When the New England Patriots travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs, they better pack their offense with them. New England has some real problems on offense. They’ve only scored 12 second-half points this year and rank near the bottom of the NFL in many of the major categories. They are 27th in passing yards; 22nd in rushing.
That simply won’t cut it when the take on the Chiefs, who went 11-5 en route to the playoffs last year, on Monday Night Football.
Kickoff is 8:30 EST on ESPN. Jon Gruden, Mike Tirico and Lisa Salters have the call. New England is a slight favorite. Bet now on the Patriots and see the latest odds here. Most experts think the Pats will win by a field goal or more. Despite the issues they’re having on offense. The Offensive line has not played well since the Logan Mankins trade.
CBS Sports Network Analyst Rich Gannon on the the New England Patriots: “They’re not running the ball really well. And even worse – they’re not protecting Tom Brady. The protection has not been good… This guy is getting knocked around. I don’t care how good of a player you are. If you knock him around, the great ones become good ones. You knock the good ones around, they become average. Right now, this Patriots offense looks average.”
Trent Green is a fellow Analyst on the CBS Sports Network. He works alongside on Gannon on the show “NFL Monday QB.”
“It starts with the protection,” Green said.
“And Tom has been taking a lot of hits the entire season. Tom isn’t as accurate as he has been in previous seasons. But a lot of that is due to not having his weapons the entire training camp and all of the preseason… He needs to get all of his weapons back. But what the New England Patriots will tell you, ‘We’re sitting here at 2-1. We’re still winning football games and we’re not up to speed yet on offense.’ As the season progresses, they’ll get better and better.”
Brady is on the wrong side of 36, so his championship window is closing. He’s also an injury concern, because he just won’t heal as quickly as he did in his youth. The O Line needs to keep him upright and healthy at all costs.
Added former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein in his assessment of the New England Patriots:
“I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that when it gets to the end of the season, this team is going to be playing at a pretty high level. Tom Brady is going to get the most out of them. And he’ll step his game up. He’s getting hit a lot right now. I guarantee you that is going to be the number one priority for Bill Belichick and his offensive staff. They’re going to find a way to protect Tom Brady.”