The NFL divisional playoff game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs will kickoff at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, January 16.
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The return of Julian Edelman to the New England lineup has paid immediate dividends for Tom Brady and company, and when Edelman isn’t making plays (five catches, 45 yards) he is attracting attention away from Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell and Rob Gronkowski (four catches, 47 yards, one touchdown). With the Chiefs missing two starting offensive lineman I would expect to have guys such as Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Jabaal Sheard and Jamie Collins to have huge games and apply a lot of pressure to Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith.
Chiefs running back Charcandrick West had 61 yards rushing and a touchdown in the loss while the Patriots only rushed for 38 yards as a team.
A season earlier, New England recorded its now-customary 12-win season, AFC East title and trip to the conference championship game despite releasing tight end Aaron Hernandez over the summer, shortly before he was charged with first-degree murder (he was convicted in April 2015, a few months after his former teammates’ Super Bowl victory).
Brady, still half dressed in his uniform, relished the Patriots’ 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs tonight, but remained focused on the big test that lies ahead next week with a berth in Super Bowl 50 on the line. Patriots strike first as Brady hammers it to the big tight end!
The New England Patriots were supposed to be amidst a season to remember.
Kansas City finished second in the National Football League to the Carolina Panthers (+20) in turnover differential at plus-14. That was in the Super Bowl previous year when they didn’t run Marshawn Lynch from the one-yard line in the final minute against the Patriots.
Amendola is listed as questionable with a knee injury and was limited in practice on Thursday.
In fact, Edelman seems to be so psyched up to play that he created a hype-up video to get his teammates ready to go against Kansas City.
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With potential rain and snow in the forecast, now is the time to hop on the under in today’s Divisional round matchup between the Chiefs and Patriots. Jeremy Maclin had 29 yards in three receptions before he was injured. The Chiefs had won 11 consecutive games, including a 30-0 victory over Houston in the wild-card round last week for their first playoff victory since 1993. “Because we’re better”, said Blake May who flew in from Kansas City for the game. “This is the week … we’re talking about, why I made a decision to take coach up on the offer”.
