Well THAT was what I thought NE offense was capable of. The first half anyway.
15 receptions for James White. It works, keep doing it.
"We're on to Kansas City". Where's your confidence level going into this one on the road?
50/50. I think some of the Chargers game was a mirage, as I doubt NE will be able to impose its will against KC and I doubt the NE defense will play as well. Put another way, nothing beats home cooking.
KC has home field, a young gunslinger, and more explosive skill players. NE has BB, Brady, health, and experience. If the weather is cold and nasty, in some ways I think that helps NE if that serves to slow down the KC offense some. We all remember the debacle that was the last time NE played at Arrowhead.
Hard to know going in how Mahomes responds to the big spotlight. This will be his first AFCCG or SB. Like I say all the time, you can't practice a three foot putt to win the Masters. Brady will be playing in his 21st such game. The last 3 NE conference game road losses all came against a seasoned Peyton that had seen everything BB could throw at him before. Can they confuse Mahomes enough to get a few stops or force the Chiefs into FGs instead of TDs?
A lot will depend what the evil genius has up his sleeve on both offense and defense. It's hard to prepare a team for things they haven't seen or aren't on tape. I think that's part of the reason they have struggled some against the Chiefs in the last few years . . . the games were played early in the season and the Chiefs had wrinkles BB could not have schemed for.
I also think a lot will depend on how aggressive NE is from the opening whistle. Their usual strategy is to play somewhat conservatively to start and hope the other team makes more mistakes than they do. That probably won't be enough to win. Limiting dumb penalties will be HUGE. The Pats haven't missed Gordon the last few games but likely will this week. If they can run the ball like they have been, that sets up play action and can make the offense hum along and hard to stop.
I think the secondary has improved since the Week 6 game. I still don't have faith that the front seven can stop the run or they can handle guys coming out of the backfield in coverage. The Chargers didn't really go that route until very late when the game was already decided. I would guess NE doubles Hill and Kelce and tries to force the Chiefs to run the ball or target other players.
Safety McCourty can match Hill in speed, so I would guess he will be the over the top help again. Maybe the McCourty twins on Hill. I wonder if they would put Gilmore and Chung on Kelce. KC will likely counter with quick hitters and slants to take advantage of their speed. As you say all the time, generating a pass rush could make or break them.