The New England Patriots are as threatening as ever based on QB Tom Brady and his ability to spread the ball around alone. Brady threw for over 150 yards and a touchdown with no picks and was not sacked in the opening half, and he also ran for 10 yards and a touchdown.
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Edelman’s heavy usage extended beyond Brady’s familiarity and preference to throw to the former Kent State quarterback. It did again Saturday afternoon, with a 27-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs that turned – stop if you’ve heard this before, and you surely have – on Tom Brady’s almost flawless game, on an excruciating Chiefs turnover, a few mental mistakes and baffling clock management.
After a Gostkowski extra point, the Patriots went up 21-6 and took complete control of the game.
Smith opened the game 5 of 5 for 29 yards, but is at 10 of 21 for just 65 yards at halftime. The drive was in danger of stalling at the Kansas City 35 when Chiefs linebacker Dezman Moses hit Brady late and was called for roughing the passer. When near the goal line, they actually ran the ball and when that didn’t get the touchdown, huddled back up instead of using a timeout.
The referees are trying to keep this game under control, a week after the game between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh was tainted by illegal hits and penalties. They lost a yard and were forced to punt on the three-and-out. The Chiefs got the ball down to the 1-yard line with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter. Amendola lowered his head and leveled Fleming. There was no chance that the Patriots were going to lose Saturday in Foxborough on Tom Brady’s watch. Saturday they were counting on Sebastian Vollmer returning from injury, Marcus Cannon holding up at right tackle with rookie Shaq Mason next to him and center Brian Stork returning to last year’s form.
Backup David Andrews took Stork’s place early in the second quarter.
NOTES: New England LBs Jamie Collins (back) and Gerod Mayo (shoulder) left the game in the third quarter because of injuries….
The Gronk missed a couple of practices this week and reportedly spent some time in a hospital receiving treatment, which sent a portion of New England into panic mode.
Patriots defensive lineman Chandler Jones also had a big play to finish an odd week that started on Sunday when he left his home reeking of marijuana and showed up shirtless and confused at the local police station. The Chiefs put together a nice drive before intermission, but stalled near the goal and settled for a chip-shot field goal.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is arguably the NFL’s most hard coverage assignment.
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (11) celebrates his game winning touchdown with teammates agasint the Green Bay Packers during overtime of an NFL divisional playoff football game, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Glendale, Ariz. But New England’s previously struggling offense scored 27 points versus a Chiefs defense that had allowed only 11.6 points per game over its previous 11 games.
Other Patriots receivers made bigger plays. Kansas City outgained the Patriots 378-340 in yardage and had the ball 15:42 more. This time it was a 32 yarder that gave his team a 27-13 advantage with 10:20 remaining in the contest. Bill Belichick told his team to kick if it won the coin toss, which it did.
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Even though New England’s offensive attack relies so heavily on passing, McDaniels found a way to get White involved and into space against the Chiefs on a screen, which could be a weapon in future matchups.
