The Patriots are coming off their most impressive victory of the season defeating the now formerly undefeated Kansas City Chiefs and second-year phenom quarterback Patrick Mahomes by a score of 43-40. Even with the close score and game-winning field goal by Stephen Gostkowski as time expired, the game never seemed as close as the score made it out to be.

 

The Patriots got out to a big lead in the first half taking a 24-9 lead in to halftime. Mahomes got off to a rocky start and looked like the bright lights of playing against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Gillette Stadium in primetime with the whole country watching may have been too much for him. Mahomes missed some easy passes that led to three Kansas City first half field goals, as well as a first quarter interception that went directly to Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower. For the Patriots the offense seemed to click almost from the very start. After turning the ball over on downs following a missed fourth down conversion on the offense’s first possession of the game, the Patriots scored on four straight possessions which included two Sony Michel rushing touchdowns and Julian Edelman’s first receiving touchdown of the season in his second game back returning from his four-game suspension.

 

The Chiefs came out firing in the second half and put on an offensive clinic much like they have all season. On the Chiefs first possession of the third quarter Mahomes connected with running back Kareem Hunt for a 67-yard touchdown after beating Patriots cornerback Jason McCourty down the sideline, a play that game Patriots fans flashbacks of last season’s opener against Kansas City where Hunt ran free all over the Patriots defense in his NFL debut. While the Chiefs offense came out hot, the Patriots came out quite the opposite only putting up three points in the third quarter. It appeared that the Patriots and Tom Brady were trying to get wide receiver Josh Gordon more familiarity in the offense as Brady appeared to be looking for Gordon a lot in both the first and third quarters, and at one point had more targets than both Edelman and Rob Gronkowski had combined.

 

The Chiefs speed again appeared to give the Patriots defense problems in the fourth quarter. Wide receiver Tyreek Hill left Patriots safety Devin McCourty in his tracks as Hill ran around the end zone until becoming open for a one-yard touchdown pass from Mahomes which gave the Chiefs their first lead since the beginning of the first quarter. The Patriots then drove down the field to retake the lead on a touchdown from Brady who scrambled out of the backfield and dove across the end zone for a 37-33 lead. Following a Patriots field goal that made it a seven point game the Chiefs got the ball back with a little over three minutes left to play looking to march down the field and tie the game. Tyreek Hill’s speed appeared to be too much for the Patriots defense again as Mahomes connected with Hill for a 75-yard touchdown on the team’s first play wasting only 12 seconds of the game clock. With three minutes left on the clock and the game on the line Tom Brady did Tom Brady things, leading his team down the field for a game-winning score. Brady connected with Gronkowski to get the ball deep into Chiefs territory to set up a 28-yard game-winning field goal for kicker Stephen Gostkowski, which he made with ease.

The Patriots will have another tough battle this upcoming week against the Chicago Bears, who despite losing to the Brock Osweiler led Miami Dolphins in overtime, have one of the leagues top defenses led by all-pro Khalil Mack.