Alex Smith, Kareem Hunt shine bright as Chiefs defeat Patriots
By Matt Conner
On a night intended to honor the New England Patriots legacy, the Kansas City Chiefs end up stealing the spotlight with an offensive showcase.
It was a night under the stars in Foxborough intended to honor the tremendous success of the New England Patriots past and to establish their readiness for another Super Bowl run. Instead, the visiting Kansas City Chiefs ended up stealing the spotlight for the coming out party for rookie running back Kareem Hunt and perhaps Alex Smith’s finest game as a pro quarterback.
The entire NFL should be abuzz on Friday with the news that the Patriots’ dominance at home, one in which they’d won their previous 105 games heading into the fourth quarter with the lead, is over. The focus will likely be about questioning Tom Brady’s age or a potential Super Bowl hangover, but the real story is the dominant Chiefs, fueled by a stellar offensive showing and a killer defensive instinct that roared to life in the second half.
The early narrative put the Chiefs in a corner from the outset, with the Patriots rolling for an easy first touchdown and then Kareem Hunt fumbled in his first ever NFL carry. From there, however, Hunt proved to be everything the Chiefs believed he could be and then some, reeling off long runs, stretching plays, eluding tacklers and even hauling in an incredible 78-yard touchdown pass. The bottom line for Hunt was 246 yards from scrimmage, including 148 yards on 17 rushes and 3 touchdowns total.
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Smith deserves the lion’s share of the credit for the Chiefs success, as he delivered perfectly placed deep passes and surgical strikes all night long. From an opening drive where he found multiple targets, including Demetrius Harris for the first touchdown of the year, to a 75-yard bomb to Tyreek Hill to a late laser to Chris Conley, Smith looked in control the entire game. He was able to move the chains at will at times, as the Chiefs put together three drives of 90-plus yards.
On the defensive side, the Chiefs applied their typical bend-but-don’t-break approach in the first half and kept the game close, but clear adjustments were made at halftime. After failing to establish any sort of pass rush in the first half, the pocket began to collapse immediately after halftime for Brady and it wasn’t long until the defense was forcing bad throws, quick decisions and making Brady uncomfortable. Justin Houston ended up with two sacks and Allen Bailey had another. There were multiple other plays in which the defensive intensity forced Brady to have an un-Brady-like night.
By the time Alex Smith knelt to close out the game, the Chiefs had averaged 8.3 yards per play for a total of 537 yards. On the flip side, the defense frustrated Brady enough to complete only 16 of 36 passes on the night, including 0 touchdowns.
For as big as the spotlight before them on Thursday, the Chiefs proved themselves worthy for primetime. Let’s only hope the story is on the right subject and not a narrative skewed toward New England’s undoing.