After being unceremoniously flexed out of their Monday Night matchup against the Chiefs, the Patriots used a Thursday night time slot to show some first half offense and secure their third victory of the season. Will they or should they even go for win number 4 today against Kansas City?
As of now, the Patriots have the second pick in the draft. Should they win today, the best draft situation would likely have them picking 3rd behind Arizona. So I ask you, is a win against the Chiefs worth it? Personally I have mixed emotions for what I would like to see the rest of the season. If it's true that Bill needs to stack up some wins to stick around in New England, than I am 100% on board with having a 5 game winning streak to close out the season. Assuming the Patriots really just need to stay in games to run it back with Bill, then I'm a little perplexed with how I want today's game to shake out. I guess if we are going to mess up our draft pick by getting one more win this season, than I'd prefer that win to occur today.
Win or lose, these are the things I want to see in today's game against the Chiefs.
DOMINATING DEFENSE- Overall, the Patriots' defense has been solid this year. Although they haven't been very flashy, they are usually getting the job done and keeping opponents below their scoring average. While the Chiefs have regularly been one of the top scoring teams during Mahomes' tenure, they have slipped out of the top ten this season with an average of 22.5 points per game. With 13 games played this season, the Chiefs have been held under 20 points 6 times. Last season they scored less than 20 only once including playoff games.
The three things I'd like to see from the defense are as follows. First off, keep Kelce out of the endzone. Second, make tackles especially after receptions. This season the Chiefs lead the NFL in yards after the catch. Make stops on third downs. Another weird place that Kansas City is leading the league is with 3rd down conversions in the red zone.
DOMINATING DEFENSE- Overall, the Patriots' defense has been solid this year. Although they haven't been very flashy, they are usually getting the job done and keeping opponents below their scoring average. While the Chiefs have regularly been one of the top scoring teams during Mahomes' tenure, they have slipped out of the top ten this season with an average of 22.5 points per game. With 13 games played this season, the Chiefs have been held under 20 points 6 times. Last season they scored less than 20 only once including playoff games.
The three things I'd like to see from the defense are as follows. First off, keep Kelce out of the endzone. Second, make tackles especially after receptions. This season the Chiefs lead the NFL in yards after the catch. Make stops on third downs. Another weird place that Kansas City is leading the league is with 3rd down conversions in the red zone.
QUICK START OFFENSE- I'm all about seeing a quick start offense like we saw last week. I think Belichick is aware that no teams are going to give us anything for Mac Jones, so we might as well make it obvious that the offense struggled because of him. If we aren't going to go after a quarterback in free agency, we need to be wooing some potential free agents with our play calling and offensive potential regardless of who we draft.
INJURY FREE- The last thing I want to see is a player suffering an injury at this point in the season. Injuries at this point in the season will be carryover to next year, and nobody wants to see that.
SMART SPECIAL TEAMS- Special teams has been all over the place this year. Before we were completely out of the playoff picture, games were lost due to special teams miscues. Was it really bad play or just part of the don't be obvious tanking plan? You can't have the defense intentionally look bad because that Belichicks' strong suit. Offensively, we were trying to get someone to trade for Mac. One stupid play here and there on special teams and you can have a different outcome.
REFEREES- This may be weird, but I could totally go for a tight game where the Patriots lose because of a bad call. That way we still are in position for the 2nd pick and we could have a bit of a moral victory against the Chiefs.
INJURY FREE- The last thing I want to see is a player suffering an injury at this point in the season. Injuries at this point in the season will be carryover to next year, and nobody wants to see that.
SMART SPECIAL TEAMS- Special teams has been all over the place this year. Before we were completely out of the playoff picture, games were lost due to special teams miscues. Was it really bad play or just part of the don't be obvious tanking plan? You can't have the defense intentionally look bad because that Belichicks' strong suit. Offensively, we were trying to get someone to trade for Mac. One stupid play here and there on special teams and you can have a different outcome.
REFEREES- This may be weird, but I could totally go for a tight game where the Patriots lose because of a bad call. That way we still are in position for the 2nd pick and we could have a bit of a moral victory against the Chiefs.
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