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Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots Monday Night Football
The New England Patriots will be seeing some old familiar faces, plus a first-time starting quarterback, when they host the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
New England is up to a 14 ½-15 point favorite at Don Best after opening at 13. The total is 46 ½ points and the ESPN crew will broadcast at 8:30 p.m. (ET) from Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots (6-3 straight up, 5-4 against the spread) won three Super Bowls with Scott Pioli part of the management brain trust and Romeo Crennel the defensive coordinator. Both guys now work for Kansas City and will try to use their intimate knowledge of the Pats system to their advantage.
One former teammate who New England won’t see is quarterback Matt Cassel. He hurt his right throwing hand and could be out for the season after undergoing surgery. His replacement is 28-year-old Tyler Palko who will be backed up by Iowa rookie Ricky Stanzi.
Cassel wasn’t having a great year (76.6 quarterback rating), but New England certainly feared him far more than Palko. The Patriots defense can’t afford to take anyone lightly even after a good performance in the 37-16 victory at the Jets last week.
Coach Bill Belichick’s stop unit picked off quarterback Mark Sanchez twice (once for a touchdown) and sacked him five times. That’s despite playing with two unheralded safeties in Sterling Moore and James Ihedigbo, plus losing cornerback Devin McCourty (shoulder) in the first half.
McCourty is out this game and more, with Antwaun Molden getting the start. Starting safety Patrick Chung (knee) could return and that would be huge as New England desperately tries to improve on its last-ranked pass defense (309 YPG).
New England’s offense scored 30 of the 37 points last week despite rushing for just 60 yards on 28 carries. The offense was held in check the prior three games against the Giants (24-20 loss), Pittsburgh (25-17 loss) and Dallas (20-16), with Tom Brady getting harassed and throwing four total picks. Team scoring is 28.8 PPG for the year (ranked third).
Crennel is not going to be fooled by anything the Patriots do, even if almost all the players except Brady are different from when he was there (2004). His defense is last in the league with nine sacks and ranks 22nd overall in total yards (364.3 YPG).
The Patriots are 3-1 SU (2-2 ATS) at home this year, with Brady suffering his first regular season home loss since 2006 in the Giants game. They’re 3-13 in their last 16 games as a home favorite of 10 ½-points or greater.
The ‘under’ is 2-0 in New England’s last two home games after the ‘over’ was 8-0 in the previous eight.
The Chiefs (4-5 SU, 5-4 ATS) can’t afford to throw away the season, sitting just 1-game back of Oakland in the AFC West. They have looked bad in their last two contests, home losses to Denver (17-10) and Oakland (31-3) as small favorites.
The ‘under’ is 4-0 in Kansas City’s last four games and 6-1 in the last seven.
The 6-foot-1 Palko has had an odyssey to get here after not being drafted out of Pittsburgh in 2007. He’s had stints in the UFL and CFL and the Chiefs are his third NFL team. He was 5-of-6 for 47 yards last week against Denver and led a field goal drive after subbing in for Cassel.
Palko does have some big receiving targets in 6-foot-2 Dwayne Bowe and 6-foot-4 rookie Jon Baldwin. Steve Breaston is also a dependable target. The question is whether Palko can get them the ball as Kansas City’s pass offense ranks just 27th (182.2 YPG) even with Cassel playing.
The Chiefs will try to run the ball with the combination of Jackie Battle and Dexter McCluster, who have done a pretty good job after the early injury to Jamaal Charles. However, the Patriots are pretty stout (103.1 YPG, ranked ninth) against the run and they will be more inclined to see if Palko can beat them.
Coach Todd Haley’s team has fared pretty well on the road (2-1 SU, 3-0 ATS) since getting demolished at Detroit (48-3) in September. The last road game was almost a month ago in Oakland (28-0 win on October 23) and a lot has transpired since then.
Kansas City is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games as a 10 ½-point road ‘dog or greater.
These teams last met in opening week of 2008 when Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury at the hands of Bernard Pollard. The Pats ended up winning 17-10 as 16-point favorites with Cassel ironically coming in at quarterback.
Foxborough nighttime weather should be chilly around 40 degrees.
