Flexing may have missed strong look
A serious yet lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup . . .
In late November, the NFL took the unprecedented step of flexing a game — this week’s Chiefs-Patriots matchup — off “Monday Night Football.” The reason was obvious, and for those with workspaces within the offices of Gillette Stadium, embarrassing: The Patriots were too lousy to foist upon a national television audience.
A couple of weeks later, it’s too bad the league couldn’t reverse the ol’ flex, because suddenly this one is interesting. The Patriots are coming off a 21-18 victory over the Steelers in which Bailey Zappe, in his second start this season after Bill Belichick got bored of Mac Jones’s near-weekly benching, threw three first-half touchdown passes.
Meanwhile, the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs look like they may have some cracks in their foundation. They’ve already lost two more games than they did a season ago, and they’re coming off a frustrating defeat to the Bills in which superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes whined like a high school kid who had lost driving privileges after the officials correctly called an offside penalty on receiver Kadarius Toney, wiping out what would have been a spectacular goahead touchdown.
Make no mistake, the Patriots still have plenty of flaws that cannot be repaired until the offseason. And the Chiefs remain a viable Super Bowl contender, even if Mahomes’s corps of wide receivers is suddenly reminiscent of the 2006 Patriots.
But this one is, at the very least, interesting. Who would have thought as much a couple of weeks ago? Kick it off, Ryland, and let’s get this one started . . .
Three players to watch
Travis Kelce: Mahomes’s sore-sport ranting after the loss to the Bills was weird and out of character given that he’s been a model superstar during his career, but there was one thing that he said that was actually thoughtful.
Mahomes lamented that Kelce’s strike of a lateral to Toney for what would have been the go-ahead touchdown isn’t an official play, because it would have been a cool thing to show at the tight end’s Hall of Fame induction someday.
“That’s a Hall of Fame tight end making a Hall of Fame play that won’t be shown because we threw a flag for an offensive offside,” Mahomes said. “So it takes away from not only this game, and this season, but from a legendary career.”
Now, they’ll probably show it anyway, but it won’t carry the same weight. What isn’t up for debate is that Kelce is such a Hall of Fame lock that he wouldn’t be presumptuous if he went to get fitted for a mustardcolored jacket now. He has 894 receptions — trailing only Tony Gonzalez, Jason Witten, and Antonio Gates among tight ends all time — for 11,240 yards and 74 touchdowns.
It’s a long shot that he will catch Gonzalez for the receptions lead at the position (1,325) or Gates in touchdowns (116), but he has an outside shot at Gonzalez’s yardage record (15,127), and could have an argument when his career is over that he’s the secondbest tight end of all time behind Rob Gronkowski, who actually blocked.
At age 34, Kelce is more famous than ever thanks to his making the acquaintance of superstar (and Gillette Stadium legend) Taylor Swift, and he remains worthy of unyielding attention on the field. Kelce, who has 80 receptions for 896 yards and five touchdowns this season, is Mahomes’s lone trusted receiving option, though rookie Rashee Rice (59-663-6) continues to improve.
Perhaps it’s not surprising, given Bill Belichick’s knack for shutting down the opposition’s best skill player, but Kelce has mostly been held in check in five regular-season games against the Patriots, totaling 28 catches for 330 yards and just one touchdown. He’s actually been even less productive in the playoffs, with just nine catches for 46 yards and a touchdown in two games.
JuJu Smith-Schuster: The receiver produced by far his best game of the season Dec. 7 against one of his former teams, the Steelers, with whom he played the first five seasons of his career. Smith-Schuster caught four passes for 90 yards — 39 more than his previous season high from Week 9 against the Commanders. The four receptions included an acrobatic 37-yard grab in the game’s opening minute and a 28-yarder in the second quarter that was immediately followed by a Hunter Henry touchdown.
Smith-Schuster is facing off against the other of his former teams Sunday — he spent last season with the Chiefs and delivered a respectable stat line of 78 receptions, 933 yards, and 3 touchdowns. In the Super Bowl, he supplied seven catches for 54 yards, and drew a crucial (if questionable) third-down holding penalty on the Eagles’ James Bradberry with the score tied at 35 and less than two minutes remaining, setting up Harrison Butker’s winning field goal. Chiefs fans should remember Smith-Schuster well.
Patriots fans, meanwhile, hadn’t seen that version of him until Dec. 7. He’s appeared quicker lately, leading to a presumption that his surgically repaired knee is feeling better, and it’s hardly out of the question that he plays a second straight strong game against one of his former employers. Should he do so, it might be time to start thinking about him as a potential receiver for next season.
