The 4-5 Kansas City Chiefs travel to Foxboro, Massachusetts to take on the 6-3 New England Patriots this Monday night in a quarterback matchup of epic proportions.
Well, not exactly.
Chiefs’ quarterback Tyler Palko will make his first NFL start against future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady. Palko, undrafted out of Pittsburgh, has bounced around for five years with four different franchises before finding his way into a back-up role with Kansas City in 2010.
Monday’s contest would have been starter Matt Cassel’s first game against his former team. Cassel spent four years with New England, throwing for more than 3,600 yards in 2008-09 while leading the squad to an 11-5 record.
Instead, Cassel departed in the fourth quarter with an injury to his throwing hand last week, paving the way for Palko. Cassel will require surgery and is unlikely to play again this season.
Kansas City is coming off a 17-10 loss last week against the Denver Broncos. Tim Tebow and company ran all over the Chiefs, compiling 244 yards via the ground. Kansas City ran the ball rather effectively, gaining 134 yards on 5.6 yards-per-carry. The Chiefs went 2-for-11 on third down, however, and Cassel averaged a miserable 3.3 yards-per-attempt through the air.
It is safe to assume that the Chiefs defensive game plan will be different this week. Last week, they had to be keyed in to the Broncos run-heavy offense. Denver ran the ball an astounding 55 times while attempting only eight passes. This week features the dynamic aerial attack of the Patriots, led by Brady.
Last season’s MVP was locked in on Sunday night versus the New York Jets, throwing for 329 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions en route to a 37-16 victory.
The emotional road win was the largest scoring margin vs. an opponent this season for New England. Although the offense outplayed the Jets defense, the Patriots defense came up huge, forcing three turnovers including a key interception return for a touchdown by Rob Ninkovich.
The Patriots defense is better than advertised. Although they permit a league-worst 412.0 yards per game, that statistic can be misleading at times. A lot of that yardage is the result of opponents frequently playing from behind in an attempt to “catch up” with the Patriots high-powered offense. Points allowed per game is a more accurate statistic of looking at a defense, and New England only gives up 22.2 points on average in that category, good for 17th in the NFL.
The offensive game plan for Kansas City figures to feature a lot of runs. The Chiefs are 10th in the league in rushing, and fill-in Jackie Battle has performed above expectations, averaging 4.6 yards-per-carry this season. If they can have success on the ground, it will take some pressure off of Palko, in addition to keeping Brady off the field.
For the Patriots, their offense figures to keep rolling along with Brady at the helm. Belichick will come up with complex defensive schemes as usual this week to confuse the inexperienced Palko.
Despite coming off a highly emotional victory last week, it is difficult to envision a Bill Belichick-coached team having a letdown, especially at the stage in a season in which the Patriots usually play their best football.
