Patriots News 12-17, Patriots Players And Keys To Beat KC
(PHOTO: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots Commentary
(PHOTO: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports) 🕑 Read Time: 7 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
(PHOTO: Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports) Good morning, and Happy Gameday. Here are our Sunday 12-16 Patriots news and notes for this week. We’ll add some of our key players to watch and keys to the game from a Patriots perspective below.
The Chiefs have scuffled along for several weeks offensively and have dropped four of their last six games. Their record at 8-5 is still in the hunt for the #1 seed in the AFC, but they’ll have to get hot right now.
The Chiefs are a surprising -7 in the turnover department, which will be an area to watch today. The Patriots, at -9, must win the turnover differential in today’s game to pull an upset. KC’s defense has been solid, with the #6 unit against the pass in yards per game and #4 in yards per attempt.
Bill Belichick: Belichick was asked by Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald a few times about his future with the Patriots and about his desire to coach the team in 2024 and beyond.
Bill rephrased his answer each time to a different form of “We’re on to Kansas City.” While some fans called out Callahan for asking a question, knowing what the answer was going to be, he was “doing his job.” Others called out Belichick for not answering the question.
Belichick’s focus has always been on the next week, the next game during the season. The time for those questions will come in January after the Jets game. Bill, too, was doing his job as he’s always done it. No harm, no foul on either side. He’s not going to change his M.O. now.
Players Speaking Out: We’ve seen a trend of players speaking out about players who are no longer with the team. While that in itself isn’t rare, it is usually just to wish a departing player the best in his new environment. However, in the case of Malik Cunningham and Jack Jones, the comments have been critical of the Patriots, which is rare.
When Cunningham was signed by the Baltimore Ravens off the practice squad, Trent Brown called out the Patriots after the news was announced. “Go flourish where your talent is respected,” Brown wrote on Instagram.
On Thursday night, in the Raiders’ blowout win over the Chargers, former Patriot Jack Jones read a play and undercut the route, intercepting a pass and taking it to the house on a pick-six. Matthew Judon congratulated him, but Jalen Mills took a shot at the Patriots as well as the coaching staff.
“It’s crazy what a coach showing a player that they believes in you can do for their confidence and performance,” Mills posted on Twitter/X. This is a trend that we’re unfamiliar with during Bill Belichick’s watch.
In the past, players fell in line with Belichick’s mantra about not showing unity in the media. It will be interesting to see what, if any actions are taken today. Brown is questionable with injuries and an illness. Mills may play a key role this week, matching up with Chiefs’ TE Travis Kelce.
While they may have made a mistake (time will tell) in Cunningham’s case, the Patriots tried to give Jones every opportunity to excel with the team. He came here with a checkered past. But after a solid rookie season, he was suspended at the end of 2022. Then, the notorious gun incident at Logan Airport. When he did return and got on the field, his play was… uninspired. He got chances here, and the coaches showed trust in him. He burned his own bridges in New England.
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Derek Havens has been sick and was off this week, so Russ Goldman, Ian Logue, and I did a quick recap of the Steelers game and looked ahead to KC. Glad to report that Derek is feeling much better and will probably return this coming week.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t in is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed the game with how teams used the tight end position…this will be on our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t in the team’s.
The Patriots and Chiefs will meet today at 1:00 p.m. instead of Monday night, which (Shocked, sad face) caused Travis Kelce to miss Taylor Swift’s birthday. But the focus today is on the football game, not who is or isn’t in the visiting team’s luxury box. Nothing against Swift; she’s a megastar, but as much as Park Avenue wants a crossover, it’s a game.
So, with that in mind, can the Patriots pull off an upset? They’ll need their defense to continue their outstanding play and hold KC to 20 points or less to have any realistic hopes of winning. In that line of reasoning, can the offense replicate its stellar first half against Pittsburgh, or was that just an outlier? Much like Mac Jones’ stellar performance against Buffalo for the last win for the team before the Pittsburgh game.
Here are our keys to the game from a Patriots’ perspective:
The first one should be a key that the Patriots can accomplish; the second one is a different story. The Patriots run defense has been outstanding this season, especially in the last month.
The front seven has been terrific, limiting opponents’ running games to get untracked. Anfernee Jennings, filling in for an injured Matthew Judon, has been fantastic against the run and setting the edge, leading the team in TFLs, including three last week.
KC has two very good backs in Isaiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire, so the Patriots cannot allow the Chiefs to have their entire offensive playbook at Patrick Mahomes’ disposal.
In forcing turnovers, the team will have to double Travis Kelce and roll the dice, making the WRs beat them. And like New England, they have been a mixed bag in 2023. One player to watch is rookie Rashee Rice, who has 59 catches for 663 yards and a team-leading six TDs working underneath. Expect Jonathan Jones to draw Rice quite a bit.
