New England Patriots 35 - Kansas City Chiefs 30
In a game which could have huge implications come playoff seeding time, the Patriots defended their #1 spot in the Power Rankings and made a strong claim to being the best team in the AFC. The Patriots received the opening kickoff and put their stamp on the game early, with Cobie Ross taking his second carry of the day 72 yards to the house.
The KC offense couldn't get much going, and the Patriots scored again early in the second quarter on a Brady pass to Julius Thomas. After a Samuel pick, the Patriots had the ball at the Chiefs 35 on 4th-and-3 but elected to go for it rather than kicking straight into 17mph winds, but turned the ball over on downs. The Chiefs looked like they were heading for a score towards the end of the half when Devin McCourty forced a fumble at the 10 which Jonny Kohlhausen scooped and took 90 yards for the score. The Chiefs were able to drive into range for a last second field goal to make it 21-3 Pats at the half.
Things got interesting when the Chiefs returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a score. However, Cobie Ross put a damper on that elation by taking the very next carry 80 yards to the house. The Chiefs drove again and responded with a 25 yard TD run for Charles (one of only 4 carries on the day), before the Pats answered back with a Brady pass to Roddy White to make it 35-17 after three.
The Chiefs drove the length of the field again and capped off the drive with a 25 yard reception by Charles, but failed on the two point conversion twice (Mayo stuffed it the first time but pulled a facemask, and then he stuffed it again the second time). The Chiefs then attempted the surprise onside kick, which wasn't so surprising and the Pats recovered. However, Cobie Ross coughed up the football and Derrick Johnson scooped it for the score. The Pats got the ball back and were able to drive the clock down to about a minute and half before they needed to punt it back. The Chiefs, who elected to save their timeouts, started from the 20 with all three and drove to the Patriots 40 before Devin McCourty picked off Cassel to cap off a wild 35-30 win for the Pats.
Tom Brady was 9 of 13 for 191 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs. Amazingly, those were his first two TD passes since week 5!
Matt Cassel was 15 of 26 for 275 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs. This against what was the #1 passing and scoring defense entering the week (no longer!)
Cobie Ross carried 18 times for 152 yards and 2TDs. Which seems nice until you realize that his 2 TDs accounted for 100% of that. 16 carries for 0 yards otherwise, plus a costly fumble. The man did not get himself a game ball in this one.
Jamaal Charles bizarrely only received 4 carries, totaling 35 yards and a score.
Wes Welker was the leading receiver for the Pats (first time I can remember writing that!) with 3 catches for 94 yards. White and Thomas had the TDs.
Tony Moeaki did most of the lifting for the Chiefs, with 8 catches for 164 yards, with Charles catching the TD.
Devin McCourty definitely gets the game ball in this one for forcing 2 key turnovers, one of which resulted in 6 and the other which ended the game. My D gave up a ton of yards, but I don't think they were that bad overall. 30 points is the most I've given up this season by far, but only 16 of those were on the defense.
The Patriots move to 8-1 in their quest for a 1 seed, while the Chiefs fall to 6-3.
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gg again Doom! I'll be honest, I'm puzzled by you completely abandoning the ground game in this one. I know I've had success bottling up Charles in the past, but the extent to which you didn't use him at all surprised me. I'm not complaining though.
This was definitely a fun one, you did a fantastic job against Ross aside from the two runs. I have a feeling we haven't seen each other for the last time this season!
