Finally this weekend, the NFL season begins for real. The New England Patriots open the season at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are rebuilding their defense after trading Jared Allen in the offseason to the Vikings for draft picks, and drafted LSU prospect Glenn Dorsey in the draft, but on offense, the Chiefs are a team loaded with weapons, with the ageless Tony Gonzalez at tight end, Larry Johnson coming back from a broken foot, and young wideout Dwayne Bowe which will test the Pats semi-rebuilt defense. The Pats come off a very unimpressive preseason, and coupled with some interesting roster moves this week, including cutting Fernando Bryant and John Lynch from the defense and adding Deltha O’Neal. The defense which looked stagnant during the preseason no longer can be vanilla and will have to make plays, since the games are for real now. And offensively, while the Pats looked awful, Tom Brady is back under center, Matt Light is back at left guard, Wes Welker is healthy after his rib injury and it looks like the offense will be just about at full throttle, as only Ben Watson might miss the game as he hasn’t practiced all week. Here is a preview of what to hopefully expect Sunday afternoon from the defending AFC Champions.
When the Pats have the ball
The Chiefs defense as I said earlier is rebuilding. They traded Jared Allen who lead the team in sacks last year, and added Glenn Dorsey and Brandon Flowers n the draft to go with good young players like DL Tamba Hali and LB Derrick Johnson. Linebacker Donnie Edwards and cornerback Patrick Surtain are veteran players that have been in the league for a while and add leadership, but this young defense will face a tough test early in the season, going against the reigning MVP in Tom Brady, the reigning offensive player of the year in Randy Moss and one of the highest scoring offenses in the history of football. I can see the Pats moving the ball at will on this team, as these guys right now will have issues stopping the Pats machine, either with the combo of Welker and Moss through the air or Maroney and Morris on the ground. Even if Brady isn’t at 100%, which is unlikely since he was not on the practice report yesterday, this will be a good chance for him to get his feet wet and see game action for the first time this season. It will be interesting to see if the Pats still have what some fans would call the “GFY” or the “FU NFL” mentality of running up the score and punishing the opposition almost like a NFL game was a game of Madden. They could very easily drop 40-50 points if they want to send more messages after the off season of more “Spygate” talk and doubting of the dynasty, along with the offseason of seeing the David Tyree miracle catch and hearing about the loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl. The Pats will score at will Sunday and expect the Gillette scoreboard operator to have a busy day putting up points.
When the Chiefs have the ball
On paper, the Chiefs have a great bunch of skill players. Larry Johnson, even though coming off of an injury plagued season, when healthy is one of the best at his position, but he has a lot of miles on his legs, as over the last 3 years, no back has had as many touches as he has. Their best weapon in the passing game is tight end Tony Gonzalez, who had 99 catches last year and even though he is heading into his 12th season in the league, he is showing no signs of slowing down. And on the outside, Dwayne Bowe, last year’s first round pick, almost had a thousand yards and is one of the most dynamic young wideouts in the league with a great future in front of him. The key to this game is going to be if Brodie Croyle, the third year quarterback and in his first full year of starting after taking over in the second half of last year, continues to mature. The Pats defense will be starting as of now two rookies, middle linebacker Jerod Mayo and cornerback Terrance Wheatley. It will be interesting if the Chiefs find a way to match up Gonzalez on Mayo and Bowe on Wheatley and force the rookies to have to make plays. The Gonzalez match-up is the most important match-up of the game in my opinion, as Bruschi is too slow to stay with him, and if Mayo with some safety help can’t contain him, they might need to use Adalius Thomas and weaken the pass rush. Luckily for the Pats, the Chiefs line isn’t the same dominate group it was earlier this decade, so the trio of Seymour, Wilfork and Warren will be able to get pressure in the passing game and might be able to contain Johnson if he isn’t completely healed from his foot injury. This is the first time in a few years this line is all at full health, as Seymour has been injured the last few years but in camp and preseason had looked phenomenal and looks to be a force. It could be a long day in the Chiefs backfield if the line can’t hold the front three in check.
Prediction
On paper, this is a mismatch. The Pats are a Super Bowl contender, and the Chiefs will probably have a top ten pick in next year’s draft. And this isn’t even talking about the mismatch on the sidelines, Bill Belichick vs. Herm Edwards. This is going to be a good chance for Mayo and Wheatley to get their feet wet for the first time in a real NFL game, while letting Brady have his first action of the season, while getting ready for the week two match-up versus division rivals the New York Jets. I predict, just like last year, a 38-14 start to the season.
