The Chiefs did not end the Patriots’ season — and Tom Brady’s reign — last season. That was Mike Vrabel’s Tennessee Titans. But the Chiefs did prove their mettle in Week 14, beating the Patriots, 23-16 — despite their equipment arriving just two hours before the game — to signal that their time might be in the present tense. A little less than two months later, the franchise collected its first Super Bowl win since the 1969 season.
The Chiefs hoarded all the breaks in last season’s matchup. A potential return of a fumble for a touchdown by Stephon Gilmore was blown dead by a whistle. N’Keal Harry was deemed out of bounds on what should have been the tying touchdown, but because the Patriots had no challenges left, they couldn’t get the call overturned.
Truth be told, the Chiefs were probably due a few breaks. They were so close to beating the Patriots in 2018. They lost, 43-40, in the regular season, then fell, 37-31, in overtime in the AFC Championship game, a Dee Ford offside penalty giving the Patriots an extra life. The Chiefs had the talent, but not yet the poise, necessary for the moment. It will be fascinating to see whether they’re ready for this, whether they understand that a champion will face a hungry challenger every week.
There was reason for skepticism in the offseason, when Kansas City players began their foolish talk of matching and even exceeding the Patriots’ two-decade run of dominance, an achievement that time will prove to be an outlier of impossible sustained excellence. But they have begun the season looking every bit like a champion ready to defend its crown.
Led by breathtakingly talented quarterback Patrick (Don’t Call Him Pat) Mahomes, the Chiefs are off to a 3-0 start, with their most recent win a thorough dismantling of the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football” in which they scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions.
The Chiefs are fourth in the NFL in scoring (30.3 points per game), and save for some unexpected struggles in an eventual Week 2 win over the Chargers, have looked like an unstoppable force. But Belichick knows them well. And as Jim Kelly could tell you, he’s been stopping the unstoppable for decades.
Kick it off, Bailey, and let’s get this one started …
Three players I’ll be watching
Patrick Mahomes: We generally try to stay away from quarterbacks in this segment — I mean, who isn’t watching the quarterback, right? But even those quirky aficionados of offensive-line play or the All-22 obsessives can’t look away from the Chiefs’ fourth-year quarterback (and third-year starter) for long. So we’ll make an exception for Mahomes, since he is so … well, exceptional. No matter whether we’re talking about his career or this young season in particular, he is off to spectacular start. Mahomes threw for 50 touchdowns and was named league MVP in 2018, hoisted the Lombardi Trophy last season, and is rolling right along this year, with nine touchdowns without an interception, a career-best 67.8 completion percentage, and 898 passing yards. He’s the freewheeling, brilliant player that the national NFL media portrayed Brett Favre as being long after he actually was. Mahomes could probably win with one Jake From State Farm lining up at tight end and the other at receiver, but this season he is surrounded by more talent than ever, with rookie back Clyde Edwards-Helaire adding a new element to an already loaded offense.
FINAL: @PatrickMahomes‘ five total TDs lead the @Chiefs to a Monday Night win! #ChiefsKingdom #KCvsBAL
(by @Lexus) pic.twitter.com/mVNk5QuQEc
— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2020
Sony Michel: Well, I didn’t see that coming. Did you? Michel, whose adequate but uninspiring performances over the last year (he didn’t have a single 100-yard game last season after delivering two in the 2018 postseason alone) suggested he might be losing his grip on the starting tailback spot, broke loose against the Raiders with 117 yards on just nine carries, including the two longest runs of his career (38 and 48 yards). He’s gained 173 yards on just 26 carries this season, an average of 6.7 yards. Michel is not the focal point of the Patriots’ versatile rushing attack; that is Newton, who already has 149 rushing yards and four TDs. But Michel’s rejuvenation is a welcome development, and with Rex Burkhead doing his thing (three TDs against the Raiders), second-year man Damien Harris returning from injured reserve, and dependable James White back with the team after missing last week’s game because of a family tragedy, there’s a distinct 1978 Patriots vibe about this team’s running game. The ground game should continue to thrive against a Chiefs team that owns the league’s 27th-ranked rush defense (153 yards per game).
