The Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots kick off the NFL season on Thursday night football. Here’s your open thread to discuss the game.
The New England Patriots will take some time to celebrate their Super Bowl victory from last winter on Thursday night. They will wear some rings, raise a banner and deliver some pageantry. However, at some point, they will also get down to the business of defending that title, starting with a visit from the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs come to town as one of the few teams who can perhaps match the Patriots in overall talent, as one of the other AFC powers hoping for Super Bowl glory. Thursday’s matchup will tell all of us a lot about both teams and whether perceived weaknesses and strengths are what we thought they were.
For the rest of the NFL’s fan bases, tonight also represents the opening night of the season, the end of meaningless football exhibitions and a drawn out offseason calendar that includes free agency and the NFL Draft. Fans of AFC teams in particular will be interested to see how the top two seeds from last year look in 2017.
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There are a lot of questions for both teams. How will New England adjust after losing two wideouts for the entire year, including Julian Edelman? How will so many new faces, including Rex Burkhead, Mike Gillislee, Stephon Gilmore, Brandin Cooks, Dwayne Allen and more, fit onto a championship roster?
For the Chiefs, the questions point to some of the offseason drama around the club. How will Alex Smith respond to the presence of Patrick Mahomes on the depth chart? Can Kareem Hunt carry the offensive load at running back with Spencer Ware gone? Have the Chiefs done enough to revamp a run defense that was below average last year?
Feel free to discuss all of this and more in the open thread below.