New England Patriots def. Kansas City Chiefs: 5 Takeaways
By Erik Lambert
For the fifth-straight season, the New England Patriots advance to the AFC Championship by dispatching the Cinderella Kansas City Chiefs 27-20. In what was a controversy-fueled game, here are five takeaways from the action to help break it down.
Tom Brady needs no running game
The leading rusher on the night for New England was Steven Jackson with a whopping 16 yards. In most cases that doesn’t win football games. However, most teams don’t have Tom Brady at quarterback. As always he masterfully controlled the action, using a short, pinpoint passing game to act as the running game and it gave the Chiefs fits all night.
Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman were the difference
Yet the reason the Patriots won was the same reason they were flirted with another undefeated regular season: Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman were back on the field together. The Patriots were 9-0 when Brady had those two as his pass targets and 3-4 when one or both were out. They combined for 183 yards and two touchdowns on the evening.
Chiefs pass rush disappeared when needed most
As with any quarterback, the key to stopping Tom Brady has always been to pressure him. Make him uncomfortable. It’s a big reason why the Patriots had been struggling down the stretch. Kansas City had the pieces to do the same. They just failed to take advantage. Justin Houston, Tamba Hali and the rest of the front seven did not put Brady on the ground once. One does not beat New England when that happens.
Alex Smith proves once again he can’t win a game himself
Franchise quarterbacks are players who can elevate their offensive teammates to heights they can’t achieve on their own. Alex Smith once again proved on Saturday that he is not up to that challenge. Despite throwing the ball 50 times, he only completed 29 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown. It’s an unusual decision considering the Chiefs ran the ball at an average of 4.2 yards per carry. Smith has been at his best when K.C. feeds their backs. They didn’t and he wasn’t able to compensate.
Andy Reid clock management costs him again
This will be covered over and over again for weeks and months to come. Once again Andy Reid got into a big game against the Patriots and once again his common sense with telling time went out the window. Late in the game and trailing by two touchdowns, the Chiefs offense showed no urgency, even huddling up with under two minutes left. Those precious second ended up costing them a chance to get the ball back.
It brings back bad memories of Reid during his lone trip to the Super Bowl, where his Philadelphia Eagles showed a similar inability to go no-huddle against New England. Did the players fail him or was he genuinely spooked by the situation?
It will never be known.