BSJ Game Report: Patriots 43, Chiefs 40 - New England offense delivers in the clutch taken at Gillette Stadium (Patriots)

(Adam Richins/Boston Sports Journal)

Patriots

BSJ Game Report: Patriots 43, Chiefs 40 - New England offense delivers in the clutch

By Christopher Price

Oct 15, 2018 • 3:07 am

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FOXBOROUGH — Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ dramatic 43-40 win over the Chiefs in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:

GAMEBOOK

HEADLINES

Offense rules. In many ways, it was reminiscent of a 2002 shootout in Foxborough between the Chiefs and Patriots. In this one -- a classic "last team with the ball wins" type of game -- New England had a little more left at the end, as Stephen Gostkowski knocked home his fifth field goal of the night as time expired to give New England the three-point win. There were several offensive heroes — Tom Brady (24-for-35, 340 yards, one touchdown), Sony Michel (24 carries, 106 yards, two touchdowns), James White (five catches, 92 yards from scrimmage) and Rob Gronkowski (three catches, 97 yards). While the Patriots struggled for sizable portions of the second half on defense -- more on that in a second -- it turned out to be a landmark night for the offense. New England didn’t punt the ball all evening. (It was just the fifth time in franchise history the Patriots went a full game without punting.)

"We had control, and then we let them back in the game," Brady said of the game, a contest where the Patriots held a 24-9 halftime lead before the Chiefs came roaring back. "But, they were making plays on offense. We were making plays. And, we talked about competing for 60 minutes, and that’s what it took. It took us right down to the last three seconds."

Chiefs didn’t blink: Pat Mahomes had a pair of balls picked off in the first half and Kansas City went into halftime trailing 24-9. A lesser quarterback would have folded, but Mahomes and the Chiefs came out firing in the second half, putting up 17 points in the third and eventually taking a 33-30 lead midway through the fourth quarter. It was an impressive display of resilience on the part of Mahomes and the Kansas City offense, which rose to the challenge all evening and had the Patriots' defense guessing for large periods of the third and fourth quarter. In all, Mahomes finished 23-for-36 for 352 yards, with four touchdowns and a pair of picks. His finest moment? A 75-yard thunderbolt to Tyreek Hill that briefly gave the Chiefs a fourth-quarter lead. Basically, the kid was as good as advertised. It’s easy to see why people believe that this Kansas City team is different.

An AFC championship preview? There’s a lot of time between now and January, but at this point on the calendar, these are easily the two best teams in the conference. The Jaguars have lost three of their last four, the Steelers are all over the place, and no one is quite sure what to make of the Chargers. That leaves New England and Kansas City. Provided neither team sustains a serious injury and continues trending in the right direction, would anyone be surprised if these two teams met again in January for the right to go to the Super Bowl?

TURNING POINT

Rob Gronkowski's big catch in the fourth quarter was huge. (Adam Richins/Boston Sports Journal)


It stands to reason this three-act drama of a football game would come down to the final minute. With the game tied at 40 and with 51 seconds remaining, the Patriots were sitting in a first and 10 at the Kansas City 48. Brady dropped back and fired a pass deep down the right side for Gronkowski, who hauled in the 39-yarder over safety Josh Shaw. The pass play got the Patriots down to the Kansas City 9-yard line, and set up the game-winning kick from Gostkowski.


“I was right on the outside, and it was a really good throw,” said wide receiver Chris Hogan. “I knew that with Rob being there, he had a really good chance at getting the ball. He ran a great route and set the offense up for a game-winning field goal. (Brady) does such a great job of knowing when he wants to throw it and reading the leverage of the corner or whoever is guarding (the player). He always puts it in a good spot for us to try to make the play.”


"He got the single coverage on the seam on the last play," Bill Belichick said of the play. "The other play was kind of off of a play-action, kind of rub play so we got it free and then Rob did a great job running with the ball. He stiff-armed a couple of tacklers, added some extra yards there on his own."


SECOND GUESS


On the Patriots’ first drive of the evening, Brady and the offense had maneuvered down to the Kansas City 40-yard line, but were stalled with a fourth-and-3. Brady went short left to Josh Gordon, but they two couldn’t connect. From up top, it appeared the quarterback had a couple other open options. It’s worth noting Brady and Gordon were able to successfully execute on a handful of other plays — Gordon had a 12-yard reception earlier on the drive. But on that play, the Patriots came up short, as they turned the ball over on downs. (Our second second-guess? Why was White on the sidelines for almost the entire first quarter? After the game, the running back shrugged his shoulders when asked about it, so it turned out to be no big deal. But his absence in the early going was certainly palpable, including on the failed fourth-down pass play to Gordon.)


