Over the past few seasons, the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs have put on a display of heated football games. Their matchup on Monday Night Football is just another game in the brewing rivalry. Arrowhead Stadium rivals that of Seattle in one of the hardest places to play on the road. The Patriots are already having communication and chemistry issues on offense. The noise factor should even this AFC game out.
The Patriots are used to having one of the most efficient offenses in the NFL, but the past two years have been a different story. Wide receiver struggles and quarterback chemistry have seen a different side of New England, one that has been magnified over the past four weeks. The Patriots are sitting at 2-1 having failed to crack 300 yards of offense twice in three games. That has only happened four other times in 2013. They currently rank 27th in the league with just 301.3 yards per game something that has not happened since 2006.
Quarterback Tom Brady is partially to blame as he continues to start slow on the year. He sits at 30th in the league with just 5.54 yards of offense per play while putting up an 82.9 passer rating. In passes of 21 yards or more, he is just 1 for 13 on the year. It is not for lack of weapons, but possibly a lack of chemistry. Right now, Julian Edelman is leading the group after doing so last year. He has 22 catches on the year. Rob Gronkowski ranks second on the team. After that Brandon LaFell has four while returning receiver Danny Amendola has just three. That is simply not good enough for New England.
Against the Chiefs, Brady is unstoppable. He has won four of five career starts against the team, throwing seven touchdowns while having a 110.0 passer rating against the team. He will need to step it up if he wants the positive numbers to continue. That means also improving the run game which is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry.
The Patriots defense has not been unstoppable this season either, something Alex Smith intends to change. Jamaal Charles will be back with the team after an ankle injury. Knile Davis is coming off as solid game. Smith was efficient in his last outing. The Chiefs have the momentum to challenge their poor record against the Patriots.
