Pats, 465 for the Chiefs)

The greatest quarterback of all time dueling the most exciting young quarterback in the NFL.

A franchise in the autumn of its years at the top, rolling up its sleeves at crunch time and using a whole lot of Dad strength to subdue the latest wannabe.

“Wannabe” isn’t meant to demean the Chiefs. Every team in the league that’s not based on Route 1 in Foxboro wants to be what the Patriots have been for two decades, not just another notch on the belt of Brady and Belichick.

It used to be the same here. We’d get giddy talk about the 1994 opener when Drew Bledsoe and Dan Marino dueled and the Patriots lost 38-34, the same way people in Kansas City are going to talk about this one.

But we’re a little jaded now. We’ve got a catalog of indelible games to thumb through now. So many that, when these games end we’re like jewelers inspecting diamonds searching for flaws in something that was really, really exquisite.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I think our special teams and defense were both bad...really like the way our offense has been playing though. Alot of weapons now and Dorsett was a non factor last night.

Hoping we can add a defender before the trade deadline, not sure who, but maybe someone that can cover in the secondary or another linebacker. A pass rusher would be great as well.

I think the short kicks were planned. Not sure why, since KC has a great return game. Clearly Ghost has the strength to kick it through the end zone. A real head scratcher...

 

[mosi]

But 43-40 won by a short shot at the buzzer? I hope you're right but fear you're wrong. The egregiously imbalanced way defense has been legislated out of the game, the old adage "defense wins championships" is swiftly becoming an anachronism. As I said, maybe winter will help even things out a tad but that won't matter to dome/warm-weather teams where players like Brees will continue padding their passing records and "touchdown" becomes synonymous with fast-break layup.

You can blame todays fan for this problem (along with the **** bag Polian). People want fantasy points and now care more about their fantasy team than a real team.

 

[Uptown]

 

[Uptown]

 

[TomPatriot]

I doubt they will face a worser defense than KC either.

And KC's defense will improve when they get Houston and maybe Berry back.

 

[sean10mm]

I think the short kicks were planned. Not sure why since KC has a great return game. Clearly Ghost has the strength to kick it through the end zone. A real head scratcher...

He's used to his ST coverage being able to swamp anybody. This was the first really serious test of that this year and it flunked.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

He's used to his ST coverage being able to swamp anybody. This was the first really serious test of that this year and it flunked.

I think the squib kick was meant to go deeper but it ended up on their 30-40 yard line. That’s on Ghost.

 

[TomPatriot]

Didn't they have an illegal procedure penalty?

 

[PatsFan2]

Glad to hear that Brady because Ray Charles would have a completion with all that time.

 

[PatsFan2]

Brady missed on more than a few throws last night and that almost pick that Gordon save would have been a completion if Brady lead him. Big Ben doesn't miss on those one on one throws...Brady a little too much if it's not Gronk.

 

[luuked]

"The points are irrelevant" might be one of the more moronic takes I've ever seen on here. That would be sig-worthy if I didn't like you more than ViperGTS. The points are never irrelevant. They directly determine whether the game is a win or a loss.

You are misquoting me. I clearly said the points are irrelevant for THIS DISCUSSION where the discussion in question was whether the other team suddenly figured something out and adjusted to that. Which they did not in any meaningful way. Mahomes didnt read any disguises any better than in the first half. We just used fewer in the second half. Hill didn't play differently, they didn't free up Kelce by motioning him or putting him behind stacks and Hunt did the same things he did in the first half. It was mostly their execution that was better with fewer missed throws into similar windows.

At least stay intellectually honest and don't try to cherry pick portions of what someone is writing to make a point.

This doesn't logically compute and smacks of bias. You can't excuse the defense, as you're doing, then try to deride the offense. Basically, you're faulting the offense for not playing a perfect game which is ridiculous.

• 43 points scored.
• 500 yards of total offense.
• 36:09 TOP (advantage of 12:58 - nearly an entire quarter).
• 31 first downs.
• 7 of 13 on third down against statistically the best 3rd down defense in the league.
• 0 punts.

And yet, it almost wasn't enough because the defense wet themselves in the second half and particularly late in the game when they were handed the keys with a lead and proceeded to get burned for a 75 yard score on the one guy that they absolutely had to pay attention to and keep contained.

And the offense produced a whopping 3 points (and a turnover) on the first 2 possessions until they got handed the keys to the game by a pick by HT and continuing redzone stops by the defense including another pick to end the half. And then produced another 6 points (and a turnover) on a set of 3 possessions in a row in the second half. As I have been saying from the very first page here the defense did as much as the offense for this win with both showing signs of greatness but also looking bad at times.

But when I compare the talent both of the units have then I will always have higher expectations for the offense. You might call it bias but I see it as being reasonable. If you have Brady, Gronk, Edelman, Gordon and White you should be able to expect more than 7-13 on third down.

But whatever if you don't want to listen to me then go listen to the Dussaults, Schofields and soon Chathams of the world and you will see that they have a similar opinion about the defense more or less playing a good game.