Jonathan Jones: Yes, the Patriots have already allowed seven touchdown passes this year after giving up just 13 last season. But even with the loss of Patrick Chung, the addition of Adrian Phillips, and the relative emergence of Joejuan Williams and Kyle Dugger give the Patriots more depth of skill than they had even a season ago. Jones has had his ups and downs early in the season, but in the past he has been instrumental, with some safety help, in containing speedster Tyreek Hill. Jones is third among Patriots defensive backs in snaps, trailing only Devin McCourty and Stephon Gilmore, and should get a chance to play a crucial role.
Grievance of the week
In the grand scheme of things, I recognize this is about as important as Belichick’s dress code for Zoom calls with us media jackals. But I simply cannot be the only viewer during the last couple of Patriots-Chiefs matchups who has been driven to the frothing fringes of madness by those bright yellow gloves Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu chooses to wear. On the TV screen, his mustard mittens look exactly like a penalty flag any time he is near the play. The NFL should allow the players as much freedom to be distinctive with their gear as they want. But yellow gloves on Honey Badgers must be banned. C’mon, you know Roger Goodell has executed stupider bans.
Key matchup
Patriots center Joe Thuney vs. Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones
Chandler Jones is in his fifth year with the Arizona Cardinals, and he has been phenomenal for them, piling up 61 sacks, second in franchise history to Freddie Joe Nunn’s 66.5 from 1985-93. But if you’re one of the fans that still laments the deal that sent Jones to the Cardinals after the 2015 season, it’s time to let it go.
The Patriots parlayed the second-round pick they received (along with guard Jonathan Cooper) into a pair of 2016 draft picks, which were used on Malcolm Mitchell and Thuney. Mitchell was doomed by injury, but he will always be remembered for his instrumental role in the Super Bowl LI comeback win over the Falcons. He’ll always be remembered well.
Chris Jones doing what he does best. #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #KCvsBAL on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/QjJ5lF3Rg2 pic.twitter.com/gHbjB9hHA5— NFL (@NFL) September 29, 2020
Meanwhile, Thuney has turned into one of the best linemen of the Patriots’ era of excellence. He’s never missed a start, but his most impressive feat came last Sunday, when he moved to center to replace the injured David Andrews, dominated the interior of the Raiders’ line as the Patriots ran for 250 yards, and didn’t have a single obvious miscommunication with Newton. This guy is a quintessential Patriot — tough, smart, and versatile.
The Chiefs’ Jones is a formidable opponent. He’s already collected 3.5 sacks this year — including two Monday night against the Ravens — after totaling 24.5 over the previous two seasons. He also has six QB hits this season after accumulating 20 last season. The 2019 Pro Bowl selection will present a tougher challenge to Thuney than anyone on the Raiders could. But it’s a safe bet that Thuney will be up to it. It’s hard to remember a time when he wasn’t.
Prediction
Or, I bet Christian Okoye could still get 3 yards on third and 2
Conventional wisdom suggests the Patriots will run the ball and try to control the clock against the Chiefs. Keeping Kansas City’s offense off the field might be the best defense, and not even Mahomes has figured out how to throw a touchdown pass from the sideline.
But it makes so much sense that I wonder if the Patriots are plotting a variation on the obvious. Running backs coach Ivan Fears provided some common sense of his own this past week, noting that keeping the Chiefs off the field isn’t so much the priority as putting points on the scoreboard.
That suggests to me that this game is not just going to come down to Newton’s legs, but his arm. He carried just nine times for 27 yards against the Raiders, both season lows, but was a dynamo on the run against the Dolphins and the Seahawks. His best passing game (30 of 44, 397 yards) came in the Week 2 duel with Russell Wilson, and the Chiefs did allow 311 yards in Week 2 to the Chargers’ Justin Herbert in his first career start.
This one is on Newton. And while his array of skills won’t quite be enough to prevail, it will be enough to convince anyone that wrote off the Patriots before the season that they remain a team with which to be reckoned. Chiefs, 34-31.
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