The seven-month wait is finally over and the NFL is upon us once again and game one of the new season did not disappoint.
Gillette Stadium last night was buzzing with ecstatic fans, a booing session of commissioner Roger Goodell and the revealing of the 2016-2017 Super Bowl banner so it seemed inevitable for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots to start off the season with a bang.
However, that was not the case.
The New England Patriots opened their title defense with a surprising fifteen point defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs 42-27. The Chiefs with Alex Smith at the helm shocked the football world while throwing for an astounding 368 yards on 238/35 passing and 4 touchdowns.
Now this game was a tale of two halves.
In the first half of play it seemed like the Patriots would completely dominate this game. With them scoring on their first drive and then forcing a fumble on rookie running back Kareem Hunt giving them the ball deep in Chiefs territory. However, they took a gamble on fourth down and one at the Kansas City ten yard line but were unable to convert. That led to a touchdown by the Chiefs touchdown the very next possession.
Even in the third quarter the Patriots were up 27-21 after a Stephen Gostkowski field goal and seeming like they would finally pull away but the Chiefs refused to go down. They came right back with a touchdown of their own, a passing touchdown to Kareem Hunt at the start of the fourth quarter to go up 28-27 and they never looked back.
The Chiefs defense came alive in the fourth quarter and finally were able to bring Brady to the turf. Because of that, their offense was able to march down the field with big passing plays by Alex Smith including a 78 yard bomb to Kareem Hunt.
Alex Smith coming into this season had his starting job questioned by many because of the selection of Patrick Mahomes in the first round of this past year’s NFL draft. However, Smith proved all the doubters wrong with a dazzling performance while throwing the ball down the field (which he is not known for). He averaged 10.5 yards per attempt and he found a total of nine different receivers.
The rookie running back Kareem Hunt filling in for injured starter Spencer Ware also had a phenomenal game in his NFL debut. He rushed for 148 yards on 17 attempts and a touchdown and had 5 catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns.
Tom Brady in this game looked like a forty-year old quarterback. He did not throw many deep passes throughout the game, (but when he did they were a thing of beauty) mostly just dink and dunk passes underneath or short outlet passes towards the sidelines. However, even with the rust and not his best overall performance, he still was able to move the ball down the field and have long drives. Also, if it was not for two failed attempts on fourth down then possibly the Patriots sneak into the end zone at least once and kill the Chiefs momentum.
This game was reminiscent of the 2014 match up also against the Chiefs with the Patriots being taken apart and fell to the record of 2-2 with a 41-14 loss. The whole sports world wrote them off for the rest of the season just to see them make it to the Super Bowl and win it. This game even with the loss and lack of defensive effort should not worry the Patriots or their fans. There were quite a few injuries especially on the defensive side of the ball. One of those players, their key linebackers Dont’a Hightower left the game with a leg injury and offensive weapon Danny Amendola left the game with concussion symptoms. Along with injuries, there are many players who are just simply new to the offense (wide receiver Brandin Cooks who was acquired in the off-season and Phillip Dorsett who was acquired earlier this week via a trade). These players will quickly learn the play book and with the next ten days off, they will be fully prepared for their week two match up with the Saints down in New Orleans. Players will be healthy and the Patriots are still on course to win at least twelve games and win the AFC East.
Whether or not you are a fan of the New England Patriots or the Kansas City Chiefs, everyone cannot deny that they are excited and thrilled that football has officially returned to us and simply cannot wait for more to come this Sunday.
