Patriots 2014 Opponents, 5 First Impressions of the Chiefs
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Tamba Hali leads an impressive pass rush of the KC Chiefs. USA Today photo[/caption]
The New England Patriots go back out on the road in Week 4 to take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football in Arrowhead Stadium. It has always been a tough place to play and the place should be very loud with a national television audience tuning in.
The Patriots (2-1) held on to beat the Oakland Raiders 16-9 on Sunday, holding the Raiders to just 241 yards of offense and three field goals. Vince Wilfork put the game away with an interception in the waning moments on a tipped ball.
The offense sputtered, especially in the red-zone going 1-4 and the protection woes for Tom Brady again raised questions about the Patriots offensive line. New England was only able to gain 2.4 yards per rush against a Raiders defense that was allowing an average of 5.0 yards per rush and 200 yards per game.
The Chiefs have been decimated by injuries already but went into Miami on Sunday and put a licking on the Dolphins 34-15. With a running game missing Jamaal Charles, the Chiefs still managed to run for 174 yards led by Knile Davis.
Kansas City also sacked QB Ryan Tannehill four times, held him to only 4.1 yards per attempt and allowed only 4 of 15 third down conversions.
Here Are 5 First Impressions of the Chiefs:
Hali, Houston a Formidable Pass Rushing Duo: Kansas City can get after the opposing team’s quarterbacks with a pair of bookend threats in Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. The two have combined for five sacks already thus far in 2014. They can be extremely disruptive off the edge and are the cornerstones along with Dontari Poe of their front seven.
One player to watch this week may also be OLB Dee Ford. Ford was the 23rd player selected in the 2014 NFL Draft and is known for his speed off the edge and ability to get to the QB. He’s played only sparingly thus far but against a team struggling to protect its QB, this may be a great time to unleash the rookie.
The Chiefs secondary isn’t a particularly stout group, even more so with S Eric Berry hurting and having an effective pass rush is imperative for them to have success going forward this season.
The Patriots will have their hands full with this group on Monday night as they’re still searching for answers in protecting Tom Brady. This will be one of the key matchups to watch this week.
Run Game Is Still Key For KC, Regardless If Charles Is In: The Chiefs are dependent upon their running game to get everything going for their offense. They’ve been pretty well balanced so far with 89 rushing attempts to go along with 102 passes thus far. Even with Charles out with an injury, Davis has led a rushing attack that has been good in 2014 averaging 125 yards per game and 4.2 yards per rush.
Charles is reportedly returning to practice this week (high ankle sprain) but the Patriots should still expect to see a lot of Davis this week as well. The key for the New England defense will be stopping the run and forcing the Chiefs to win via the passing game regardless of who starts for KC.
Alex Smith Having Protection Issues of His Own: With the departure of LT Branden Albert to the Dolphins this off-season, the Chiefs moved 2013 top draft pick Eric Fisher over to handle blind side duties, however right tackle Jeff Allen has gone onto IR and their protection of QB Alex Smith has suffered.
Smith has been sacked 11 times already in 2014 and will be an area to watch if New England can slow down the Chiefs’ running game. Smith is a mobile quarterback who can make plays with his feet as well as his arm so containment will be a key here.
Smith was sacked five times in the win over Miami however he also threw three touchdown passes. Against the Dolphins’ stout pass rush, Smith didn’t attempt a pass over 10 yards last week.
Passing Game Keys On TE/RB: While the Chiefs have Dwayne Bowe and Donnie Avery outside the numbers, Smith’s targets this weekend in the passing game may tend to be more underneath, looking to beat New England with his tight ends and running backs.
Last week in Miami, running back Joe McKnight was a major contributor with six catches for 64 yards and two big touchdowns. Tight ends Travis Kelce and Anthony Fasano have combined for 18 catches, 257 yards and two touchdowns.
McKnight, Charles and Davis have also added 18 receptions between them and will be a handful for the linebackers to handle out of the backfield. Bowe and Avery were only targeted five and three times respectively last week.
Rush Defense a Big Issue: The Chiefs have struggled to stop the run thus far in 2014 allowing over 130 yards per game and 5.1 yards per attempt. This is an area where the injuries have been felt with DL Mike Devito and LB Derrick Johnson both lost for the season.
Going back to the season opener against Tennessee, the Titans rushed 10 times for 26 yards before Johnson went down. After he was out, Tennessee rushed 26 more times for 136 yards for an average of 4.8 yards per carry. Losing both of these players is a tough blow for the Chiefs.
Last week even without Knowshon Moreno in the lineup, Lamar Miller ran for 108 yards for the Dolphins. Overall Miami ran the ball 20 times for 141 yards.
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