What does Chiefs win over Patriots mean?
The Kansas City Chiefs got a big win last week vs. the New England Patriots in Foxborough. What does this victory mean for the Chiefs going forward?
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The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 9-4 on the season last week by defeating the New England Patriots in Foxborough. Kansas City now has the head-to-head tiebreaker over the two teams it’ll be lobbying for playoff positioning in the AFC: New England and the currently top-seeded Baltimore Ravens. It’s a big win for the Chiefs for sure, what did we learn from their latest victory?
On this week’s episode of Stacking the Box, FanSided‘s Matt Verderame and Josh Hill, along with former Chiefs offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz, look at what the Chiefs did well against New England and what they’ll need to work on if they want to win multiple playoff games this year (13:46).
Winning in Foxborough against Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots isn’t anything new for the Chiefs, but both Schwartz and Verderame believe that winning with defense is something we haven’t seen consistently out of the Chiefs the last few years. So that’s exciting, as the pass defense, in particular, is starting to round into form under defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
That being said, Verderame mentioned that you can still run the ball all over on this Kansas City defense, as well as the Chiefs struggle to run the ball consistently with conviction. Sure, the Patriots have a great all-around defense, but Schwartz mentioned the Chiefs’ inability to close out opponents by grinding down the clock with a solid running game may come back to haunt them.
So the Chiefs can pass and stop the pass. That’s impressive and something that’ll give them a shot at getting a first-round. But January football is won in the trenches, something Kansas City needs to improve on. Fortunately, Chris Jones is playing at a very high level at defensive tackle, as well as a bad game out of Patrick Mahomes would be other quarterbacks’ best game of the season.
Overall, we can safely say the Chiefs are one of the six best teams in football and probably better than the Patriots this year. That being said, Kansas City’s real test will likely come later in a rematch with Baltimore in the AFC playoffs. Sunday’s win is a stepping stone in the right direction, but Kansas City is not a great all-around football team. They have a few weeks to become that.
- FanSided 250, Verderame and Schwartz’s interests (0:40)
- Verderame, Schwartz break down bad TLC shows (5:01)
- Who are the real Super Bowl contenders? (52:20)
- What to watch for in Week 15 (54:14)
All this and more!
Next. Have Chiefs become too reliant on Patrick Mahomes?. dark
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