Alliance... » The New England Patriots will face their toughest challenge

of the year tonight when the Kansas City Chiefs visit Foxboro. The Chiefs currently own an unblemished record Authentic Marcus Cannon Jersey , thanks in large part to a big-play offense that seemingly scores at will and has hung an average of 35.0 points on its first five opponents this year. With the Patriots defense not always being up to the challenge this season, the team’s offense will play a special role today.After all, the game is expected to become a shootout that could very well be decided by whichever offense makes the most plays or has the football last. The last time New England found itself in this kind of game – Super Bowl 52 – the team was defeated. In order to ensure that today’s result, if the game indeed goes as is expected, is a different one than in February, the Patriots need to bring their A-game and make sure the following things are accomplished.Stick to the ground gameThe best way to limit a potent offense is to keep it on the sidelines, which is why playing a ball-control game is imperative for New England and its offense tonight. The preconditions for that appear to be good from the Patriots’ perspective: Kansas City’s defense – a unit that has played some opportunistic but not always consistent football through the first five weeks – has had its fair share of issues when it comes to defending the run.During their last five games, the Chiefs gave up an average of 118.8 yards on the ground. The numbers, of course, cannot fully be taken at face value: Kansas City typically played from ahead, which forced opponents to focus more on the pass. With the defense reacting, this naturally opened up lanes for running backs to create yardage. That being said, teams were able to run on the Chiefs even when the games were still close.The issues start up front with Kansas City’s defensive line often failing to take proper angles especially against zone blocking schemes. Behind the front-line defenders, the linebacker corps is not quick enough to make up for the ground given up and also prone to react too slowly to movements or pre-snap motion. While the unit has had its moments Youth Dont'a Hightower Jersey , it has shown little consistency to string together plays.Trying to establish and stick to a presence on the ground should therefore be high up on the list of priorities for coordinator Josh McDaniels. This also is something that should play to New England’s strengths: the offensive line has improved when it comes to run blocking over the last two weeks no matter when it comes to using a man or zone approach, with first-round rookie Sony Michel showing tremendous patience and vision to find open space and get to the second level.Isolate the Chiefs’ linebackers in coverageNew England’s linebackers have had their fair share of trouble this season when it comes to defending crossing routes and underneath zones. In this regard, the Chiefs’ group is similar:Kansas City’ linebackers have not done a particularly good job when it comes to coverage – and tonight they will have to go against the best team in the NFL when it comes to finding and exploiting mismatches. Targeting the linebackers should be one of them today.The Patriots have plenty of weapons to stress linebackers and box safeties one-on-one, with two of them expected to play particularly big roles today: running back James White and wide receiver Julian Edelman. Both have made a living out of catching passes in the flat or the underneath areas of the field against players that lack their moving abilities – and Kansas City’s linebackers do just that.Edge defender Dee Ford is more of a downhill pass rusher than a coverage linebacker, while interior players Anthony Hitchens, Reggie Ragland and Terrance Smith have had some problems sticking with running backs, slot receivers and also tight ends (of which the Patriots have a pretty good one as well in Rob Gronkowski) due to their athletic limitations and up-and-down reaction time and decision making.A key for New England will therefore be to try to isolate them in coverage with a player fit to win the battle. To do that, pre-snap motion will play a big role. With Tom Brady a master at identifying coverages and personnel groupings used to run them, he should be able to single out defenders to target or make necessary adjustments at the line to create favorable matchups. Seeing New England regularly go empty and use James White on the perimeter or in the slot would therefore not be a surprise.Take care of the footballEarlier this week, we argued that New England needs to take better care of the football: while the Patriots offense gave away the ball on just 1.2% of its plays between 2013 and 2017, the unit is currently turning it over on 2.5% of its plays. Going against a defense that is ranked tenth in the NFL in turnovers, this percentage needs improvement today if the team wants to put itself in the best position to win.As noted above, the game is expected to turn into a shootout with neither defense particularly well equipped to properly handle the speed and concepts the opposing offenses like to run. One turnover could therefore very well make the difference between winning and losing tonight: every single possession is precious and cannot be given away – something the Jacksonville Jaguars experienced first-hand last week.Down 10-0 in the second quarter, the Jaguars were in a position to get on the board multiple times. However http://www.patriotsauthorizedshop.com/authentic-joe-thuney-jersey , self-inflicted errors made the difference: after recording an interception following a missed 4th down attempt, Jacksonville gave the football right back on the very next play to set up a field goal. One offensive play by the Jaguars later, they were down 20-0 thanks to a pick-six. Within a few minutes, the game was blown wide open.Against a team as explosive as the Chiefs, mistakes like these simply cannot happen. The Patriots therefore have to make sure they don’t waste opportunities like Jacksonville did and to keep the game a close one if the defense fails to rise to the challenge.New England Patriots links 9/20/18 - Will it take a rocket scientist for the Lions to beat the Pats? TEAM TALKPatriots - Lions Wednesday Injury Report.Patriots sign DB Cyrus Jones; Release RB Kenjon Barner.Erik Scalavino shares the news, notes and locker-room buzz from Wednesday at Gillette: Patriots welcome new teammate.Press Conference Transcripts: Bill Belichick and Rob Gronkowski.LOCAL LINKSSteve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Patriots-Lions key matchups: Who has the razor’s edge?Johnny Maffei (FullPressCoverage) Patriots vs. Lions: Three stats to know. 1. Six (6): Since Patricia took over as defensive coordinator in 2012, the Patriots finished top 10 in scoring defense all six years, finishing in the top five twice.Devon Clements (PatriotsWire) 3 matchups to watch during Patriots vs. Lions. 1. Eric Rowe vs. Lions receivers.Karen Guregian mentions how Bill Belichick throwing a Josh Gordon curveball at Matt Patricia.Mike Reiss notes Josh McDaniels was able to pull off a win in his first matchup Bill Belichick in 2009, but Matt Patricia faces an uphill battle Sunday.Karen Guregian frames this week’s matchup as the rocket scientist trying to outsmart the football genius.Evan Lazar details how Matt Patricia’s Lions defense looks mighty familiar.Zack Cox hears from Josh McDaniels on how he’s prepping for Matt Patricia’s defense this Sunday night.Kevin Duffy hears from some of the players as Josh Gordon makes his first practice in Foxboro.Michael Hurley points out Josh Gordon gets his locker right next to Brady’s.Tom E. Curran explains why Bill Belichick was so quiet on the Josh Gordon deal: The Patriots re-worked the trade, getting an assured seventh-round pick rather than a conditional one that reportedly was originally agreed upon.Stephen Hewitt finds Rob Gronkowski warning against getting too excited about the possibilities with him and Gordon on the field at the same time.Phil Perry talks with Dont’a Hightower on Josh Gordon in 2013: “He was a monster then, he’s a monster now”.Doug Kyed doesn’t understand those rooting against Josh Gordon succeeding with the Patriots and who want to bask in the glory of his next downfall.Andrew Callahan notes DE Derek Rivers has been a healthy scratch so far this season, but he’s remaining patient. “Just got to keep going... Keep getting better whether you play or not.”Kevin Duffy Patriots Notebook: Former draft pick Cyrus Jones back for another tour.Jim Gilhooly (DiehardBostonSportsFans) NFL Game Day: It’s not just a game. It’s an event.Mark Schofield (InsideThePylon) Locked On Patriots Podcast: (9/20) Recaps some transactions, has thoughts from Bill Belichick and More. (33.10 min.)Crossover episode with Locked On Lions: (27.25 min.)NATIONAL NEWSJosh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Rob Gronkowski tempers excitement about Josh Gordon’s arrival.Highlights (NFL.com) First look at WR Josh Gordon at Patriots practice. (1.08 min. video)Charean Williams (ProFootballTalk) Corey Coleman joins Patriots’ practice squad.Staff (TMZ) Kaepernick’s attorney hints Raiders and Pats interested... ‘stay tuned’.NFL Nation (ESPN) Biggest injury questions for all 32 teams in Week 3. Patriots: Patrick Chung, Trey Flowers (concussions) James White Jersey , Marcus Cannon (calf strain).Albert Breer (SI) Game Plan: Surprise unbeatens: Breaking down the Broncos, Bengals, Bucs and Dolphins; Weekend watch list; Reader Mail.Jonathan Jones (SI) Morning Huddle: The Super Bowl halftime show, how it should be.Joel Corry (CBS Sports) Agent’s Take: Here are the 10 best NFL contracts from the player’s perspective. No surprise no Pats.Sarah Hardy, et al. (SB Nation) NFL Panic Index 2018: The Patriots’ surprise bet for an offensive revival.Cam Mellor (Pro Football Focus) NFL QB Rankings – after Week 2. Brady 6th.Michael Renner (Pro Football Focus) NFL Offensive Line Rankings – after Week 2. Pats 8th.Maurice Jones-Drew (NFL.com) RB Index, Week 3: NFL’s dual threats deserve MORE money.John Breech (CBS Sports) Ravens hit with monstrous $200,000 fine for violating NFL policy during preseason: The Ravens have now paid more than $700,000 in fines over the past two years. /NFL reaction? Yawn...Edward Lee (Baltimore Sun) Ravens fined by NFL for violating on-field communication policy in preseason.Shalise Manza Young (Yahoo! Sports) NFL fines Ravens for another rules violation, this time in-helmet headset use. “This is the third time in three years that Baltimore has gotten in trouble for violating league rules.” SI.com/nfl - NFL.com - ESPN.com/nfl - Not a single peep about the Ravens.Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Unnamed assistant says Patriots coaches think they could win without Tom Brady. “Bottom line: If the coaching staff truly believed what the unnamed assistant said (and I don’t doubt that the unnamed assistant said it), they had a chance to put their money where the unnamed assistant’s mouth is, and they didn’t.”