THREE UP


Stephen Gostkowski. It’s easy to dismiss him, but in games like this one, he proves why he’s Belichick’s kicker of choice. The veteran nailed five field goals and was clean on all four extra points in the win. Big performance for the veteran.


Sony Michel. He still leaves yards on the field — which can be maddening to watch at times — but he continues to trend in the right direction. The rookie went over 100 yards for the second time on the season, and he topped 90 yards for the third consecutive game. (In all, he has 91 carries for an even 400 yards on the season.) Maybe the most encouraging thing? He ran hard in the red zone, picking up tough yardage in tight spaces. He picked up two more touchdowns, and he now has four on the season.


Dont’a Hightower: The veteran made a game-changing play in the early going, appearing to confuse Mahomes by dropping into coverage on a first-quarter pass play and coming away with a pick that set up the Patriots with terrific field position. Hightower was in on a pair of tackles, and added a quarterback hit to his stat line. A good night for Hightower.


TWO DOWN


Duron Harmon: Harmon appeared to be the guy at fault on the 75-yarder. To be fair, guys like Hill and Kareem Hunt made a lot of guys look foolish over the course of the first five weeks of the season. But there’s no reason to allow that 75-yard pass play that tied the game with just over three minutes left. That was a ridiculous play made by a guy (Hill) with world-class speed. But in that instance, Harmon needed to be more cognizant of the situation. #GTFB (Harmon gets points for his pick right before the end of the first half.)


“He’s by far the fastest person that I’ve ever come in contact with,” Harmon said of Hill and the 75-yarder after the game. “That’s what he is. He’s a great athlete and he’s fast. If he gets anybody in that position, more than likely he’s going to be gone. I still have to find a way to do something, to try and get him down, to force him to the sideline. I’ve got to give my defense a chance to live to see another play, and I wasn’t able to do that right there.”


New England’s kick coverage: The usually affable special teams captain Matthew Slater was asked about kick coverage after the game, and his mood turned understandably dark. It’s an area where the Patriots have struggled at times over the course of the 2018 season, but it was truly awful at times on Sunday night. Tremon Smith had four kick returns for 180 yards for Kansas City, including a 97-yarder in the fourth quarter that set up a key score for the Chiefs.


“It was bad,” Slater said of Smith's big return. “I think we’re a lot better than what we’ve played out there, so we better figure it out quick. I think we have to be better fundamentally; we got to get out of the box and use our hands better. We have to play together and trust it. The guy next to us is going to be where he’s supposed to be and we have to improve. We put our team in a tough spot tonight giving up that return and they bailed us out.”


INJURIES


Offensive tackle Marcus Cannon (concussion) left the game in the second half and did not return. LaAdrian Waddle stepped in for Cannon and finished the game. Cannon was spotted walking out of the locker room after the game.


Wide receiver Josh Gordon spent a stretch at the end of the first half in the blue tent on the sidelines with an unknown ailment, but returned to the game in the second half.


TWO TAKES PRICE WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER


Dont’a Hightower is back. That interception and return … I’m not sure he’s capable of making that play a couple of weeks ago. Whether he’s over his knee issues or he was simply able to bait Mahomes into a bad throw, it’s the sort of signature move the defense needs more of from him going forward. Points for the leap that almost got him into the end zone at the end of the play.


Chris Hogan is back ... where he belongs on the depth chart. The wide receiver was arguably more affected by the absence of Edelman than anyone else on the offense over the first four weeks. Asked to punch up in weight class with the slot receiver suspended, he didn’t look capable of the additional responsibility for a few reasons, not the least of which was the fact he was routinely drawing top corners, which made it all the tougher to try and get separation. But now, with Edelman back and the rest of the offense clicking, he’s settled into more of a complementary role, something he wears comfortably. The veteran had four catches for 78 yards -- including a 42-yarder that was a big pickup. It was the sort of stat line he had pretty much owned over the last few years. It was a good start for him — now, he needs to continue to build on that.

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