Report card time: Chiefs get points for being resilient in a loss to Patriots
Key plays, stats and grades from the Chiefs’ 43-40 loss to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Sunday night.
The recap
Player of the game: Patrick Mahomes responded after a dreadful first half that included two interceptions and a 46.3 quarterback rating to finish the game with four touchdown passes and 352 yards passing.
Reason to hope: The Chiefs showed resilience on the road against one of the traditional powers in the AFC. Mahomes didn’t go in the tank after looking rattled early.
Reason to mope: The Chiefs’ boy-wonder quarterback made multiple mistakes when faced with one of the best defensive coaches of this generation. Mahomes made poor decisions on passes that were intercepted, but he also appeared to be out of rhythm on other throws where he overthrow open receivers in the first half. The defense appeared helpless to stop Tom Brady and Co. for most of the night.
Looking ahead: The Chiefs will play host the Cincinnati Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium in their second of back-to-back appearance on Sunday Night Football. The Bengals will be coming off of a seven-point loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Report card
Rushing offense: B. Kareem Hunt relatively quietly rushed for 8.0 yards per carry and gained 80 yards on the ground. The Chiefs played the majority of the game from behind, but he rushed for 80 of the teams 94 yards on eight carries.
Passing offense: C+. The Chiefs vaunted passing attack was out of sync for a large portion of the game. Mahomes overthrew multiple receivers, tossed two interceptions and he seemed to feel the pressure more than in other games this season. He came back and set a franchise record with his fifth consecutive 300-yard passing games.
Rushing defense: D. The Patriots were able to consistently give their backs room at the point of attack. The first contact with ball carrier too often came four to five yards downfield. The Patriots averaged 4.6 yards per carry for the game after having been well over 5.0 yards per carry for most of the night. The Patriots also successfully muscled their way into the end zone on goal line situations.
Passing defense: D. After starting off 1-of-4 on the Pats’ first possession of the game, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed 14 of 16, including a touchdown pass as he carved up the Chiefs’ secondary. Aside from Chris Jones swatting the ball out of Brady’s hands, the Chiefs did not do much to affect Brady in the pocket. The pass interference penalty by Steven Nelson cost the them 37 yards and set up a touchdown. With the lead in the fourth quarter, they also allowed a huge pass completion of 42 yards (a pass interference penalty was declined) and then let Brady scramble for a touchdown.
Special teams: A-. Without De’Anthony Thomas in the return game, rookie Tremon Smith handled kickoff duties and came up with the momentum-shifting play of the game when he returned a kick 97 yards in the fourth quarter to set up the go-ahead touchdown. The return also team handled a short squib quick without issue. Harrison Butker certainly earned his paycheck by being called upon for four KC field-goal attempts, and he converted on all four. They executed on what seemed like a clear plan to limit Cordarrelle Patterson’s touches as a returner.
Coaching: C. Once again, the Chiefs’ shortcomings in regard to stopping the run seemed to be more a result of execution than scheme. Tackling and getting off blocks were the main culprits. Offensively, they bounced back from one of their worst halves of the season to score 31 second-half points and found opportunities for big plays against Bill Belichick’s defense.
Lynn Worthy
Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
This story was originally published October 14, 2018 at 11:06 PM.