Pats offense lets it fly
FOXBORO — A shootout between two high-powered offenses. That was the forecast for this AFC showdown.
It lived up to the billing. The Patriots knew they had to score, and score and score.
And that’s what they did in this wild and crazy game that ended with a 43-40 Pats win over Kansas City.
The Chiefs came in as the most hyped offense in the league, scoring 35 points per game, and while the Patriots defense held them in check for a half, Tom Brady & Co. knew they still had to keep scoring.
They knew drives that didn’t produce points weren’t an option last night.
It was score or bust, given the high-flying offense on the Chiefs sideline.
Maybe that’s why Josh McDaniels opted to go on a fourth-and-3 on the opening series from the KC 40yard line. The Patriots didn’t make it, as Brady failed to hook up with Josh Gordon on the sideline.
That, and a second half sack-fumble by Brady that was converted into a touchdown by the Chiefs, was one of the few miscues by Brady & Co. The offense certainly did its part last night in the battle for AFC supremacy with the Chiefs.
With the exception of that first series, the Patriots put points on the board in every series their offense touched the ball in the first half. No punts, no turnovers, en route to a 24-9 lead.
It was three touchdowns and a field goal, with Julian Edelman scoring his first touchdown of the season.
“Going against a team that’s 5-0, there’s really no margin for error,” Brady had said in the lead up to the game on Friday. “We’re going to have to do a great job of possessing the ball and try to score as many points as we can.”
For the Patriots, possessing the ball meant running the ball. The offense was primarily generated by a ground game that was dominant at times thanks to the offensive line and the power running of Sony Michel. He had 60 yards on 11 carries in the first half alone. He also had two touchdowns, and unlike the Colts game, was able to get in the end zone from down by the goal line.
When the Patriots are able to run the ball as well as they did last night against the Chiefs, and as they did the previous two games against the Colts and Dolphins, it sets up their passing game, and play action so much better. It keeps the defenses honest.
It also doesn’t hurt gobbling up chunks of yards and killing the clock.
Perhaps playing a Chiefs defense that doesn’t have a legitimate safety helped the cause. During the season opener last year, Eric Berry was immense. He has yet to play this season.
But for all their success in the first half getting the ball in the end zone, and putting points on the board, the Patriots were settling for field goals in the second half, while the Chiefs finally cracked the Patriots defense. Trading field goals for touchdowns wasn’t going to get the job done.
“We’ve just got to take advantage when we get opportunities to stop them and we on offense have to do our job when we get opportunities to make the plays that are there, go down and score points when we can,” said Brady.
They had gone a bit cold in the fourth quarter, going behind in the game for the first time, before Brady scored himself. Then after the Chiefs came back again and tied it, he lead a gamewinning drive for a Stephen Gostkowski field goal as time expired.