The New England Patriots will be seeing some old familiar faces, plus a first-time starting quarterback, when they host the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
New England is up to a 14 ½-15 point favorite at Don Best after opening at 13. The total is 46 ½ points and the ESPN crew will broadcast at 8:30 p.m. (ET) from Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots (6-3 straight up, 5-4 against the spread) won three Super Bowls with Scott Pioli part of the management brain trust and Romeo Crennel the defensive coordinator. Both guys now work for Kansas City and will try to use their intimate knowledge of the Pats system to their advantage.
One former teammate who New England won’t see is quarterback Matt Cassel. He hurt his right throwing hand and could be out for the season after undergoing surgery. His replacement is 28-year-old Tyler Palko who will be backed up by Iowa rookie Ricky Stanzi.
Cassel wasn’t having a great year (76.6 quarterback rating), but New England certainly feared him far more than Palko. The Patriots defense can’t afford to take anyone lightly even after a good performance in the 37-16 victory at the Jets last week.
Coach Bill Belichick’s stop unit picked off quarterback Mark Sanchez twice (once for a touchdown) and sacked him five times. That’s despite playing with two unheralded safeties in Sterling Moore and James Ihedigbo, plus losing cornerback Devin McCourty (shoulder) in the first half.
McCourty is out this game and more, with Antwaun Molden getting the start. Starting safety Patrick Chung (knee) could return and that would be huge as New England desperately tries to improve on its last-ranked pass defense (309 YPG).
New England’s offense scored 30 of the 37 points last week despite rushing for just 60 yards on 28 carries. The offense was held in check the prior three games against the Giants (24-20 loss), Pittsburgh (25-17 loss) and Dallas (20-16), with Tom Brady getting harassed and throwing four total picks. Team scoring is 28.8 PPG for the year (ranked third).
Crennel is not going to be fooled by anything the Patriots do, even if almost all the players except Brady are different from when he was there (2004). His defense is last in the league with nine sacks and ranks 22nd overall in total yards (364.3 YPG).
The Patriots are 3-1 SU (2-2 ATS) at home this year, with Brady suffering his first regular season home loss since 2006 in the Giants game. They’re 3-13 in their last 16 games as a home favorite of 10 ½-points or greater.
The ‘under’ is 2-0 in New England’s last two home games after the ‘over’ was 8-0 in the previous eight.
The Chiefs (4-5 SU, 5-4 ATS) can’t afford to throw away the season, sitting just 1-game back of Oakland in the AFC West. They have looked bad in their last two contests, home losses to Denver (17-10) and Oakland (31-3) as small favorites.
The ‘under’ is 4-0 in Kansas City’s last four games and 6-1 in the last seven.
The 6-foot-1 Palko has had an odyssey to get here after not being drafted out of Pittsburgh in 2007. He’s had stints in the UFL and CFL and the Chiefs are his third NFL team. He was 5-of-6 for 47 yards last week against Denver and led a field goal drive after subbing in for Cassel.
Palko does have some big receiving targets in 6-foot-2 Dwayne Bowe and 6-foot-4 rookie Jon Baldwin. Steve Breaston is also a dependable target. The question is whether Palko can get them the ball as Kansas City’s pass offense ranks just 27th (182.2 YPG) even with Cassel playing.
The Chiefs will try to run the ball with the combination of Jackie Battle and Dexter McCluster, who have done a pretty good job after the early injury to Jamaal Charles. However, the Patriots are pretty stout (103.1 YPG, ranked ninth) against the run and they will be more inclined to see if Palko can beat them.
Coach Todd Haley’s team has fared pretty well on the road (2-1 SU, 3-0 ATS) since getting demolished at Detroit (48-3) in September. The last road game was almost a month ago in Oakland (28-0 win on October 23) and a lot has transpired since then.
Kansas City is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games as a 10 ½-point road ‘dog or greater.
These teams last met in opening week of 2008 when Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury at the hands of Bernard Pollard. The Pats ended up winning 17-10 as 16-point favorites with Cassel ironically coming in at quarterback.
Foxborough nighttime weather should be chilly around 40 degrees.
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