The Patriots had their own major injury this preseason with wide receiver Julian Edelman going down with a torn ACL. Brady is 101-17 straight up (SU) at home and enjoys playing on Thursdays: 9-1 SU with 24 touchdowns and only two interceptions.
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Only three writers at CBS Sports are picking New England to win it all. Then again, Kansas City did rely an very bad lot on turnovers last season (33 takeaways); what if the ball doesn’t bounce the Chiefs’ way this season? They are the biggest questions now heading into New England on the injury front. Thus, the Patriots is totally different now from the build up of 2016. Even with his four-game “Deflategate” suspension he managed 3,554 yards passing and 28 touchdowns. With Cooks in the line up, the Patriots will always be in the winning situation. Amendola showed he could play especially when the game is on the line. “I have to put them in the Super Bowl”.
No quarterback has started 16 games in a season after turning 40.
“As a reminder, under the NFL Concussion Protocol, the NFL and NFLPA encourage all players to report any signs or symptoms of concussion promptly and openly to their team medical staffs”. Mitchell was targeted 48 times.
Kansas City has what it takes to at least test New England for most of the night, and the 8.5-point spread is just big enough to allow the Chiefs to cover. Not to mention Rob Gronkowski and a deep backfield. After coming over from the Eagles last year via trade, he didn’t play much, but looks to play a lot more this year.
Every one of these options is back for 2017, and everyone but Parker is under the age of 30.
He has already delivered big performances in the play-offs last season and has additional speed to offer Brady compared to Edelman so Hogan represents a tempting wager to find the end zone first. The Patriots will feature Dion Lewis and James White. And in 2016 they defeated the Cardinals without Brady. Appointed by Tom Brady, the 31-year-old has received mainly positive feedback from his teammates. Yet they still have the obvious advantage of Tom Brady at quarterback and Bill Belichick as the head coach, a duo that have proven their ability to lead New England through adversity time and again.
I would expect Alex Smith to make few errors as usual at the quarterback position over the season but whether he can guide this team to a Super Bowl is under scrutiny. His presence will surely help the offense to dismantle the defense of New England.
Now, KC will rely on the legs of rookie Kareem Hunt to lead the rushing attack with Charcandrick West as his back-up. The Patriots don’t have an extremely tough schedule, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t facing any tough defenses.
Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs attempts to tackle Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Gillette Stadium on January 16, 2016 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
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The Patriots on the other hand will score against anyone.
