What To Watch For: Talented Pass Rushers Could Wreak Havoc On QBs
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's the game you've been waiting for all weekend, and you just have a few more hours (and likely a work day) to get through.
The Patriots will keep you up late this Monday evening, as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football. Under Bill Belichick, the Patriots have an impressive 15-6 record on Monday Night Football.
This will be the fourth overall Monday Night meeting between the two teams, with the Patriots owning a 3-0 edge in those contests. But that means very little for tonight's game.
Tale of the Tape: Patriots vs. Chiefs
The Patriots (2-1) and Chiefs (1-2) are both having their share of struggles in the early part of the season, and both will be looking to set things right on the national stage.
Here is what to watch for when the Pats and Chiefs kick off on Monday Night Football:
Quarterbacks Running For Their Lives
The Patriots have seven sacks over the first three weeks of the season, tied for 11th most in the league (the leaders have 10). One can say that with Chandler Jones being the beast he is and Dont'a Hightower now coming off the edge, the Patriots have a strong to very strong pass rush.
Then there's the Kansas City offensive line, which may be worse than the Patriots. The Chiefs have allowed the second most sacks in the league with 11, behind only the lowly Jaguars who have allowed 17 sacks through three weeks. For comparison's sake, Tom Brady has been sacked "only" seven times. While the Chiefs handled the Miami Dolphins last week 35-14 for their first win of the season, Alex Smith was sacked five times and constantly pressured throughout the game.
The struggles of the New England offensive line are well documented, and the Chiefs pass-rushers are no slouches. As a group they've sacked quarterbacks nine times (tied for fourth in the NFL). Linebacker Justin Houston leads the pack with three sacks, and the always-dangerous Tamba Hali isn't fair behind with a pair of his own -- one in each of the last two games. If the line pays too much attention to either of those rushers, defensive tackle Dontari Poe (who has 1.5 sacks on the season) will make them pay.
So neither team has a very good offensive line, and both have a pretty good pass rush. That could make for a very long evening for both Tom Brady and Alex Smith (but a fun one for Jones, Hightower and the other New England pass-rushers).
Brady's best bet is to continue to do what he does; hitting Julian Edelman and/or Rob Gronkowski over the middle in hopes it opens up the field. He just has to be upright in order to do so.
Jamaal Charles And/Or Knile Davis
All signs point to Jamaal Charles playing for Kansas City after an ankle injury sidelined him for most of the Chiefs' Week 2 loss to the Broncos and all of Week 3. That's good news for the Chiefs, who rely on a balanced running attack for Smith to succeed, and could spell trouble for the Patriots.
Charles is a dynamic back when healthy, and even if he's limited on Monday the Chiefs can send out Knile Davis, who ran for 132 yards and a touchdown as KC's featured back last week.
On paper, the rush attack looks pretty impressive for Kansas City. But it's unknown how healthy Charles really is and Davis, a 2013 third-round pick out of Arkansas, has fumbled three times this season. Stopping the run will put more pressure on Smith, and his group of receivers didn't look all that impressive until last week against Miami.
Listen To That Crowd
Arrowhead is not an easy place to play, and it gets even more difficult when the fans really get into it. That is going to happen with the national TV lights shining bright, and KC fans attempting to break the world record for loudest stadium once again.
What does that mean for the Patriots? Communication will be at a premium.
Bill Belichick blared music (likely a long stream of Jovi and other Jersey rockers) and crowd noise at practice all week, giving Brady and the offense a chance to work on their non-verbal communication. It's not anything the Patriots haven't dealt with before, but given the offense's struggles to come together as a unit throughout the first three weeks, it's something that could play a much bigger factor this time around.
Gronk Acrobatics
After being held without a touchdown in his first two Monday Night Football games, Rob Gronkowski has four scores in his last three Monday night contests.
And the last time the Patriots and Chiefs got together on Monday Night Football, New England won big and Rob Gronkowski did this on a touchdown catch:
Of course, Gronk is still on the mend and not yet 100 percent following last season's knee surgery. But he showed some promising signs against the Raiders, and commented this week how he's ready for an expanded role in the offense.
The Patriots could certainly use Gronkowski returning to his old form, not just for the sake of the passing game but also for his run blocking on the line.
Some more touchdowns would be nice, but if Gronk can show even more signs that the rust is almost gone, it will make opposing defenses key in on him that much more and open things up for everyone else on offense.
Tune in to Monday night's Patriots-Chiefs game on 98.5 The Sports Hub – the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 pm, and stay tuned following the game for three hours of postgame coverage! On the TV side, tune in to myTV38 immediately following the game for Patriots 5th Quarter!
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