Kansas City Chiefs bold predictions for Week 15 vs. Patriots

This is not the kind of season that NFL fans are used to seeing from the Kansas City Chiefs. Instead of lighting up the scoreboard and rolling to AFC superiority courtesy of the Patrick Mahomes-led offense, the Chiefs are struggling to hang on to the lead in the AFC West while searching for answers to fix their diminished attack. While they have a number of problems, the schedule relents with their Week 15 assignment against the New England Patriots.

Just a few years ago, a Chiefs-Patriots matchup had a chance to determine homefield advantage in the playoffs. The Chiefs may be struggling a bit this season with an 8-5 records, but their issues pale in comparison to the 3-10 Patriots.

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New England is a last-place team that appeared to have a good chance of coming away with the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft until they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14. New England’s offense has been simply awful this season, as quarterback Mac Jones has shown that he is not capable of leading effectively.

Defense leads the way for Chiefs

He has been replace in recent weeks by Bailey Zappe, and he has only been incrementally better. Even if the New England offense can play a decent game, it seems unlikely that the Patriots will be able to do much damage against the Chiefs and their 6th-ranked defense.

In the past, the Kansas Citydefense would often give up drives and big plays, and the hope was that defensive Steve Spagnuolo’s unit would come up with a clutch stop or key takeaway when the game was on the line. That formula often worked because the Kansas City offense was so dynamic.

Since the Chiefs still have Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid, many have expected continued fireworks from the defending Super Bowl champions. But that has not been the case and one of the reasons has been an inconsistent performance from a disappointing group of wide receivers.

The numbers tell the story, as the Chiefs rank 7th in yards per game and have fallen to 11th in points per game,  as Mahomes & Co. are averaging just 22.5 points. A year ago, the Chiefs ranked first in yards and points per game, as they scored 29.2 per outing.

If the Chiefs are going to defend their Super Bowl title, they must regain some of their offensive luster.

Mahomes will pass for 275 yards and 2 TDs

While the Patriots have become a poor team in the 2023 season, the defense has been quite effective for the majority of the season. That unit should be able to keep the Chiefs from lighting up the scoreboard in this mid-December game.

However, New England’s inability to move the ball on offense should result in multiple opportunities for the Chiefs, and they will do enough with them to take command of this game before halftime.

Mahomes and his teammates lost their cool at the end of their Week 14 20-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills when an official’s offsides call wiped away the go-ahead touchdown.

It was not a good look for Mahomes, and the quarterback knows it. While the Chiefs have lost 2 games in a row, it would be a shocker if the Chiefs had any serious trouble with Bill Belichick’s Pats. Mahomes has done too much throughout his career to let the losing streak continue.

In a below average year, Mahomes has completed 326 of 487 passes for 3,398 yards with 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. That’s still better than most quarterbacks in the league.

He will exceed the 275-yard mark in this game, with TD passes to Kelce and Rashee Rice. It won’t be a dominating performance, but Mahomes will get back on track in this game.

Defense will sack Zappe at least 4 times

The Chiefs defense has been able to pressure opposing quarterbacks throughout the season. Spagnuolo has a pair of big-time pass rushers in George Karlaftis and Chris Jones. Karlaftis has registered 9.0 sacks from his defensive end slot in addition to 40 tackles.

Jones is the team’s best pass rusher and he has 7.5 sacks and 24 tackles. Those figures would be significantly higher, but he is regularly double-teamed and that’s what has opened things up for Karlaftis and the rest of the Chiefs defense.

Strong safety Justin Reid has become the Chiefs’ leading tackler this season with 74 stops, 1.0 sack and 1 forced fumble while linebacker Drue Tranquil is right behind with 73 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

New England ranks dead last in scoring with an average of 13.0 points per game. The Kansas City defense should have no trouble limiting the Patriots to 10 points or less.