Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

Chiefs and Patriots Head to Head

LadnerMorse January 19, 2019 No Comments

 

 

Chiefs and Patriots Head to Head 

 

by Laddie Morse | January 19, 2019

 

 

Contrary to one popular quarterback’s belief, the Patriots do not suck. The fact that the New England Patriots have been so good for so long helps to make this game coming up tomorrow against the Kansas City Chiefs one of the biggest and best games of all time long before the players take the field at Arrowhead. What makes this game so good is all the challenging matchups so let’s take a look at the Chiefs and Patriots head to head.

 

 

Patriots Offense v Chiefs Defense

Let’s begin by examining what we can expect when the Patriots offense takes the field.

 

 

QB Tom Brady v Chiefs D Backfield

Tom Brady has seen… and shown… it all. There’s not a defensive set that will be new to Brady and in a media event on Thursday DC Bob Sutton said, “The best you can hope for is to trick Tom Brady and you’ll be lucky if you can do that a couple of times per game.” Brady still has a quick release, an excellent ability to read coverages which allows him to go to his second, third, and fourth receivers and he’s as accurate now as he ever was.

 

The Chiefs defensive backfield has transformed in the past month by benching, and releasing, Safety Ron Parker then putting Jordan Lucas in that position, and replacing corner CB Orlando Scandrick with Charvarius Ward. Ward has been picked on often in the past few weeks and we can expect him to be a target for many of Brady’s pass attempts. With Eric Berry expected to play, we likely won’t see anyone out of position or any missed assignments, or at least those will be at a minimum.

 

 

Danger Zone: there’s not so much a danger zone with Tom Brady because nothing he accomplishes is going to take the Chiefs by surprise but, that being said, if Brady is able to complete a lot of short passes and use those as a way of marching down the field and controlling the clock (along with the running game)… then things could get dicey for the Chiefs.

 

 

Advantage: belongs to Tom Brady.

 

Patriots WRs v Chiefs D Backfield

With Josh Gordon gone, the prospects of covering the Pats WRs was made easier. Not a lot easier, but at least a lighter load. Wideouts Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, and Phillip Dorsett plus TE Rob Gronkowski will be a load. Gronk should be kept at bay by Eric Berry who has had his number for the past few years. The biggest issue there will be keeping Gronk from catching a long one (like he did against now ex-Chief CB Josh Shaw in their first game). We can expect the defensive backfield to do a better job on Gronk this time around. Andy Reid was asked how Eric Berry looked on the practice field on Thursday and said, “He looks like Eric Berry” which is to be interpreted as a huge compliment… for anyone!. Steven Nelson said, “We call him coach when he’s on the field.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danger Zone: the coverage of the twitchy-quick Julian Edelman will be on the critical watch list. If the Chiefs can keep Edelman under wraps, it bodes well for the outcome of this game. The other possible danger is when the Pats pass to their RBs out of the backfield. Dorian O’Daniel could have helped with that but it appears he won’t be available. With Safety’s Berry and speedy Jordan Lucas, that potential threat should be minimized.

 

 

Advantage: belongs to the Patriots WRs.

 

Patriots OL v Chiefs Front 7

The Chiefs have faced excellent offensive lines before and this week will not be any different. In fact, the Pats OL is tied for the league lead for the fewest sacks allowed per game with 1.2. Versus the Pats pass protection, the Chiefs will bring a decided advantage. When Justin Houston was moved inside he had success against the Indianapolis Colts and Bob Sutton will need to do the same with all his penetrators by moving them around because we can expect the Pats to go to a quick and short route passing game which Brady and his WRs excel at. Justin Houston is closer to being the Houston of 2014 than at any time in the past 4 years… Dee Ford is having a breakout season… and Chris Jones is one of the elite inside defensive linemen in the NFL, and these playoffs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danger Zone: if the Pats main offensive thrust is in the running game, their OL could have an advantage. However, the Chiefs should be ready for that as Reid’s plan #1 will be run blitzing, like he did against the Colts on the first play of that game.

 

 

Advantage: belongs to the Chiefs Front 7.

 

 

 

Chiefs Offense v Patriots Defense

Now let’s take a look at what we can expect when the Chiefs offense cranks it up.

 

 

QB Patrick Mahomes v Patriots D Backfield

Patrick Mahomes said that the Pats showed him some “un-scouted looks” in the first game between the two teams this year and that may explain his slow start in that game. Teams PMII has faced have thrown looks he’s never seen before, without much success in stopping him as he’s only gotten better since then. On Thursday Mitchell Schwartz said of Mahomes, “He doesn’t get fazed by anything.” Bill Belichick will use his DBs (and front 7) to throw every trick in the book at the phenom. Mahomes adaptability will be key.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reid will have countered for that and provided more pre-snap reads that involve Tyreek Hill in motion which can help him sort out what kinds of coverages they’ll be using.

