Hot team, cold team to meet in AFC playoffs

The Kansas City Chiefs seem set on keeping their winning streak alive.

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has been cleared to play in the upcoming divisional round playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs, but rumors are swirling that he may have limitations. For the better part of 59 minutes, Burfict was arguably the best player on the field for the Bengals.

The second-seeded New England Patriots will host the fifth-seeded Kansas City Chiefs next Saturday. The Chiefs have won 11 straight games and are the hottest team in the NFL.

“They’re doing a phenomenal job”.

Here are three things the Chiefs must do to pull off the upset on Saturday. Eleven wins in a row is impressive by any measure … and yet only that Denver win stands out as a pelt worth keeping, and an argument can be made that Peyton Manning (5 of 20, four interceptions) handed them that game. He still finished with the most receiving yards by a Patriots wideout (692) despite missing six games. Smith five touchdown passes in his last three games. He has carried the ball 84 times for a total of 498 yards, scoring two touchdowns.

The Chiefs blew out New England last season, but expect a closer outcome this time around. There are no recent Kansas City losses. New England is 10-1 SU when carrying a lead into the fourth quarter. Defensively, the Patriots yield 240.7 yards in passing and 98.8 yards in rushing. Witten is the same height and roughly the same weight as Kelce, and with Dez Bryant injured, the tight end figured to be the focus of the passing game. They’ll throw him bubble screens, and short crosses and deep crosses over the middle. The tackling and lost containment problems they exhibited early in the 2014 season are unlikely to be quite as glaring now in a January playoff game. He’s risky with the ball in his hands, with the ability to outrun defenders or plow right through them.

Brady’s line of demarcation came when Edelman broke a bone in his left foot against the Giants in Week 10.

Other receivers who could get more involved if Maclin is sidelined include Albert Wilson and Chris Conley.

When CBS attempts to sell this weekend’s matchup between the Patriots and Chiefs (Saturday, 4:35 p.m., CBS) one can bet the TV network will rely heavily on Patriots stars Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

Those mistakes include coverage sacks. The Patriots offensive line looks different every week because of all the injuries to the front five. Before Brian Cushing picked him off in the first half last week, Smith had thrown an NFL-postseason-record 119 passes without an interception. When facing pressure, his passer rating drops from 104.6 to 96.6.

“Even though it was 30-0 and obviously Houston didn’t play very well, I think Kansas City forced them into a lot of bad football”, said Brady.

And this is the rare time Belichick can’t say he has an epic edge under the headset.

Brady has already cemented his legacy as the greatest quarterback in National Football League history with four championships and six Super Bowl appearances, so maybe the sobering truth of a season racked by injuries to every key component of The Evil Empire won’t sting: The Patriots aren’t going to repeat as Super Bowl Champions. He had a huge game against the Patriots last season, with eight catches on nine targets for 93 yards and a score, but shutting him down is probably Priority A for Belichick, Matt Patricia, and the Patriots’ defense Saturday night. “That’s the kind of team they are … so we have to figure out a formula to beat them”.