The Kansas City Chiefs will host the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday evening. The game is scheduled for a 6:40 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on CBS. The NFL Playoff Odds for the game have the Chiefs favored by a slim amount to pick up the win.
NFL Playoff Odds
Kansas City -3
Total: 56.5 points
So here we have the Patriots, led by veteran Tom Brady, playing in their eighth consecutive AFC Championship Game. Brady and the Pats have faced several good teams during those previous seven games, but this Kansas City squad could be the best of the group. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs led the league in scoring this season at better than 35 points per game, but it’s going to be downright cold when this game officially kicks off, so we will see what happens offensively.
The Patriots are going to run the football with Sony Michel. He had a big game against the Chargers last week, scoring three times and rushing for 129 yards. The Pats finished with 155 yards on the ground in that one, averaging almost five yards per carry. That helped set up the pass for Brady, he completed 34 passes for 343 yards and a touchdown. In his previous game against the Chiefs, Brady threw for 340 yards and one touchdown — Michel had a big game in that one as well, rushing for 106 yards and a pair of touchdowns as the Patriots rolled up 500 yards of offense.
This will be interesting to see, though. The Patriots scored only 21.6 points in road games this season, the lowest in Brady’s career. New England also hasn’t won an AFC Championship Game on the road since 2004, so if they can get the job done here in Kansas City, it will certainly be a nice victory for the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick. This Chiefs team can be dangerous if the defense gets some stops and that explosive offense with Mahomes and company is going to score in this game.
But, the key to the game could be Brady throwing short passes to guys coming out of the backfield. Last week, James White caught 15 passes out of the backfield. It was only for 97 yards, but it was a major supplement to the run game and allowed the Patriots to move the football down the field.
Belichick and Brady or Andy Reid and Mahomes — who would you rather have in this situation?
Free Pick: Patriots
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