It took every minute, but the New England Patriots reasserted themselves as one of the NFL’s elite, giving the undefeated Chiefs their first blemish with a 43-40 win in Foxborough.
Quarterback Tom Brady started the game with a connection to wide receiver Josh Gordon as the team worked their way downfield and were held to a short fourth down. New England elected to go for it but was not able to convert, giving the Chiefs the ball back. Kansas City moved the ball down the field well but stalled and settled for Harrison Butker field goal. Steven Gostkowski then answered with a field goal for the Patriots. four minutes later
The Chiefs weren’t able to get anything done after the tying field goal as the high powered offense surrendered an interception to the often oblivious in coverage linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who with the help of a huge block from Trey Flowers, got the ball inside five. Running back Sony Michel ran it in for a score to put the Patriots up 10-3. Michel, who as questionable coming into the game, took his spot as the No.1 back and New England leaned on heavily in the run game.
Kansas City then took the ball for 31 yards in five plays but had to settle for yet another Butker field goal from 43 yards out. This set the tone of the entire first half for the Chiefs as the Patriots’ defense held stiff nearly the entire 30 minutes.
In the second half, Brady led the offense down the field with the help of Kenjon Barner, who was just re-signed to the 53-man roster. Brady hit Edelman on a 14-yard in-cut to put the team in the red zone. He found Edelman once again on an off-balance throw off his back foot for a touchdown—Edelman’s first touchdown of the season—to make the score 17-6.
#GoPats Touchdown!
TB12 floats it to @Edelman11 for the score. #KCvsNE
📺: NBC https://t.co/Gk2MPHUJjk
— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2018
Mahomes, with the help of his running backs Spencer Ware and Kareem Hunt, worked his way down the field but without much success as the Chiefs settled for yet another field goal.
The first half ended after Michel scored his second touchdown of the game and safety Duron Harmon intercepted Mahomes for the young quarterback’s second pick of the night.
Kansas City capitalized quickly out of halftime on an extended play by Mahomes with a pass to Hunt to put the Chiefs within eight 24-16. After both teams exchanged field goals, the Chiefs needed to make something happen. They responded by causing a fumble that led to a Mahomes to Tyreek Hill connection along with a Butker extra point to put the Chiefs within one point 27-26. The Patriots responded with a field goal to make it 30-26
Gostkowski’s short kicks would come back to bite him as the Chiefs’ special teams made a great play on a 97-yard return capped off with another Hill touchdown giving the Chiefs their first lead 33-30.
HE COULD GO ALL THE…
The @Chiefs ALMOST returned the kickoff. 😳 #KCvsNE
📺: NBC https://t.co/7PV4K1C9r6
— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2018
Brady got the ball back and did what arguably the greatest quarterback in the NFL history should do—leading the offense down the field while finally finding Chris Hogan as the Monmouth alum up to that point was having a disappointing campaign thus far. On a huge third down, Brady looked to his receivers, pumped and took off taking the hits, diving into the end zone for the score giving his team the lead.
TOM BRADY RUSHING TD! 🚨@Patriots retake the lead 👀 #KCvsNE #GoPats
📺: NBC https://t.co/xdbjE2AFID
— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2018
The Patriots followed by forcing the first punt on either side and then called on Gostkowski once again to give the Patriots a 40-33 lead late in the fourth. However, Hill then victimized the Patriots for his third score of the game in with a 75-yard catch and run that led to a tie 40-40 shortly after the field goal.
With 42 game winning drives under his belt, Brady took the field to get No. 43 and their fourth win. After converting on a key first down. Brady threw to White and then once again to Gronkowski to move the Patriots into field goal range. Brady ran it to the middle of the field to set up a comfortable Gostkowski 28-yard field goal, giving the NFL its first 43-40 final score in league history.
The Patriots have six of their next eight games away from Foxboro and this win sets up a great confidence boost for a team that has turned it around after they started off on the wrong foot.
Offense:
Sony Michel: The rookie is establishing himself week in and week out. Through the first half alone, Michel had two scores and over 50 yards. Michel would then slice Chiefs and bring the Patriots into the red zone. He eventually passed the century mark getting 106 yards and is getting better and better with his ball security up with the best in the NFL.
Julian Edelman: Edelman is slowly getting back to form catching three passes for 33 yards and a rare score for him in the first half. The Patriots’ offense undoubtedly moves much better with him in there and is going to be pivotal in another run towards a No.1 seed.
Josh Gordon: Gordon continues to get comfortable in the offense as he had his first game over two catches with the Patriots and had more opportunities as the game went on. Brady is invested in Gordon and so far the experiment is working as the former Brown was announced as a starter at the beginning of the game.
Defense:
Dont’a Hightower: The leader of the Patriots defense had himself a redemption game. After nearly giving up a touchdown on the Chiefs’ first drive, Hightower was arguably the most valuable player today scoring an interception and being continuously disruptive with Travis Kelce at the line of scrimmage not letting him have that burst. Hightower is still very weak in coverage however and shouldn’t be relied upon in that department constantly.
Stephon Gilmore: While Malcolm Butler is facing the music getting torched as a member of the Tennessee Titans, Stephon Gilmore continues his All-Pro campaign not allowing any big plays on his side of the field.
