Cam Newton out
This game was schedule to be play on sunday, but was eventually moved to monday because of positive Covid-19 tests. Actually, tehre was only one positive test, but it was a signicant one, which prompted the move. New Patriots' quarterback Cam Newton was the player who tested positive and he is out for this game (quite possibly out for next week as well). Brian Hoyer will start in his place. Patriots were supposed to lose this game one way or the other (6-point underdogs, prior Newton being out), so this situation is probably not going to hurt them too much in the long run.
It is expected for them to rely heavily on their defense in this game. Their secondary is one of the rare units in the league that can match-up with Chiefs' receivers in man coverage across the board, allowing Belichick to commit more players to the pass rush and take away some time from Mahomes.
Chiefs Kingdom
Easier said then done, though. Baltimore Ravens are the last team that felt that on their own skin. And they were supposed to be Kansas City's main rivals for the AFC conference, before they got humiliated by the Chiefs last week. Mahomes & Co. walked into Baltimore and showed who's the boss. It seemed like they took their foot off the gas in the second half, which is why they won by "only" two touchdowns. They did whatever they wanted in first half and pretty much scored at will.
Chiefs do have some weaknesses that are mostly related to the other side of the ball. They are allowing 5.3 yards per carry, which is their soft spot for a while now. On top of that, they have few issues at cornerback position where Breeland is suspended and Chavarius Ward has broken his hand.
Chiefs vs Patriots betting tips
But still, despite all those things, I doubt that this Patriots offense lead by Brian Hoyer is capable of trading points with that scoring machine on the other side. This might sound as a conspitacy theory, but they might not even be interested in it too much. Bill Belichick knows that it's gonna be diffiuclt to win this one on the road. So if he had any ideas on how to slow down this Chiefs offense, he might keep it in his notebook for another occasion (more important game later in the season perhaps), rather then showing it here and allow Andy Reid to adjust to it later.
As I wrote last week, one of Bill Belichick's philosophies is taking away opposing offense best player. But to whom can he give extra attention here an not get burned by the others? Would that be Travis Kelce or Tyreek Hill? If we look back to the 2018 AFC championship game between these two teams, they managed to limit both, keeping Hill at only one catch and Kelce to 23 yards. This is definitely be a difficult matchup for Hill. If he doesn't get double teamed, he'll have to deal with the best corner in the game - Stephon Gilmore. Also, if they get into a double digit lead (quite possibly), they will run more in the second half, rather than playing directly in Patriots' strenght. They used him a lot as a decoy in past weeks to scare the defenses with his speed downfield and open space for other underneath. Having said all this, he might catch a big pass or two, but I don't see him catching many passes today.
