Bedard's Daily Briefing 01.16.19: What is an Andy Reid-proof buffer for Chiefs vs. Patriots? Huge Celtics-Raptors game

Good morning!

A few random thoughts while I wonder what kind of motivation the Patriots will use against the Chiefs...

• I brought this up on Felger & Mazz yesterday, but wanted to explore it further here: considering Andy Reid's struggles with time/game management in the past, how much do the Chiefs have to be leading by in the fourth quarter for the game to be safe?


• I'm serious about this. Unless the Patriots get blown out — and given their struggles on the road his season, that is definitely in play — this game is likely going to come down to the fourth quarter, which is advantage Bill Belichick/Tom Brady in my opinion.


• Reid has always been a great game-planner, frontrunner to me. Reid can target your weaknesses and attack them early in the game through a great offensive script, but if that doesn't give them a big advantage, then Reid struggles the rest of the game.


• So ... if Brady has the ball with 10 minutes left, how much do the Patriots need to be trailing by for you to feel like there's no hope? Vote:

• Elsewhere, the Celtics host the Raptors tonight in a game that could, already, determine whether or not the Celtics can reach the top seed by the end of the season. Boston trails Toronto by seven games entering this one.

• Should be fun to see what The Young & The Restless do tonight. Just be sure to keep Kyrie and Jaylen away from each other.


• Also, the defense could be sharper.


• Bruins are in Philly to take on the Flyers, who stink. In the season's constant theme: it would be nice if the Bruins could score 5v5 once in a while.