NFL Predictions: Chiefs vs. Patriots Preview

Written by Jake Thompson
Monday, 21 November 2011 21:40

Our NFL preview of the Monday Night Football game between the Chiefs and Patriots will include score predictions.

The Kansas City Chiefs (4-5) have shown absolutely no consistency this season, but they are still in the playoff hunt and will try to pull the upset in this week’s Monday Night Football game against the New England Patriots (6-3).  The Patriots have opened up a sizeable lead in the AFC East standings, while the Chiefs are trying to make ground on the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders who currently sit at 6-4.

The Monday Night Football game between the Chiefs and Patriots has a start time of 8:30 PM ET and will be shown live on the ESPN channel.  Legends Sportsbook has odds up on this game with New England being favored by 16.5 and a total of 46.  The Patriots were 17-10 winners at home in the last head-to-head meeting between these teams in 2008.  They were similar 16-point favorites, while the total at the time was 43.

Chiefs’ Offense vs. Patriots’ Defense:

Kansas City quarterback Matt Cassel (1713 yards, 59.5%, 10 TD, 9 INT) has to make better decisions if the Chiefs hope to score more than the 15.7 points per game they have amassed thus far.  The running game has been good with averages of 124.4 yards a game, but the passing attack simply hasn’t adequately complemented it.  The good/bad news for fans of the Chiefs is that Cassel is out indefinitely after having surgery on his throwing hand, and in steps former Pittsburgh quarterback Tyler Palko (47 yards, 71.4%, 0 TD, 0 INT).  Palko doesn’t have the strongest arm, and his lack of NFL experience won’t do Kansas City any favors in this tough road environment.  The Patriots have a nice defense, and they should be able to bottle up a Chiefs’ offense that will be forced to abandon the run in a come-from-behind effort.

Patriots’ Offense vs. Chiefs’ Defense:

New England scores 28.8 points per game while passing for 326.0 yards each time out.  Quarterback Tom Brady (3032 yards, 66.1%, 23 TD, 10 INT) has been strong once again, but has appeared to be regressing in recent games.  A big reason for the decline is the lack of a New England rushing attack against 3 straight strong defenses, but that doesn’t figure to be an issue against a Kansas City squad that allows 134.0 yards on the ground a game.  The Chiefs don’t have a strong enough defense to contain the Patriots, and their offense is going to give up good field position for New England throughout this contest.

Chiefs vs. Patriots Predictions:

The only hope for Kansas City to keep the score close is to take the early lead while establishing a running game.  Look for New England to crowd the line in an effort to make Palko beat them.  He’s simply not good enough at this stage to do that, and I expect the Patriots to get an early lead.  The Chiefs might score a touchdown against prevent defense later in the game but a chance at the win will be well out of reach by that time.  My Chiefs vs. Patriots predictions say to take New England on the point spread for an easy Monday Night Football victory.

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Chiefs 10

Patriots 38