 

 

 

 

Danger Zone: the main danger zone for PMII is an INT in the event he makes a mistake in his reads. He had two INTs in the first game against NE so if he can make the proper post-snap reads and not try and force the issue, he should come out on top in this game.

 

 

 

Advantage: belongs to Patrick Mahomes.

 

 

Chiefs Receivers v Patriots D Backfield

Pats corners Stephon Gilmore, and Jason McCourty plus Safety’s Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty are four very good DBs. However, they are just no match for the Chiefs receivers: Tyreek Hill, Sammy Watkins, Chris Conley, Demarcus Robinson and TE Travis Kelce. Hill’s speed and quickness has never been seen before in the history of the NFL and until you have witnessed his virtual velocity, you can not prepare for it and even when you have seen it first hand, you still can’t do anything about it if you’re a DB. Travis Kelce is the best tight end in all of football and will be frequently doubled. Sammy Watkins speed, route running, ability to get open, and his yards after catch ability, are all upper echelon. Last week against the Colts he showed that he’s ready to make other teams pay dearly for doubling Hill and Kelce. The Chiefs will take as much advantage of throwing to their running backs out of the backfield as is possible.

 

 

Danger Zone: if someone like Travis Kelce is hurt and can’t return to the game, it makes double-teaming the other receivers much easier like when the Chiefs faced the Titans last season.

 

 

Advantage: belongs to the Chiefs Receivers, big time.

 

 

Chiefs OL v Patriots Front 7

The Chiefs OL was ranked 5th in the league in sacks allowed. However, the Pats front 7 isn’t nearly as good at rushing the passer as the Chiefs Front 7, especially Ford, Houston, and Jones accounting for 37.5 sacks between the three. The Pats do have Trey Flowers but as the Pats blind side rusher he had a total of 7.5 sacks in 2018, his career best. The Pats defensive linemen Lawrence Guy, Malcom Brown, and Deatrich Wise Jr. are all good against the run but only have 5.5 sacks between them.

 

 

LT Eric Fisher made his 1st Pro Bowl in 2028, LG will be manned by Cam Erving or Jeff Allen, at Center Mitch Morse is backed by Austin Reiter, RG will be Chiefs rookie of the year Andrew Wylie or Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and RT is Mitchell Schwartz: Mr. Reliable and the Chiefs best offensive lineman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This unit is the critical cog in the highest scoring offense in the league because as Andy Reid says, it all starts up front.

 

 

Danger Zone: If the blitzing of the Pats back end players creates a number of sacks, the OL could become confused about assignments. That’s exactly what Bill Belichick wants to accomplish.

 

 

 

Advantage: belongs to the Chiefs OL.

 

 

Special Teams: Chiefs v Patriots

The Patriots have one of the better Special Teams units in the NFL. The Chiefs have a very good unit as well and KC’s Special Teams Coach, Dave Toub, is one of the best in the biz. I’ll call this a stalemate. If a special teams play decides this game it will be because someone goofed up and missed a big assignment. That the Chiefs STs unit gave up a rare blocked Punt for a TD last weekend means they should be ready from here on out.

 

 

 

Bill Belichick v Andy Reid

We can expect both coaches to be aggressive and go for it on 4th down whenever possible. Belichick will show some sets we haven’t seen in years whereas, the Chiefs will rely more on the talent of their players, at least on the defensive side, but the place we’ll see the unusual from Reid is more on the offensive side of the ball. Belichick doesn’t attempt to pump his players up, he just asks them to “do your job” whereas Reid relies on the personal relationships he’s developed with each player as a way to inspire, asking them to dig within to achieve. Belichick’s despotic-accountability approach vs Reid’s transformational-intimate approach may reveal the reasons that Reid’s Coaching Tree has been so successful while Belichick’s has mostly dead branches. 

 

 

Advantage: belongs to Andy Reid… mostly because this is a Home Game for the Chiefs. Otherwise, it’s a toss up.

 

 

 

Chiefs X-Factors v the Patriots

The Chiefs offensive X-Factor will need to excel this week and that is Sammy Watkins. The Pats will double-team Hill and Kelce whenever possible so if Sammy comes through early it will be big! The other X-Factor will be Chris Jones on defense. When the NY Giants beat the Patriots in Super Bowls 42 and 46, their defensive lines put great pressure on Tom Brady up the middle. The best way to disrupt Brady is to do it up the gut. If Jones and Watkins are both having big games, it’s the best gauge early on that the Chiefs are winning… aside from the scoreboard.

 

 

 

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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