Kansas City Chiefs: Predicting result of every game in 2018
Week 6 – Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots (Sunday Night Football) (John)
The Chiefs return to the spot of perhaps their most improbable victory of the 2017 season and the quick emergence of Kareem Hunt as a force to be reckoned with. Tyreek Hill produced long scoring plays and the Chiefs defensive approach of not going after Tom Brady worked well enough to secure the season opening victory. Can history repeat itself? Not likely.
At some point Brady will get old and the Patriots will no longer be a force to be reckoned with. Until we see that actually happen, not going to predict it actually happening.
The Chiefs defensive issues that we saw last season appear to remain, if not have become worse, and there are questions about the offensive line after less then inspiring pre-season. Wide receiver Julian Edelman will have returned from suspension the week before to pair with Chris Hogan and Rob Gronkowski, ensuring the Patriots will have a formidable option of passing options against the Chiefs defensive backfield.
The two things that must happen for the Chiefs to win revolve around the running game. First, the Chiefs must run the ball, both early and often. A good rushing attack not only keeps Tom Brady and the Patriots offense off the field, but forces the Patriots defense to play both the pass and the run, increasing the odds of deep passes and a more overall effective offense.
Secondly, the Chiefs must stop the Patriots running game. If they can’t, the rest is rather moot. When the Patriots can run, it opens up their passing game, which is about as bad an idea as ever with perhaps the best quarterback of all time.
In the offseason, the Chiefs spent a bunch of money bringing in nose tackle Xavier Williams and linebacker Anthony Hitchens with the express intent of stopping the run. It must happen here.