Time’s up on perfection
KC puts any talk of 19-0 to rest for Pats
FOXBORO — Guess the clown nose is on you, folks.
At least on those who dismissed the 12-4 Kansas City Chiefs as if those numbers of a year ago should have been reversed, and the others who kept crowing “undefeated” all summer as if it was a mere formality.
After last night’s crushing 42-27 season-opening loss to Kansas City at Gillette, one thing was accomplished, though. The Patriots don’t have to carry the burden of undefeated expectations any longer.
It was always nonsensical, all that preseason talk of the Patriots being unbeatable. Nobody is unbeatable in this league. At least not for the past 45 years. That’s especially true when your defense apparently has no edge players in its front seven.
You can talk offense all you want, but if your defense allows three 90-yard scoring drives, 537 total yards and touchdown passes of 78 and 75 yards, life is not going to be easy and you are not going to be undefeated for long. In the Pats’ case, not even for a week.
Those upstart Chiefs trailed by three at the half, but it felt like they should have been down by 20. They might have been on that road after rookie running back Kareem Hunt fumbled on KC’s first possession after the Pats opened with a 73-yard touchdown march to lead 7-0. The rout was in progress as predicted. The season-long romp through the NFL had begun. Or so it seemed to the loyalists in clown noses.
The Chiefs did not agree however, stuffing running back Mike Gillislee on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 10 minutes later, and then went off on a grinding, 12play, 90-yard scoring drive to tie the game. That was the first inkling that 19-0 might not be quite as easy as some people thought.
This became more painfully obvious when the Chiefs’ duplicated that first drive with a 92-yard scoring drive just before halftime, cutting the Pats’ margin to 17-14. By that juncture, Alex Smith was 16-of-19 and the Chiefs were 2-for-2 in the red zone while Tom Brady was 9-of-17 and the Pats were 2-of-4. Little of that would change in the second half. Hey, wasn’t it the Pats who were supposed to have the unstoppable offense and the Chiefs the ones struggling to hold on?
KC didn’t do anything with the second-half kickoff, but did commit two more penalties, upping its total eventually to 15 (20 if you count the ones declined). One wondered what might be going on if KC stayed within the law. We soon found out as its defense began to gain increasing penetration and quickly got the ball back for Smith, who launched a bomb to the most dangerous player on the Chiefs, wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Hill was matched up with the Pats’ $65 million, shutdown corner, Stephon Gilmore, who promptly let the fastest man on the field go free about halfway down field, apparently thinking safety Devin McCourty was only kidding when he ran in the opposite direction toward the center of the field. He was not, which left Hill sprinting alone the final 30 yards on his way to a 75-yard touchdown and a 21-17 lead midway through the third quarter.
But if there was one thing you could count on last night it was KC could not be dissuaded from violating the rules. Before the third quarter was out, the Chiefs upped their total with the worst two, a defensive hold and a brutal interference call on cornerback Terrance Mitchell in the end zone that left the ball on the 1, but not for long.
Poor Mitchell was picked on all night by Brady, who burned him so badly on a 54-yard completion to Brandin Cooks on a “9” route that he had to be hosed down with fire retardant. That put the ball on the KC 18 and the game in a position to be taken over, but the Pats had to settle for a field goal and only a 27-21 lead. It was an ominous sign.
The Chiefs still couldn’t seem to go three plays without a football felony.
What allowed them to survive were those three scoring drives of 90 yards or more, including a threeplay one that ended less than a minute into the fourth quarter with a 78yard touchdown reception by Hunt, who beat defensive end Cassius Marsh, proving that just because you wear No. 55 doesn’t mean you can run like a linebacker.
Now trailing 28-27, it seemed the 19-0 Patriots were beginning to get the picture, because the next time they had the ball they went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs 40, apparently thinking they needed to keep the ball. They didn’t because Gillislee was stuffed for no gain again and the Chiefs were now the ones in position to take control.
With less than nine minutes to go, the Pats were down one point and three receivers, the oft-injured Danny Amendola going out with a head injury after having been forced to play more than the Pats knew was wise because of the season-ending knee injury to Julian Edelman and the loss of Malcolm Mitchell for half the season. Suddenly, everything seemed reversed. Now the Chiefs were starting two straight fourth-quarter drives on their 40 and the Patriots were backed up to the shadow of their goal line. What’s happening, New England wondered? What about 19-0?
Oh, no.
The Pats were forced to punt from deep in their territory and KC wasted little time covering 60 yards as Smith cut the Patriots defense to ribbons, never even facing a third-down situation on his way to another score when Hunt skittered around right end for a 35-27 lead with five minutes to play.
This is considered Patriots Time in these parts, but last night it was Chiefs Time. When Hunt rumbled around end for 58 yards and Charcandrick West followed with a 21-yard scoring run one play later it now was 42-27. There was four minutes left in the game.
As it turned out, there was four minutes left in the Patriots’ undefeated season, too.