We’re just over halfway through the NFL offseason, so it’s time to begin previewing the upcoming 2017 New England Patriots season, which begins on a banner raising night against the Chiefs.
There are less than 100 days remaining until the New England Patriots face the Kansas City Chiefs to open the 2017 NFL season. July training camps are just about a month away now, so let’s break down each Patriots opponent for the year.
In this series, we will cover all 16 regular season games. Of course, we will only have 13 posts though, as the Patriots will face the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins twice.
For each team, we are going to take a look at key players they’ve lost, their free agent signings, their 2017 NFL Draft picks, and their 2017 outlook. We will also take our crack at predicting key matchups and X-factors for each game.
The bottom line is this, the New England Patriots are better than every team they will face in the regular season. If they put in the work, this may be a season for the record books.
We’ll begin now with New England’s week one opponent, the AFC West’s Kansas City Chiefs.
Kansas City Key Losses
- Released RB Jamaal Charles (Signed with Denver Broncos)
- DT Dontari Poe signed with Atlanta Falcons
- QB Nick Foles signed with Philadelphia Eagles
- RB Knile Davis signed with Pittsburgh Steelers
Kansas City Free Agent Additions
- Signed RB C.J. Spiller
- Signed DT Bennie Logan
- Signed C Mike Person
- Signed S Marqueston Huff
- Signed TE Gavin Escobar
- Signed CB De’vante Bausby
Kansas City Draft Picks
- Round 1: QB Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech
- Round 2: DE Tanoh Kpassagnon, Villanova
- Round 3: RB Kareem Hunt, Toledo
- Round 4: WR Jehu Chesson, Michigan
- Round 5: OLB Ukeme Eligwe, Georgia Southern
- Round 6: S Leon McQuay, USC
The biggest turnover for the Kansas City Chiefs will come at running back, as they released Jamaal Charles and lost Knile Davis. Charles chose to remain in the AFC West and will face the Chiefs twice this year. Spencer Ware and Charcandrick West are the team veterans, but KC also added C.J. Spiller and rookie Kareem Hunt.
Defensively the Chiefs swapped out Dontari Poe for Bennie Logan at defensive tackle. This seems like it could be a wash, but Poe was one of the better DT’s in the league. I think they’ll dip slightly in their run stopping ability up the middle.
The biggest question though comes at QB. The Chiefs decided to draft Alex Smith’s replacement in the first round of the draft with Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. As of now, it’s unclear if Mahomes will surpass Smith as the opening night starter.
Kansas City 2017 Outlook
ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Sports Illustrated all predict 10 or 11 wins for the Chiefs in 2017. That should allow them to contend for the AFC WEst crown with the Oakland Raiders, and should at least guarantee them a wild card spot in the playoffs. It’s not all perfect though for the Chiefs says Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski.
"“If anything, the Chiefs may take a step back after providing little to no impactful offseason moves. The team is still very good, but so is the rest of the AFC West. Alex Smith is no longer the long-term solution at quarterback. The team lacks a wide receiver who produced more than 593 receiving yards last year. And as opportunistic as the Kansas City defense was last season, it finished just 24th in yards allowed.”"
Look for the Chiefs to make a run in the playoffs, but they certainly are not Super Bowl contenders in 2017.
Key Matchup: Chiefs OLB Tamba Hali vs. Patriots Offensive Line
At 33, Tambi Hali is still a force. His numbers dipped in 2016, s did his playing time, but Hali can disrupt any offensive game plan, so the Patriots will need to focus on stopping his pass rush. New England has added key skill players on offense, but the line remains intact from 2016.
Every player along the offensive line will be put to the test at some point during the game by Tamba Hali. If they can slow him down long enough for Tom Brady to get off a nice pass, they’ll have no problems with KC’s defense.
X-Factor: Patriots DE Trey Flowers
Trey Flowers can become a difference maker in this game, especially if rookie Patrick Mahomes is leading Kansas City’s offense.
Flowers took a huge step forward in 2016 with 7.0 regular season sacks, so if he can continue to improve in 2017 he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with for opposing offenses. Flowers also added 2.5 sacks in the playoffs, all of which came in Super Bowl LI. He should look to rattle the cage of whichever quarterback is in for the Chiefs. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a two sack night against a weaker right side of the KC offensive line.
While New England added help on the outside with Kony Ealy, Trey Flowers remains their go to man heading into 2017. The added depth will only help him succeed even more.
The Bottom Line
The Kansas City Chiefs are not as good as the New England Patriots. Emotions and excitement will be high in Gillette Stadium with the Super Bowl LI banner being revealed, and that energy will carry over onto the field.
Tom Brady and his new look offense should not have any major problems with KC’s defense. The Chiefs do have talented players in Eric Berry, Justin Houston and Marcus Peters, but the Patriots have more weapons. Someone will always be open enough for Brady. That could be Brandin Cooks, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Rob Gronkowski or any member of his loaded backfield.
If needed, TB12 will nickel and dime this defense down the field to get into the red zone. Josh McDaniels will then find a way to punch the ball over the goal line.
Next: How much longer will Tom Brady play?
This one could be close, but I don’t think it will be. New England should win by at least 10 points on the opening Thursday night.