Chiefs at Patriots: Odds, trends and more

Brady’s top receivers, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, are question marks.

As the New England Patriots prepare for their Divisional Playoffs matchup versus the Kansas City Chiefs this Saturday, they are hoping star tight end Rob Gronkowski will see action despite nursing a knee injury. Edelman has not played for the Patriots since November 15 with a broken foot.

For the New England Patriots to win tomorrow, a lot will have to go in their favor. All of these players were limited participants in practice on Friday. Houston missed the season’s final five games with a knee injury before returning against the Texans. Reports indicated he had treatment at a local hospital that included an injection in his knee.

And the Patriots did turn things around, winning 10 of their next 11 regular-season games and then earning their fourth Super Bowl title.

Then there’s the most important measure: wins. Both these teams find ways to win in nearly exactly opposite ways. Whoever’s out there, we have to have confidence in. “There’s no next week, so we’re going to have to do everything you can do to be out on the field and help us win”. Tackle Sebastian Vollmer, who was injured in the Week 16 loss to the Jets, will be back to take on a fearsome Chiefs’ pass rush. Without him, numbers for the Patriots’ offense and Tom Brady have been down – most notably, its third-down conversion rate fell from 50 percent with Edelman to just 33.9 percent without him. Kansas City is hot, winners of 11 straight games, but the Patriots and Brady will prove too much to overcome, even though New England did close the season 2-4 after a 10-0 start. Rookie Marcus Peters tied for the league lead with eight this year and had another in the wild-card game. “Every week, that’s our plan, that’s our goal”. Bill’s a friend, he’s a heck of a football coach. Tom Brady is unbelievable.

“He could [play without practicing]”, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said about Maclin. For many reasons this has the capability to be a great game and I believe that the victor will end up representing the AFC in the Super Bowl. “That’s what this is all about”. The Steelers are dealing with several key injuries, including QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB DeAngelo Williams, and WR Antonio Brown. The Chiefs defense has been spectacular down the stretch and will rely on exposing a banged up Patriots offensive line with heavy hitters such as Dontari Poe, Justin Houston, Tamba Hali, and sophomore Dee Ford.

Ware finished with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown against the Texans.

All three are expected to be on the field Saturday. And we had some guys coming off injury and sickness and a suspension in one case 1/8 cornerback Sean Smith 3/8.

You know what this tells me, 49er front office?

The New England Patriots will have their hands full against the Kansas City Chiefs, but they could catch a break if Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin isn’t able to play at his best.

In Week 4 of last season, the Patriots were blown out by the Chiefs, 41-14, old Monday Night Football. The feeling wasn’t that good even before it became public that sackmaster Chandler Jones showed up chemically-skewed at the Foxboro police station this past Sunday.

Edelman’s likely return comes at the right time for the Patriots – and not just because they are now in the playoffs.

“The fact that they haven’t lost in so long, it’s not like you can go to a game and say ‘This is how this team defeated them.’ That just doesn’t exist”, Belichick said. “We’ve got to figure out a way, and it’s not like there’s a great example on film”.