Wow! What a victory! The Kansas City Chiefs walked into Gillette Stadium and destroyed the New England Patriots on national television Thursday night by a final score of 42-27! I know I didn’t foresee this one coming, as a matter of fact, I picked the Chiefs to lose last night 27-24. The Chiefs shocked the world in manhandling the Patriots, especially in the second half. The game couldn’t have started off much worse than it did for Kansas City. After allowing the Patriots to march right down the field for a touchdown on their opening drive, the Chiefs handed the ball to rookie Kareem Hunt on their first play from scrimmage and he proceeded to fumble the ball right back to New England. However, the Chiefs defense stepped up in a big way, holding the Patriots not only out of the endzone, but also off the scoreboard entirely after a 4th and inches stop. The Chiefs would drive right back down the field to tie the game at 7, capped off by a TD pass from Alex Smith to Demetrius Harris. The Chiefs really started to take over the game from there. Yes, the Patriots would re-take the lead, at one point leading by 10, and another point leading by 6 going into the 4th quarter. But the Chiefs outscored the Patriots 21-0 in the final quarter of action to pull out the 42-27 victory on the road, and become the first AFC team to win a meaningful contest in Foxborough in well over a decade.
However, it did not come without a price. During that dominant 4th quarter, Eric Berry went down with a non-contact injury, that required him to be carted off the field. That was a scary moment, and our worst fears were confirmed this morning when it was announced that Berry had ruptured his Achilles Tendon. Berry will miss the rest of the season, and that’s a massive blow to the Chiefs defense. He is the heart and soul of the team, and it’s going to be a lot to try and overcome. Daniel Sorenson and Eric Murray are already on the roster and will have the opportunity to step up and fill the void on the field, another option could be Calvin Pryor who was recently cut by the Cleveland Browns. No matter how you slice it, no one will be able to fully replace what Berry can do. He blanketed, and basically shut down Rob Gronkowski last night, and has proven to be the best in the league at his position the last 2 seasons. So, while we in the Chiefs Kingdom can celebrate the victory over the Patriots, the celebration is a little bittersweet due to the loss of Berry.
On a bright note, since the Chiefs opened the season on Thursday Night. They have another 13 days to get ready for the home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday at Arrowhead. I’ll be back with a preview of that game next Friday, and we will have it for you on Topeka’s Rock Leader V100 next Sunday, Sept 17th. Pregame at 11:00 AM and kickoff at high noon!
GO CHIEFS!
