Tom Brady has struggled in the last two regular season meetings against the Chiefs and is struggling this year. The Chiefs might add on to his struggles.
The Kansas City Chiefs enter their Sunday Night Football match against the New England Patriots as 3.5-point underdogs, according to the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook. Although the Chiefs are 5-0 and the Patriots are 3-2, the line makes sense, given that the game is in Foxborough.
But Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has not played well recently. He has thrown an interception in four of the five games the Patriots have played in. He’s thrown a pick in three consecutive games, including a pair of picks in each of the last two games.
Kansas City’s defense did had a poor showing the first four weeks. However, when the Chiefs faced the league’s top defense in the Jacksonville Jaguars, it was Kansas City’s defense that looked like the league’s best with five sacks, four interceptions and one fumble recovery.
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The bad news, the Chiefs may be without defensive end Chris Jones Sunday night, who may face a suspension for punching a Jaguars player. That led to Jones’ ejection, as well as outside linebacker Dee Ford for his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of the game during the fourth quarter.
If safety Eric Berry returns, it increases Kansas City’s chance at having a good game against Brady. Berry played a vital role in limiting Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in last year’s meeting between the two teams.
Despite the Chiefs starting on defense in all five games so far, they have only surrendered three points in all of the opening drives combined. The Chiefs defense has forced a three-and-out in three of the five opening drives. To add on, the Chiefs offense has taken advantage of the nice starts as it has scored four touchdowns and a field goal in all five of its opening drives.
A good start is pertinent and expected for Kansas City Sunday night. Although quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been quiet statistically in the last two games, he is overdue for a big game. Sunday night, against one of the most dominant teams we have seen the past two decades, would be the perfect time for Mahomes to return to his dominant form to help the Chiefs improve to 6-0.
As for Brady, he is 5-3 against Kansas City all-time as a starting quarterback, including the 2015-16 playoff game in the divisional round. But the Chiefs have kept Brady in check in the last two regular season meetings against the Patriots, holding him to one touchdown and two picks in the last two games combined in 2014 and 2017. Considering Brady’s struggles lately, it is reasonable to predict that he has a rough night against the Chiefs.
In 2014, the Chiefs blew out the Patriots on Monday Night Football as Brady threw one touchdown and two interceptions in Kansas City’s 41-14 routing. Three years later, the two teams met in the first NFL game of 2017 as the Chiefs shut out the Patriots in the fourth quarter 21-0 to win 42-27, spoiling New England’s fifth Super Bowl banner drop.
Although the Chiefs defense is coming off a good outing, it has lots of holes that have been exploited in the first five weeks. While we wait to see if any suspensions will be handed out, the Chiefs defense must come away with another strong performance while Mahomes and the high-powered Chiefs offense are expected to move the ball well and score on New England’s 15th ranked defense.