The Kansas City Chiefs are underdogs if you believe the Vegas lines, but they will be going into Foxoborugh as a very confident team on Saturday afternoon. The Chiefs are traveling to take on the New England Patriots, a group that Kansas City plowed over in a 41-14 rout in Week 4 of last season.
While that game from more than a season ago does not mean the Chiefs will roll to another victory, it serves as a lesson. Kansas City was able to thoroughly dominate up front on both sides of the ball, and there is no reason to believe it will be much different. This time around, the Chiefs are not starting Mike McGlynn and Ryan Harris. They are rolling on the left side behind Eric Fisher and Jeff Allen, along with a solid right side.
The biggest problem for New England will be up front, where it simply can’t block the Chiefs. The Patriots are likely to get left tackle Sebastian Vollmer back, but are hoping to block Justin Houston with a guard-turned-tackle in Marcus Cannon. The Patriots have to give Tom Brady time to throw or it’s over, because the rushing attack is anemic with a cavalcade of mediocrity in the backfield.
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The Chiefs have a devastating defense that can shut down any offense in the league. While the Patriots are scary because of Brady and Rob Gronkowski, this is a team without much else. Julian Edelman is a nice player, but he is not going to break the game open. Kansas City knows that the Patriots don’t throw deep. Bob Sutton can compress the field and take away the shorter routes.
Watching film on the Patriots, they rely heavily on yards after the catch. Kansas City is one of the best tackling teams in the league and should be able to force the Patriots into some ugly down and distances. The Chiefs are built to destroy this type of offense. If New England can’t run (it is averaging 3.7 yards per carry on the season) and is forced into longer distances on second and third down, Kansas City will squat on the middle of the field and bring heat toward Brady.
On the other side of the ball, Spencer Ware is the key. Ware and Charcandrick west must be able to run the ball effectively, forcing Bill Belichick to start committing more help to the box. If the Chiefs can get the linebackers to suck in on run plays, the Chiefs can start rolling with play-action and get Travis Kelce open. The Patriots will do all they can to take away Kelce, but a strong run game hurts New England’s ability to stay with him. The linebackers will come up, and there will be room behind them and in front of the safeties.
Don’t look now, but the Chiefs have a very good chance to knock off the defending Super Bowl champs.