This was a game to forget for Patriots fans, as they were run out of Arrowhead stadium by the Chiefs, 41-14. New England was coming off of a rather poor performance against the Oakland Raiders, while Kansas City won their first game of the 2014 season against the Miami Dolphins last week. Despite winning the game against the Raiders, it was clear that the Patriots had many flaws in their offensive attack. This trend continued against the Chiefs, as their offense was completely non-existent under the bright lights of Monday night football.
Momentum seemed to play a huge role in the game. From the opening kickoff, the Chiefs were able to control the tempo of play, while the Patriots were just struggling to keep up. Unfortunately for New England, star running back Jamaal Charles returned to Kansas City’s lineup and showed why he is one of the premier runners in this league. Charles was coming off a high ankle sprain he suffered a few weeks back. Charles had 18 carries for 92 yards and three total touchdowns. Fellow running back Knile Davis also added 16 carries for 107 yards. Both rushers had the Patriots defense on its heels all night.
For the first three games, the Patriots defense performed relatively well, however, this game exposed many blemishes in their defensive approach. The Chiefs’ offensive line dominated the front four of the Patriots throughout the game, and created many holes for Charles and Davis. The threat of running the ball opened up the passing game for Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith, as he had his way with the New England secondary. The defense had so many missed tackles last night, it was as if the Chiefs had Vaseline on their uniforms. The poor performance of the entire defense last night brings up many questions.
Is Vince Wilfork done as an elite run stopper? Can Darrelle Revis be the lockdown corner the Patriots are paying him to be? Will the Patriots put any pressure on opposing quarterbacks with their pass rush? This is certainly not looking like a typical Bill Belichick defense.
Perhaps even more disappointing than the defense, was the horrid offensive performance. Belichick tried mixing up the offensive line by inserting two rookies into the lineup. However, this did not help keep pressure off of Tom Brady. He had “happy feet” in the pocket all night and did not seem comfortable in the backfield. It also didn’t help that the offensive line was up against elite pass rushers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali of the Chiefs.
Brady still does not look like himself on the field. Even on the rare chance he had time in the pocket, he could not locate any of his weapons. This is a combination of wide receivers failing to get open and also Tom Brady not performing at his best. The Patriots failed to get anything going in the running game and, as a result, could not open up the threat of their passing attack. In order for their offense to click, the Patriots must get running backs Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen going. Due to their lack of personnel in the receiving game, they need that constant threat of the run, in order to open up the play action fake. No disrespect to wide receiver Julian Edelman, but Brady needs more help on the outside of the field.
It seems to be panic-time for New England fans, however the team still has a record of 2-2 on the season, and the title for the AFC East division is wide open. In order to turn their season around, both the offense and defense need to put in some hard work at practice and figure out how to fix their many weaknesses. New England will travel back to Gillette stadium to take on the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football next week.