Going Hunting

The New England Patriots opened up their season hanging up their Super Bowl Championship banner at Gilette Stadium. They would host the Kansas City Chiefs. Tom Brady and Bill Belicheck are looking to get a victory on opening night. The Chiefs were looking to spoil the Super Bowl ceremonies with a victory on the road. The Patriots started with the ball and would face a third and two but James White would go and gain eight yards for a first down. After a White three yard run, Tom Brady went to Brandin Cook for 19. After a five yard run by White, Brady would go to Danny Amendola then a pass interference would give the Patriots a first and goal at the 2. On second and goal, Mike Gillislee would go in for a touchdown from two yards out. The extra point would be made to make it 7-0. After the kickoff return, Kansas City would fumble and the Patriots would recover. New England faced a third and seven and White would go for 10 yards. They would face a third and 11 and the Patriots looked like they had a touchdown but was told the ball hit the ground but the Chiefs were called offsides. Brady would go to Amendola for 5 for a fourth and one. The Chiefs would hold and get the ball back. After a Kareem Hunt nine yard run, Travis Kelce would rush for four yards on a trick play for a first down. Alex Smith would go to Tyreek Hill for a 14 yard pass completion. The Chiefs would drive down to get a first and goal from the nine. On third and goal at the seven, Alex Smith would go to Dwayne Harris for a touchdown. The extra point would tie the game at seven. On the second play, Brady would go to Amendola for a 27 pass completion. On the next play, Brady went to Cooks for 15, then Chris Hogan ran for 13 yards to get them into field goal range. They would face a fourth and 1 as the first quarter came to an end with the game tied at 7. Stephen Gostkowski would make the field goal attempt to make it 10-7 on the first play of the second quarter. The Patriots would force a three and out and make the Chiefs punt. The Patriots would face a third and two but Brady would find Amendola for a 22 yard completion. On a third and 10, Brady would find Rob Gronkowski for 16. Mike Gillislee would go for 16 on the next play, then 13 on first and second down for a first and goal at the 7. Mike Gillislee would get the ball on third and goal and score from two yards out. The PAT would make it 17-7 with 7:27 remaining in the second quarter. The Chiefs would start off well with Kareem Hunt running for 13 yards on first and second down. They would face a third and five but Alex Smith would lose his balance and get sacked and would be forced to punt. The Chiefs would force a three and out and would get the ball back. On second and seven, Smith would go to A Wilson for 9 as they got to the two-minute warning. Smith would go to Kelce for 14 then to Wilson for 13. They faced a third and three but Smith would find Hill for 12. The Patriots forced the Chiefs to a third and five but Smith went to Hill for eight. A pass interference  by the Patriots would make it first and goal at the one. They would lose two yards on first down but Smith would find Hunt for a three yard score. The PAT would cut the New England lead to 17-14 as they went into halftime. The Chiefs would start with the ball in the second half. Hunt would start with a 10 yard run for a first down. Looked like another big run by Hunt was negated by a holding call. The penalty was prove costly as the Chiefs would punt the ball after failing to get the first down. On the second play, Brady would go to Amendola for 11 on second and 10. However, the Patriots wouldn't get another first down and they would be forced to punt. The Chiefs would get it at their own 25. On the first play of the drive, Smith would go to Hill for a 75 yard touchdown and the Chiefs would take a 21-17 lead with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter. The Patriots would start at their own 25. They would face a third and six and Brady would go to Gronkowski for 17 but they couldn't convert on third an five and would be forced to punt. The Chiefs would start at their own 14. The Patriots would force a three and out and get the ball back at their own 46. After a holding penalty on the Chiefs, Brady would find Amendola for 22 then the Chiefs would get called for pass interference to make first and goal at the one. On second and goal, Mike Gillislee would go in for his third touchdown of the game and the PAT would make it 24-21 with 5:01 remaining in the third quarter. The Chiefs would their drive at their own 13. The Patriots would force a three and out and would force the Chiefs to punt. On the first play of the drive, Brady would go to Cooks for 54 yards. James White would get 11 yards on first and second down to make it first and goal at the seven. The Chiefs would force a field goal attempt and Gostkowski would increase the lead to 27-21 on the 31 yard field goal. The Patriots would lead 27-21 at the end of the third quarter. On the second play of the fourth quarter, Alex Smith would go to Kareem Hunt for a 78 yard touchdown. The PAT would give the Chiefs a 28-27 lead with 14:07 remaining in the game. The Patriots would start at their own 25. First play of the drive, Brady would go to White for 26. They would face a third and two and Brady would go to White but was just short and would face a fourth and one. On fourth and inches, Gillislee would come up short and the Chiefs would take over at their own 40. The Patriots would force a three and out to get the ball back at their own 18. On second and eight, Rex Burkhead would go for 14 yards but would punt on the next set of downs. The Chiefs would take over at their own 40. After Smith went to Hill for nine, Hunt would get 7 for a first down. On second and six, Smith would go to Conley for 25 to get into the red zone. After an incompletion, Smith would go to Wilson for 11 and a first and goal at the 4. Hunt would go in from four yards out for a score and the PAT would make it 35-27 with 5:14 remaining in the game. The Patriots would start at their own 25. Justin Houston would sack Tom Brady on first down. The Patriots would go deep on two straight plays and come up empty and would have to punt. The Chiefs took over at their own 21. Kareem Hunt would go 58 yards on first down and then Charcandrick West went 21 yards for a score. The PAT would make it 42-27 with less than four minutes to go. On the Patriots drive, the Chiefs would sack Brady to make it third and 24 and then an incompletion would force a punt with 2:54 left. The Chiefs took over at the Patriot 42 yard line. The Chiefs would face a third and one and Hunt would get enough for a first down as they went to the two minute warning. The Chiefs would just take kneeldowns as they would take the victory on the road 42-27.

Thoughts on the game: Kareem Hunt had a heck of a game for the Chiefs. He had 148 rushing yards and a touchdown and 5 catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Alex Smith played great, he threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns. The Patriots had a rough second half for the most part. Mike Gillislee had a great game, rushing for three touchdowns. Hoping that the injuries to Eric Berry and Dont'a Hightower aren't too serious. The Chiefs overall looked good on the road.