New England Patriots: Experts break down the Kansas City Chiefs

The Kansas City Chiefs will be in town to face the New England Patriots on Thursday, and to get to know the opponent better I went straight to the experts.

This season, I’ll be breaking down each New England Patriots opponent by going to the site experts of the respective teams. First up in week 1 is the Kansas City Chiefs, so I had some questions for Arrowhead Addict and KC Kingdom. Matt Conner from Arrowhead Addict and Ben Almquist from KC Kingdom provided me with tons of insight heading into the game.

If Alex Smith is the starter to begin the season, how will the Chiefs offense look compared to how it may function with Mahomes at the helm?

Matt:

The Chiefs offense will look like it always has for the last four years. They will be patient, conservative, opportunistic. Travis Kelce is a known commodity. Tyreek Hill should blossom, although he’s dealt with abnormal drops this preseason. Those are nice targets for sure and Smith will do what he can with them, but Chiefs Kingdom is certainly excited about the future when the lid comes off this offense. However, that won’t happen until 2018 (or unless Alex is injured).

Ben:

While everyone in Chiefs Kingdom is excited about the future with Patrick Mahomes, it’s understood that he isn’t ready to be a starter just yet. That said, we know what to expect with Alex Smith. The Chiefs will continue running a ball-control offense that relies heavily on the run and short passing games. Smith won’t make a lot of big throws, but he also won’t turn the ball over much. There is a potential x-factor here with Smith essentially being in a contract year. He’s playing for his future, so we may see him take a few more risks than in previous years.