Even with win, Patriots’ defense humbled by big-play potential of Chiefs offense taken at Gillette Stadium (Patriots)

Patriots

Even with win, Patriots’ defense humbled by big-play potential of Chiefs offense

By Conor Ryan

Oct 15, 2018 • 3:20 am

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FOXBOROUGH — Stephon Gilmore and the rest of the Patriots’ defense knew what to expect against the Chiefs Sunday night.

Bolstered by a young gunslinger in Patrick Mahomes and two burners in Tyreek Hill and Kareem Hunt, Kansas City stormed to a 5-0 record thanks to their ability to deliver haymakers off of big shots down the field.

But for as much film that they combed through over this week, Gilmore and the rest of the Patriots’ secondary were still left scrambling on the gridiron at times — trying to assess what just transpired as Hunt torched them for another big gain.

“You see him on film and you’re like, ‘OK, he’s fast,’” Gilmore said of Hunt.  “But then you’re covering him and you’re like, ‘This guy is real fast.’”



Hunt’s performance Sunday — stamped by a 75-yard sprint past Duron Harmon and the Patriots’ secondary to force a 40-all deadlock with 3:15 left — was just one of many ways KC showed it belonged in the conversation of elite teams in the AFC.

Trailing 24-9 at the break, an offense anchored by a young quarterback very well could have folded against the Patriots — especially at Gillette Stadium. But Mahomes and Kansas City managed to put New England on the ropes, rattling off 31 points over the final two quarters.

Only another game-winning drive orchestrated by Tom Brady and Co. managed to put an end to Kansas City’s high-powered offense. But the Patriots signal caller had plenty of praise for a quarterback 18 years his junior.

“Yeah, he made some big (throws),” Brady said of Mahomes. “He made a lot of big ones — the one at the end to Tyreek was a great throw, and he made some other great throws. So, tough to slow those guys down. They’ve been scoring a lot of points all year. They’re going to be pretty tough to stop, so glad we had our last shot and glad we took advantage of it.”



Even with a number of momentum-swinging plays, including picks by
Dont’a Hightower
and
that both led to — and negated — touchdowns for both the Patriots and Chiefs, respectively, New England still found itself exposed. The Patriots surrendered 40 points for the first time in a regular-season game since this same Chiefs team tallied 42 in last year’s home opener.


And while players might have excelled in individual assignments — with Gilmore holding $21 million-dollar man
Sammy Watkins
to two receptions for 18 yards — Mahomes still capitalized with the multitude of playmakers in his arsenal.


Even when flushed out of the pocket, Mahomes made the most of his chances — hitting Hunt for a 67-yard score while throwing across his body just minutes into the second half.




Jason McCourty


Of course, even with big days from Mahomes (23-of-36, 352 yards, four touchdowns), Hill (seven receptions, 142 yards, three touchdowns) and Hunt (185 total yards, one touchdown), New England’s offense was just a bit better — posting 500 total net yards and lifted by another strong outing from Brady (24-of-35, 109.2 passer rating) and his array of weapons.


There’s still plenty that’s yet to transpire in a long NFL season, but Mahomes alluded to the possibility of both these clubs matching up again in January.


Given the ceiling of both these teams, especially once both offenses are humming, it’s certainly not out of the question.


“He gave me congrats on playing a good game and of course I did the same to him,” Mahomes said of his postgame chat with Brady. “I just kind of told him good luck for the rest of the season and we’re going to go out there and hopefully we can keep playing and hopefully we might get to see him again.”

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