The Patriots Strike Back

Last year on opening night of the season, the Pats treated the Chiefs as somewhat of an afterthought, as they hung their super bowl banner, as a result, the Chiefs came into their house, on opening night, and rolled them with a score of 42-27.

Last night’s game proved Tom Brady and the Pats remembered. It is safe to say that last night’s game was a grudge match for the Pats. Unfortunately, several injuries on the Chiefs’ defense including safety Eric Berry and outside linebacker Justin Houston had a negative impact for the 5-0 team.

 The Chiefs suffered their first loss with a final score of 43-40. But this is just one loss and the Chiefs will be back with a vengeance next week.

 I got a text from my father last night during the game that read, “the Chiefs just keep hanging around.” That emphasizes that even as underdogs, in a hostile environment, going up against one of the best quarterback’s and one of the best teams in football, down 24-9 at half time, they wouldn’t go without a fight. While the final score may show otherwise, there’s no doubt that the Chiefs left New England with their pound of flesh.

It was clear that in the first half, Mahomes was a little nervous facing up against the Pats. He overthrew a couple of receivers, and threw two costly picks. By the second half, Mahomes would came out swinging, and looking like… well… looking like Mahomes. At one point, Mahomes and company would be on their own 25 yard line. Mahomes spotted Tyreek Hill at around the 40 and zinged a pass his direction. Hill took the pass into and morphed into the cheetah right in front of our eyes, sprinting to the end zone, completing a 75 yard catch and run for a touchdown.

Not long after that, a heart-pounding, breathtaking kickoff return by none other than rookie Tremon Smith of 97 yards, set up the Chiefs at the Patriot 3 yard line. Mahomes lofted a pass into the end zone, that at first appeared to be on its way for Kareem Hunt, but Hill slid behind Hunt, grabbing the ball out of the air for the Chiefs touchdown. The Cheetah finished the night with 142 yards receiving - the third highest total in his career. Kareem Hunt also his presence known, logging 10 carries for 80 yards and 5 receptions for a total of 105 yards and a touchdown - on a 67 yard catch and hall for the end zone. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Patrick Mahomes game if the young signal caller did not break some kind of a record, and last night’s broken record was the first QB in Chiefs’ history to have over 300 passing yards in five straight games. 

The explosive offensive plays and Mahomes’ magic weren’t enough this time. It can’t be denied, though, that the Chiefs let it be known to the NFL dynasty of Brady, Belichick and the Patriots, that Mahomes and the Chiefs are a force to be reckoned with.  Holthus compared the Patriots to that of Darth Vader and his defeat of the young Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars, the Empire Strikes Back” and if this game was “The Empire Strikes Back” I need not remind anyone what happened in “Return of the Jedi”

The Chiefs’ will be under the lights of Sunday Night Football for the second time in a row this coming Sunday, hositing the Cincinnati Bengals at home in Arrowhead. Not only that, but instead of listening to the game from the comfort of my man cave, I will be throwing out  the first pass of the game, touring the broadcast booth, then watching the game from one of the Chiefs’ suites with my wife.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog: “Live, from Sunday Night Football”