5 New England Patriots to watch vs Kansas City Chiefs in Week 4

Will Sony Michel have back-to-back productive weeks?

With Cam Newton out for this Monday night matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, expect the New England Patriots to rely on their rushing attack and short passing game.

That means the running backs will be a huge factor in this game.

Coming off a big game rushing the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 3, third year running back Sony Michel not only ran hard, but he displayed his big play ability that took his fans back to his Georgia days.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1310299175289065472

With undrafted rookie free agent J.J. Taylor running the ball well and second-year Alabama product Damien Harris set to return, the pressure is really on Michel to produce or lose playing time.  With is 117 yards rushing on 9 carries, Michel showed just how he responds to competition and he admitted after last week’s win that the other backs performing well definitely aids his motivation.

"“Their performance, it motivates me, it excites me to see those guys succeed because I see how hard they work in practice,” Michel said, as transcribed by Patriots.com.  “Everything they do in the games, they practice on the practice field fundamentally.  They work hard without complaining.  It’s a big up for Rex [Burkhead] taking a big workload and J.J. [Taylor] coming in there and performing well.”"

With big runs of 38 yards and 48 yards respectively, Sony Michel and the New England Patriots offense are going to need more of those types of big plays against the Kansas City Chiefs to at least keep Patrick Mahomes and that offense off the field as much as possible.