The Patriots were exposed big time on Opening Night. A team many expect to run right through the AFC on their way to a sixth Super Bowl title was blasted in the second half by a game Kansas City Chiefs squad, led by a smoking Alex Smith.
The blowout that wasn't: Leading 7-0, it looked like New England was on their way to an early blowout after Kareem Hunt fumbled the football at Kanas City's own 32 yard line. A few plays later Tom Brady connected with Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown. However the TD was called back after review showed the ball actually hit the ground first. New England would not score on the drive, as KC turned the Patriots over on a crucial fourth and one at the 10 yard line.Tom Brady Looked Off: Brady was not good on Thursday night. He didn't have much zip on the ball, with a lot of his deep passes floating over the heads of his intended targets. While he did have some great throws, like the 54-yard bomb to Brandin Cooks, he had a rather blah evening. Is 40 starting to catch up to him? I doubt, but it was a rather surprising and poor effort by the Patriots MVP.
Gronowski and Cooks were M.I.A.: Part of the reason Brady had so much trouble on Thursday was the great coverage played by Kansas City's secondary. The Chiefs were all over Gronkowski who had only two catches for 33 yards, and Cooks was rarely heard from all night, with the exception of his one big catch. With the Patriots struggles to move the football in the first half, it allowed Kansas City to stay in the game. Once the Chiefs got a late first half touchdown to cut the New England lead down to 17-14, it was pretty clear the Pats would be in a dog fight the rest of the night.
Chiefs Killed New England with Long Drives: One common theme for the Chiefs was their ability to score on the Patriots at will with long, time consuming drives. KC's first touchdown, a 7-yard pass from Alex Smith to Demetrius Harris, completed a 12-play 90-yard drive that ate up 6:22.
The touchdown that closed out the first half, was a lot quicker as the Chiefs covered 92 yards in 2:34, with Smith leading the way by pushing the ball down field on a number of passes.
The drive that broke the Patriots came on just one play in the third quarter when Smith hit a wide open Tyreek Hill for a 75-yard touchdown that put the Chiefs in front for the first time. 21-17.
Alex Smith was amazing: Smith has always been considered a game manager throughout his career. Even the Chiefs were ready to part ways with him when they drafted Patrick Mahomes this past Spring. Instead of pouting Smith put on a show on Thursday night. He completed 28 of 35 passes for 368 yards and four touchdowns.
Kareem Hunt's revenge: After fumbling his first carry of his NFL career, Kareem Hunt got plenty of revenge against the Patriots henceforth. Seconds into the fourth quarter, Hunt caught a Smith pass down the middle of the field and took off for a 75-yard touchdown that stunned the Foxboro crowd as the Chiefs jumped back out in front 28-27.
Later in the quarter, Hunt played a big roll again, gashing the Patriots porous defense on a number of plays, before scoring on a four yard touchdown to make it 35-27. The Chiefs would put the game away on Charcandrick West's 12-yard score, but this was clearly Hunt's night. The rookie killed the Patriots with 148 yards rushing on 17 carries. So much for missing Spencer Ware who was lost for the year two weeks ago.
Patriots D is awful! The Patriots defense look like a shell of its former self. With so many new faces, especially up front the Patriots don't have the pass rush to put pressure on the quarterback anymore. They are also incredibly spotting in coverage. Losing Dont'a Hightower in the third quarter didn't help. Overall, New England gave up 537 yards of offense to Kansas City, and oh, by the way the face Drew Brees and the Saints new week. That could get real interesting now.
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