Patriots Show Plenty of Flaws in Season Opener Against Chiefs

By Djack

Football season is back and oh boy did the season opener not disappoint. What looked like an early Patriots blowout, turned into a game of back forth scores, until the Chiefs took over the game in the 4th quarter. The Patriots were moving the ball early and often, they scored on their opening drive, something they've become notorious for doing. Then, on the Chiefs first play from scrimmage rookie running back Kareem Hunt fumbles the ball and the Pats recover. Mind you that this guy had over 800 carries in college, never fumbled once. Patriots were drooling over their wounded opponent ready to go for the early kill. Tom Brady threw what looked like a TD pass to Gronk, but after further review it was ruled a drop, and the Patriots had to settle for a field goal. Big break for the Chiefs, ultimately what I believe stopped them from being totally massacred in this game.

After that the Chiefs offense got rolling, Kareem Hunt settled in, and ended up having the best debut possible. Alex Smith, who has been a glorified game manager most of his career, looked like an absolute stud, and his weapons aka Tyreke Hill and Travis Kelce looked phenomenal. The Chiefs offense was giving the Patriots defense all sorts of trouble. Early on it wasn't too bad, then Donta Hightower went down with an injury, and the Chiefs basically did whatever they wanted offensively from there on out. Kareem Hunt, who was playing his first ever game ran for 150 yards, tacked on 100 reciving yards to go with it, and 3 touchdowns. Talk about a good first impression. His night might've started off shitty with a fumble on his first carry, but boy did he make up for it in a big way. This guy was making defenders miss constantly, as it turns out the Chiefs might actually have something with this guy. Either Hunt is the real deal or the Patriots defense is just atrocious.

Honestly, I'd lean more towards the Patriots defense being atrocious. The pass rush was basically non existent. I believe they had 3 sacks on the night, although that would be giving the pass rush too much credit, on one of the plays Alex Smith just kinda fell on his own, and they just touched him down. Trey Flowers did have one or two good rushes, but that was about it. Other than that Alex Smith had ample time to find open receivers and he did it with ease. Smith had an awesome night completing 80% of his passes, throwing for over 300 yards, and throwing for 2 touchdowns. I expected the Patriots secondary to be a lot better, there was a few blown coverages, but they also can't guard their men for 6-8 seconds every snap, and that's on the pass rush. Patriots defense needs to improve drastically or it's going to be a rough season for them, something that fan base is certainly not accustomed to.

The offense will be just fine, Danny Amendola going down was a big loss, however I'm sure he'll be back on the field in no time. His presence, especially since Julian Edelman is out for the season is huge, Brady needs that security blanket, and Amendola was just that reeling in 6 catches for 100 yards before going down with a concussion. Gronk looked very mediocre, he wasn't creating much separation, he wasn't making the big plays down the field, and he was a non factor in the red zone. I'm sure that'll change as the season goes on, however if he doesn't return to the Gronk of the past the Pats might actually be in trouble. Brady will be just fine for all those people overreacting. He was throwing a nice ball last night, the Chiefs defense just had a great scheme going, and their secondary is filled with talent. Offense is nothing to worry about going forward, the health of Amendola, and the production of Gronk might be concerns, but as long as TB12 is under center the Patriots will be able to produce points.

Chiefs just out played the Patriots and Andy Reid out coached Bill Belichick. It doesn't happen very often, but it does happen, and last night was the purest example of that. Usually Belichick goes into halftime, makes the necessary adjustments, and squashes teams in the second half. Well, this time it was Andy Reid that did that to Belichick. Week 1 of the NFL season is always an anamoly, don't read too much into the nonsense you'll see today. Wait until week 2 or 3 before you start panicking Patriot fans and as for you Chief fans I wouldn't get too far ahead of youselves just yet, remember, it's a long season.