Pats' Postgame Notebook: Hail to the Chiefs

Ryan Fox

​​Yup, it’s finally here. The NFL season kicked off as Patriots fans all over the New England area and in the United States waited patientlyfor the official start of the 2017 NFL Regular Season. After the pregame ceremonies which included the unveiling of Banner #5 as well as the attempt to humiliate NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, there was still a game to be played. Coming into Gillette were the Kansas City Chiefs as many people in the local media, as well as fans, predicted a cakewalk for the home team.

Boy, were they wrong.

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The Game
 
The first quarter started off with the usual Patriots MO. First they got on the board thanks to a 2-yard plunge by newly acquired RB Michael Gillislee. Then the defense recovered a fumble from Kansas City Chiefs RB Kareem Hunt deep in Chiefs territory and proceeded to drive the ball. A couple plays later, QB Tom Brady hooked up with TE Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown and an early 14-0….or so did they thought. Upon further review, the referees ruled no catch and wiped the touchdown off the board. Two plays later, the Chiefs defense stuffed Gillislee on 4th and short and took over on downs.
 
That little 4th down stop gave the Chiefs some semblance of life as from then on, they were able to go toe-to-toe with the Patriots.

They tied the game up at that point on a 3-yard touchdown pass from QB Alezx Smith to TE Demetrius Harris. Then after getting down 17-7, the Chiefs scored on Smith-to-Hunt touchdown pass connection with 17 seconds in the half to close the gap to 17-14. The Patriots then saw the Chiefs overtake them in the third quarter on a 75-yard bomb from Smith to WR Tyreek Hill for a score of 21-17.
 
The Patriots regain the lead later on in the third quarter thanks to a 1-yard score by Gillislee and then added another Mike Gostkowski field goal to push the lead to 27-21 heading into the 4th quarter.

Then in a cruel twist of irony, after mocking the Atlanta Falcons for their 4th quarter collapse in Super Bowl LI for months,, karma caught up to the Patriots. First the Patriots defense allowed Alex Smith to launch another bomb, this time a 78-yard touchdown pass to Hunt. Then they allowed Hunt and back up RB Charcandrick West to each score touchdowns to bring the Chiefs total score to 42. When the clock reached 00:00, it was the Chiefs who were on top 42-27 while the Patriots were left wondering what went wrong.
 
Injury Back Stings Hard
 
Prior to the game, the Pats placed WR Malcom Mitchell on the injured reserve list with a knee injury. Then during the game, they first saw LB Dont'a Hightower missed significant time with a knee sprain. Then later on they lost WR Danny Amendola to a head injury, depleting an already depleted  Pats receiving corp and return game.
 
The Fox Fist Bump Goes To...
 
The Fox Fist Bump goes to none other than to Mike Gillislee. The former Buffalo Bill running back made his Patriots debut with by scoring all 3 of the Patriots touchdowns. Though the rest of his stat line isn’t as impressive (15 carries for 45 yards), one could say that Gillislee was one of the few Patriots that came to play.
 
The Meatball Award Goes To...
 
I know it’s still too earlier but I’m gonna give the meatball to none other than….Tom Brady. He looked like a 40 year old quarterback out there, completing under half his passes (16-for-36), 0 touchdowns thrown, and committed perhaps the biggest bonehead play of the game where he committed an illegal forward pass penalty to RB James White, negating a touchdown and a possible 31-21 lead extension.
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Play of the Night
 
Peace!

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