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Patriots hold off Mahomes, Chiefs, win 43 - 40

An old fashioned shootout in Foxborough Sunday night as the Patriots take down the Chiefs 43-40.
Credit: Adam Glanzman
FOXBOROUGH, MA - OCTOBER 14: Julian Edelman #11 of the New England Patriots catches a pass for a touchdown in the second quarter of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium on October 14, 2018 (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The path to AFC supremacy still runs through New England.

Hosting the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs, the Patriots prevailed 43-40 on a last-second field goal. The Patriots put on an impressive display thanks to heroics on both offense and defense. Tom Brady earned his 200th career win. The Patriots defense gave the Chiefs’ high-flying offense fits. And then the Patriots survived a late charge by the visitors to clinch the victory.

Here are three things we learned in this game:

1. Order has been restored to the Patriots’ offense. Remember a few weeks ago when it looked like the New England Patriots’ dynasty was showing cracks? The Detroit Lions double-teamed Rob Gronkowski, and without his top weapon, Tom Brady struggled, and the Patriots’ offense was anemic. A lot has changed.

The emergence of rookie running back Sony Michel, the return of Julian Edelman from suspension and the acquisition of Josh Gordon have all combined to breathe life into New England’s offense. This is now a potent unit that can hurt teams in a variety of ways as we saw against the Chiefs. Kansas City did a good job of limiting Gronkowski’s impact for much of the game (until the two big fourth-quarter catch-and-runs that delivered the Patriots to victory), but Gordon, Edelman and Michel all made meaningful contributions, and the overlooked Chris Hogan chipped in as well.

The Patriots can now hurt teams in a variety of ways. They can score quickly, or they can march downfield methodically. Now Brady’s bunch is back to looking like a Super Bowl contender.

2. Patrick Mahomes was imperfect, but remains resilient. It wasn’t an impressive start to the game for the Chiefs young quarterback. It wasn’t an impressive second quarter, either. Numerous overthrows and two interceptions (one in the end zone) kept the Chiefs’ offense stuck in neutral. Not until the third quarter did Mahomes finally record his first touchdown pass, and then came another.

For the second time in three weeks, he displayed the ability to weather adversity and keep giving his chance a team to win. Two games ago, it was a comeback win over Denver. This time, he led another comeback and tied the game at 40-40. But he fell short. Mahomes will have many throws that he would like to do over when he looks at the film. He had chances to put his team up by a nice margin in the first half. But he didn’t wilt as the pressure mounted, and that’s tremendous for this team. He does, however, need to work on poise. With pressure in his face, he didn’t always get his feet set, and he rushed throws and they sailed incomplete.

But he does still have that magic. We saw him make impressive throws when it looked like the Patriots had him trapped. But those misses loom large in this narrow defeat – the first loss of the season for Mahomes and Co.

3. Chiefs’ defense the Achilles’ heel? Last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, despite still giving up sizable chunks in the run game, the Kansas City defense forced five turnovers to help support a struggling offense and deliver the victory. But against a much more potent offense, the Chiefs’ weakness was exposed more thoroughly.

With 10 days to prepare, it was clear that Bill Belichick was going to have the perfect plan of attack for Kansas City. Riding rookie Sony Michel, the Patriots gouged the heart of the Chiefs’ defensive line. Michel rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Kansas City didn’t have an answer, and that’s a problem. When their offense needed a stop with time running, they couldn’t get off the field. The Patriots pounded the ball, and then took to the air for big pass plays to Gronkowski.

Top takeaway from this game regarding Kansas City’s defense is this: The Chiefs need be able to make an opponent one dimensional. But as long as they struggle both to contain running backs on the ground and as pass-catchers out of the backfield, Kansas City will have a hard time beating elite teams this postseason.

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