German_Force » The good and the bad that came out of week 5

for the Patriots For the most part White Ja’Whaun Bentley Jersey , Week 5 of the 2018 NFL season was pretty good to the New England Patriots. They started the week off with an excellent Thursday night win over the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. They got Julian Edelman back on the field for the first time since Super Bowl LI a year and a half ago. They saw some great signs from the newbie Josh Gordon. They even intercepted Andrew Luck. What could be better than that?But things didn’t stop there for the Patriots. On Sunday, they at last took back first place in the AFC East after the Miami Dolphins stumbled in Cincinnati. New England and Miami now have matching 3-2 records, but thanks to the thumping the Patriots handed the Dolphins in Foxboro last week, tiebreaker rules officially give the top spot to the Pats. All is right in the AFC East, and there’s not much to be upset about right now.But there is one worrisome, unfortunate thing that came out of Week 5. With the day off on Sunday, the Pats were able to get a look at their upcoming opponent next Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs. To this point, all signs indicate that Bill Belichick and company are going to have their hands full with this young team.The 5-0 Chiefs have just about everything going their way right now. Above all else, they have the most exciting quarterback in football with 23-year-old Patrick Mahomes, who has yet to lose a game and can seemingly do just about everything. They have a nearly unstoppable offense with tight end Travis Kelce, running back Kareem Hunt, and wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Their defense has looked questionable Ja’Whaun Bentley Jersey 2019 , but they’ve come up pretty big a few times this season. And it seems like just about anything Kansas City’s defense does wrong, Mahomes and the offense make up for it almost instantly. It can’t be denied; the Chiefs are HANDS DOWN the best team in the AFC right now, and they just might be going to Super Bowl LIII in Atlanta come February. After they had their way with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, beating them 30-14, torching the best defense in the league and the team that I had previously picked to go to the Super Bowl, the Chiefs should be every AFC team’s biggest fear.Patriots fans should be very worried about next Sunday’s game, because this is going to be their biggest test of the year. Fortunately, they will be at the wonderful confines of Gillette Stadium once again, where they’ve been very good this year. Thanks to their Week 5 game being played on Thursday, they are getting an extra three days rest before they meet the Chiefs. Those factors will benefit them, but it’s hard to tell just how much.New England should have every advantage, but after watching this Kansas City team for five games, it’s hard to imagine any team who plays against them having an advantage. The Pats don’t lose at Gillette Stadium very often White Jason McCourty Jerseys , but there might be an unavoidable L coming next week. The drubbing the Miami Dolphins endured last week at New England has tested their vocabulary as they keep searching for new ways to describe the humiliation."We just got crushed," coach Adam Gase said Wednesday.He was talking about his offensive line, but the depiction also fits the defensive line. The Dolphins were dominated in the trenches in a 38-7 defeat, and to have a chance Sunday as one-touchdown underdogs at Cincinnati, they'll need significant improvement up front.It won't come easily, with manpower in both lines depleted. Center Daniel Kilgore suffered a season-ending triceps injury against the Patriots, and inconsistent defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was released after another poor game punctuated by a sideline outburst."We're looking to play better on both sides," Gase said. "Having a week to get ready for the game, that'll be helpful for us. When you start throwing guys in and they haven't really gotten a ton of reps with the first group, especially at center, that's a tough spot to put a guy in. It'll be good to get a full week's worth of practice with him and the quarterback and the rest of the guys."Veteran Travis Swanson will replace Kilgore. The Dolphins earlier lost guard Josh Sitton with a season-ending shoulder injury, and an offensive line once considered among the team's strengths is now a big question mark.The Dolphins totaled only 172 yards at New England, and despite a 3-1 record Jason McCourty Jerseys 2019 , they rank third-worst in the NFL in yards per game at 286. That's compared with 308 per game in 2017, when they went 6-10.Quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has endured plenty of hits thanks to shaky pass blocking, tried to sound cheery about the situation Wednesday. He said he feels fine physically and remains confident about the team's blocking.But he acknowledged that with substitutes in the line, the play-calling changes."It's tough to come in off the bench and not miss a beat," Tannehill said. "As the quarterback, I've got to make sure we're in the right play and can get the ball out quickly and into our playmakers' hands. It's tough to ask those guys to protect for long periods of time on each play."The defensive line is also trying to integrate new personnel. Top run-stopper William Hayes suffered a season-ending torn ACL in Week 3, and the departure of Phillips further depleted depth.Phillips' former teammates had little to say about his unexpected release."It had nothing to do with me or none of the d-linemen," tackle Davon Godchaux said. "It's just what they thought was best for the team. I don't get paid the big bucks to make those decisions. Maybe someday."The defense was gashed for 175 yards rushing by the Patriots. It was a performance reminiscent of last year, when Miami allowed 127 yards per game rushing over the final 10 games — and won only twice.The goal now is to avoid a similar collapse."We're trying to correct everything from last week," defensive end Charles Harris said. "Ain't nobody who's got their heads down."