Sunday’s matchup between the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs featured an abysmal performance by the home team’s offense, something that has become a bit of a trend in recent weeks. On their home turf at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots only managed to put up 16 points as they lost to the Chiefs 23-16.
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Offensive struggles have been a trend for the Patriots as of late: quarterback Tom Brady has been especially vocal about the lack of success of the New England offense.
“I mean, I think we’re just trying to figure out what works,” Brady said Sunday of the offense’s struggles in the second half of the season. “So, I think you have an idea and then you see how the game unfolds and then you’ve got to make some adjustments. So, we tried to make some adjustments there in the second half. They threw a lot of different defenses at us, some we handled pretty good, others we didn’t. It was a good game by them.”
After the Patriots’ first score, they went seven straight possessions without putting any points up on the board.
While the Pats’ offense has struggled mightily as of late, they have also shown the ability to put up large numbers at other points this season. However, heading into the playoffs, they will likely be hoping to up their production in a big way.
The Kansas City offense, while only posting 23 points of their own, really took hold of the game in the second quarter when they rattled off 17 straight points. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes finished with 283 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception, while Brady finished with 169, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.
Many were quick to attribute the Patriots’ loss to poor officiating, especially in the third quarter when New England was “robbed” of an apparent touchdown. Devin McCourty forced a Travis Kelce fumble which was scooped up by Stephon Gilmore, however, the play was blown dead before he could reach the endzone.
“We hear a lot of stuff, what’s supposed to happen,” McCourty said, referencing the hope that officials will let plays develop before blowing them dead. “Once you get out there in the game, you hope it’s like that. But it wasn’t this time. In games, that’s going to come up. Calls you think should go your way don’t go your way. You’ve just got to play through it.”
The Patriots will look to get back on track next Sunday as they travel to Cincinnati to take on the 1-12 Bengals.
