Kansas City Chiefs: Defensive players who need to step up vs Patriots
By John McCarty
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS WHO NEED TO STEP UP – ANTHONY HITCHENS
Despite putting up a game-leading 14 tackles in the Chiefs previous game against the Patriots, many of those tackles by Anthony Hitchens were down field chasing after running backs or receivers on short passes. With the 14 tackles, only one was recorded as a tackle for loss. The free agent linebacker will need to step up and make a play.
The Patriots passing game, especially with the loss of Josh Gordon, includes shorts passes to running backs often. In the week six match-up, Hitchens was slow and hesitant when it came to attacking the ball and performed poorly as a result.
Against the Colts in the Divisional Round, the linebacker was attacking the line of scrimmage and aggressively attacking ball carriers. If Hitchens plays on Sunday against New England the way he did against the Colts, his performance will be a big swing in favor of the Chiefs.