Getting pressure on Mahomes is key and disrupting the timing between him and Kelce. Expect plenty of man coverage today. Key players to watch here are Jennings, Jalen Mills, J.C. Jackson, and Jonathan Jones. Christian Barmore will have to get interior pressure and stop the Mahomes’ broken plays/backyard scrambling plays from occurring.
In the first half of last week’s game, Bailey Zappe was very good, tossing three TDs against Pittsburgh. The play-calling and execution went hand-in-hand for a change, and the team put up 21 points. However, the second half was a return of a non-existent passing attack.
The team will have to return to that attacking scheme against Steve Spagnuolo’s aggressive and excellent pass defense. KC ranks sixth in yards allowed through the air (185) and fifth in yards per pass (5.7).
While the secondary has been terrific, much of that success comes from pressure inside by Chris Jones and slot blitzes from Trent McDuffie. Jones will face either Cole Strange, who has been terrific since the bye, or Sid Sow. McDuffie will face Ezekiel Elliott on blitz pickups.
Bill O’Brien will have to scheme up plays down the field to Hunter Henry, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Demario Douglas, who has been cleared from concussion protocol. They’ll have to put guys in motion or in bunches to get some free releases.
There will be opportunities there since I expect Spagnuolo to load the boxes against the running game. Can the offense and Zappe execute enough to win? That’s the big question.
With Rhamondre Stevenson out with an ankle injury and the “Northeast Weather,” as Elliott mentioned this past week, expected to bring in wind and rain, the Patriots will need to stay balanced, and that means running the ball with Elliott.
The Chiefs’ run defense has been hit or miss this season, but with a dearth of downfield threats in the passing game, look for Spagnuolo to load the boxes and dare the Patriots to throw the ball deep. The run blocking hasn’t been great, for the most part, as Stevenson, before his injury and Elliott have been breaking tackles and extending plays on their own.
Look for O’Brien to run some trap concepts that were effective against Pittsburgh a week ago and Elliott to continue his hot streak of looking lately like the Elliott of old. But Zappe and O’Brien must find a way to make KC pay for loading the boxes. Otherwise, it will be a long day for the offense.
I think the offense will struggle against KC’s defense, which is a very good, disruptive unit. I believe the defense will play well enough to win… again, but it won’t be enough. Kansas City 20-13.
Thursday Night Football:
Las Vegas over LA Chargers 1-0
Saturday Games:
Cincinnati over Minnesota
Indianapolis over Pittsburgh
Detroit over Denver
Sunday Day Games:
Cleveland over Chicago
Green Bay over Tampa Bay
Houston over Tennessee
Miami over NYJ
Kansas City over New England
New Orleans over NYG
Atlanta over Carolina
LA Rams over Washington
Dallas over Buffalo
San Francisco over Arizona
Sunday Night Football:
Baltimore over Jacksonville
Monday Night Football:
Philadelphia over Jacksonville
Last Week 7—8
2023 Season 130—78
2022 Season: 178—92—2
2021 Season: 183—88—1
2020 Season: 169—86—1
2019 Season: 162—93—1
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“You know, Kansas City is obviously a great program. Andy (Reid) has done a tremendous job there, as he did in Philadelphia. He’s really got a good football team, a well-balanced team. They’re good on defense. They’re good on offense. They’re good in the kicking game.
“You know, Andy does a good job. They’re really well coached, so we’re going to have to play well, coach well, and play well in every aspect of the game. Offensively, of course, it all starts with the quarterback. He’s a great player, does everything well, can make all the throws, is athletic, and has a lot of poise. He’s a clutch player. I can’t say enough about what he does for their team.
“Pacheco’s done a good job running the ball for him, really tough runner, good vision and good contact balance. Obviously, (Travis) Kelce and (Rashee) Rice have emerged in the passing game. So, inside the offensive line with Joe Thuney and Creed [Humphrey], really solid there. Some of the really good offensive players all the way across the board.
“Defensively, (Chris) Jones is a major problem, like he always has been. They have a good scheme. They put a lot of pressure on you with different looks and different blitzes. Getting Bolten back certainly helps him. He’s a quality player, runs well, is very instinctive, and is kind of their defensive signal caller/communicator. He does a good job.
“Good specialist, (Tommy) Townsend was an All-Pro punter last year, Butker hasn’t missed this year. They had a return game between Toney, James, and Mecole Hardman, who’s out, obviously. A lot of guys that have returned, they’re a good return team. That was a big play in the Super Bowl. With Toney’s return, he was able to set up a winning touchdown, so they’re explosive there, too.
“Again, it is a really quality team that’s balanced throughout offense, defense, and special teams. Well-coached and presents some scheme problems. They’ve got some players that can ruin the game if you can’t take care of them. So, there we have it.”
Bill Belichick earlier this week on what makes the Kansas City Chiefs such a tough opponent to face from the players and to head coach Andy Reid.
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“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
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