Chris Jones: The Chiefs’ four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle and pass-rushing menace is having a typically strong season, albeit a bit of an uneven one by his usual standards.
After missing the opener because of a contract dispute, he signed a one-year deal, returned in Week 2, and promptly collected at least one sack in each of the first five games he played. He leads the Chiefs’ sixthranked defense (299.9 yards per game) in quarterback hits (20) and tackles for loss (nine), but trails George Karlaftis in sacks, 9 to 7½. This could be the first time since 2017 that someone other than Jones leads the Chiefs in sacks.
The Chiefs’ defense — which allows just 17.5 points per game, third best in the league — has been much better than anticipated. It is particularly strong against the pass (185.0 yards per game, ranked sixth), and the return of versatile linebacker Nick Bolton has given it a boost. If Jones can snap out of his minislump against a Patriots’ offensive line that has plugged its leaks lately, Zappe could be in for a long day.
Grievance of the week
As someone who picked him as a Player To Watch before two games in which he didn’t actually play, I’m qualified to say that the hype around Malik Cunningham, in retrospect, was a bit much.
Cunningham caught Patriots fans’ attention by dazzling on a late touchdown drive in the preseason opener versus the Texans, but in the one game the undrafted former Louisville quarterback played for the Patriots, he did not register a run, pass, or catch in six snaps against the Raiders. It’s fair to presume the Patriots’ coaching staff, which was attempting to convert him to wide receiver, did not believe he was ready to contribute.
Which is fine. They were probably right. But it’s too bad that any possibility of him contributing in the future will now come with the Ravens rather than the Patriots. Baltimore plucked Cunningham off the Patriots’ practice squad Tuesday, adding him to their active roster as a quarterback despite already having three, including former league MVP Lamar Jackson.
Allowing that to happen is awfully close to inexcusable. Cunningham may be raw, but his athleticism pops, and judging by the social media reaction of more than a dozen teammates Tuesday to losing him, he was popular and respected in the locker room, which is a heightened status compared with most practice-squad types who haven’t done a thing in the league yet.
The Patriots have little to play for this season but pride. They should have prioritized keeping a promising but unfinished player such as Cunningham over several veterans filling out the back of the roster. It’s a tribute to his potential that the playoff-bound Ravens found a spot for him. It’s one more mark against the Patriots’ approach to team-building that they didn’t.
The flashback
Remember the Patriots’ 37-31 overtime victory over the Chiefs in the 2018 AFC Championship game? What a silly question, right? Of course you do.
The Patriots led, 14-0, at halftime. Mahomes put on a Superman cape in the second half (probably borrowed one from Tom Brady’s locker) and led the Chiefs to 31 points after the break, including 24 in the fourth quarter. Rex Burkhead’s touchdown run put the Patriots ahead with 39 seconds left in regulation. Butker’s field goal tied it with eight seconds left. Burkhead’s second touchdown won it in overtime.
A classic, in an instant.
And yet . . . for most franchises, this would be a surefire top-three all-time moment, a victory to be retold and rehashed and marveled at, and retold and rehashed and marveled at yet again.
For the dynasty Patriots? It’s probably in the top 10. Probably. It’s got to be behind the two Super Bowl victories over the Rams, the comeback from down, 28-3, against the Falcons, “Malcolm, go!” against the Seahawks, the Snow Bowl, the comeback against the Ravens in 2014 . . . I mean, there are some options.
We haven’t even mentioned the Super Bowl wins over the Eagles and Panthers, or anything involving tormenting Peyton Manning.
It’s a nice reminder, I think, that as Patriots fans navigate these down times, there are dozens of thrilling victories, some remembered better than others, just waiting to be revisited.
Prediction
For the Patriots to have a chance to pull off the upset, several things must happen. Zappe needs to protect the ball and have at least a few series where he plays as well as he did in the first half against the Steelers. Ezekiel Elliott, who tends to run better the more he is utilized, needs a heavy workload against the Chiefs’ uninspiring run defense, which ranks 20th in the league (114.9 yards per game).
The Patriots’ excellent run defense (third in the league, 88.2 yards per game) needs to lock down Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who should get plenty of work with Isiah Pacheco (shoulder) out. Belichick and the Patriots coaches need to cook up yet another game plan to slow Kelce. And it would really help if another Chiefs receiver or two lines up offside on occasion.
Is that too much to ask? Well, it is a lot. But we’ve been saying for weeks that the best outcome for the Patriots each week is to play well and hard and united, and lose for the sake of the draft. Over the final four weeks, hopefully it’s a feeling they will know all too well. Chiefs 24, Patriots 20.