Patriots know how to handle playoff pressure

Without Maclin, Bill Belichick and Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will focus much of the defense on stopping Kelce, forcing Smith to look to untested teammates. Rosters are different, and the circumstances are different. Ten year veteran Alex Smith has led the offense for the Chiefs, and this year saw him become a true offensive handful for opposing defenses as he rushed for almost 500 yards on the season, on top of his 3500 yards throwing. Kansas City rolled up 443 yards of offense without committing a turnover. Kansas City sacked Brady twice in that game and they could find success again in pressuring Brady.

The Chiefs and Patriots have plenty of injury situations to follow, while the Packers are hoping to erase a bad December memory of the Cardinals. Following Green Bay’s embarrassing losses in Week 16 and 17 of the regular season, many doubted if they would still be able to get it done come playoff time. “So I think it’s just practice and getting on the same page”, left tackle Sebastian Vollmer offered, in what constituted a rambling response from the tight-lipped group. However, it’s tough to compare, as the Chiefs lost to the Peyton Manning version in Week 2 before beating the Manning-led Broncos in Week 10. Despite numerous injuries to his receiving corps, the four-time Super Bowl champion QB had his usual stellar season with 4,770 yards, 36 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions. In the Wild Card Round that year, Jackson carried the ball 10 times for 36 yards in a win 27-20 win over the Seattle Seahawks, and then nine times for 32 yards in the St. Louis Rams’ Divisional Round loss to the Atlanta Falcons. In their playoff win over the Texans, they picked off four passes and had a fumble recovery. So trust this expert game-manager to keep them within hailing distance of the handicap. New England has Brady and Belichick.

If the New England Patriots want to maximize their chances of making it to the AFC Championship game, wide receiver Julian Edelman will have to get back to what he does best. When playing at home, there are few in the league better than the Patriots at defending the run. Both have sprained ankles, and both are vital to the Chiefs offensive diversity and flexibility.

Three of the contests are rematches of regular-season games, while the Chiefs and Patriots is a rematch of a 41-14 Kansas City romp from the 2014 season that still has Patriots quarterback Tom Brady upset looking back. He makes the point that from week-to-week, Brady never knew who he was handing the ball off to or who would be on his line, but he adjusted as needed.

For Tom Brady this will be his 30th playoff game. They have a very good quarterback that plays very efficiently.

Sam McPherson is a freelance writer covering baseball, football, basketball, golf, hockey and fantasy sports for CBS, AXS and Examiner.