Shootout gets Pats attention
By KEVIN DUFFY
FOXBORO — Still trying to figure out what we witnessed Monday night?
“It was like a 7-on-7 tournament,” said Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty. “You look at Todd Gurley in the backfield and they’re like, ‘We’re just going to throw the ball every play.’ ”
“I’ll tell you what, man, I thought it was basketball,” safety Duron Harmon said, laughing.
The highly anticipated Rams-Chiefs matchup was, in a word, absurd.
The Chiefs became the first team in NFL history to score 50 points and lose. Both defenses were utterly helpless, but the Rams made enough plays on that side of the ball — including two touchdowns — to survive the Kansas City onslaught.
The “Monday Night Football” classic was the perfect storm of incredible speed and individual talent, offensive coaching brilliance, and sheer defensive ineptitude. It might be a while before we wake up to another 54-51 final score, but there’s no denying that Rams-Chiefs was an extreme example of the way the entire league is trending.
Games are routinely played in the 30s. Competent offenses can move the ball at will. Shootouts are inevitable.
At one point during the thrilling affair, former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi tweeted, “Welcome to the new NFL when it comes to defensive football. Offenses will move the ball and score. Make a handful of plays a game to take the ball away and get your offense a couple extra possessions. Score on defense is A+. It hurt to write that.”
In some ways, Patriots defenders agreed with Bruschi’s assessment.
“Gotta make those turnovers,” Harmon said. “When you’re going against an offense like KC, you know they’re going to make some plays. They’re an explosive offense. But you’ve got to do something on defense to limit them, and they did that with the turnovers.”
“When you win the turnover margin, your chances to win the game skyrocket,” McCourty said.
In another sense, Bruschi’s view might be too cynical. Several teams are still winning with sound defense and aren’t completely reliant on forcing turnovers.
The Patriots’ great equalizer, for example, has always been their play in the red zone. That was the difference in the Week 6 meeting with Kansas City, when they held the Chiefs to three field goals in the first half. That will indeed be the key if the teams meet again on the path to Super Bowl LIII.
Until then? Well, the much-maligned Patriots defense faces one high-powered offense in Pittsburgh, another explosive group in the Vikings, and its usual AFC East foes.
No matter whom you ask, the Dolphins, Bills and Jets would be considered among the league’s worst offenses. Of course, the Titans and Jaguars aren’t powerhouses, but both teams topped 30 points and destroyed the Pats.
That’s the nature of today’s NFL. The Saints, Rams, Chiefs, Patriots and Steelers will regularly score in the 30s. Most other teams are unpredictable, but capable of massive offensive outputs on the right day.
“Everybody has the talent to score,” Harmon said. “It’s about doing it consistently.”
The Cardinals are the only team in the league that hasn’t topped 30 points in a game. Twenty-one teams have scored 30 points in multiple games. Thirteen teams have hit the 35-point mark multiple times. The median scoring offense this season, the Texans, averages 23.9 points per game. Last year, the No. 16 offense averaged 21.4 points.
There are myriad causes for the scoring surge.
“You can’t really touch receivers like you used to at the line of scrimmage,” said Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore. “You’ve got to play with straight technique. That’s just what the game has come to.”
McCourty pointed to concepts from spread offenses in college entering the NFL game.
“You draft a quarterback high and you’re going to find things he’s comfortable with,” McCourty said. “And I think it’s transformed a little bit of the league. You see quarterbacks and that’s what they’ve done the past four years (in college), so you’ve got to find ways to implement that in their offense.”
He also pinned the blame on defenses.
“This probably is a year where we’re not doing a great job on defense throughout the league of stopping big plays,” McCourty said. “And that’s what changes (games), those explosive plays.”
There were plenty of them Monday night. Fortunately for the Patriots, the Rams made one more than the Chiefs. The Kansas City loss put the Pats effectively one game back in the race for the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
It was a win for the Pats, and it was highly entertaining for casual sports fans and NFL safeties alike.
“It was crazy,” Harmon said. “It was an enjoyable game to watch.”
As for the coach’s takeaway?
“Yeah, the Jets,” Bill Belichick said, not skipping a beat. “That’s my takeaway, getting ready for the Jets.”