The status and effectiveness of each team’s number one wide receiver could make all the difference when the New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round of the playoffs on Saturday night.
Tom Brady should have dependable target Julian Edelman back at his disposal after the wideout missed the final seven games of the regular season to a broken foot. The offence was night and day, producing 33.6 points per game with Edelman and just 23.1 points without him.
“Depending on what he can do we’ll try to find ways to integrate him,” Brady said of Edelman, who he targeted 88 times in nine games.
Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith, meanwhile, could be with out leading receiver Jeremy Maclin, who exited in the Wild Card round with a high ankle sprain.
Maclin will be a game-time decision, but could be limited even if he plays, putting more responsibility on tight end Travis Kelce to be a weapon. Like New England behemoth Rob Gronkowski, Kelce is a big, elusive target who can both stretch the field and be leaned on in the red zone.
“We use Kelce like they use Gronk,” Kansas City offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said. “He’s a big factor in the red zone for them. We try to do the same things with Kelce.”
The Chiefs will enter Gillette Stadium red hot, having won 11 straight. They also embarrassed the Patriots 41-14 in Week 4 of the 2014 regular season.
“The fact that they haven’t lost in so long, it’s not like you can go to a game and say ‘This is how this team defeated them.’ That just doesn’t exist,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “So we’ve got to figure out a way.”
At the University of Phoenix Stadium, the Arizona Cardinals will look to repeat their Week 16 beat down of the Green Bay Packers.
Arizona crushed the Packers 38-8 in that contest, sacking Aaron Rodgers eight times, but Green Bay’s quarterback found rhythm in the Wild Card round as the offence scored 35 points
