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(AP) -- Taking away one of Tom Brady's favorite targets presented further damage to a New England Patriots offense that has been dealing with injuries to its line for most of the season.

 

Julian Edelman should be back, but there's growing concern about how effective Rob Gronkowski will be - if he plays at all.

 

Even if all his weapons are at his disposal, Brady could have trouble evading Kansas City's pass rush as New England looks to advance to its fifth straight AFC championship game and snap the Chiefs' 11-game winning streak in Saturday's divisional playoff game in Foxborough.

 

Edelman has missed the last seven games because of a broken foot suffered against the New York Giants on Nov. 15. He caught seven touchdowns as New England averaged 33.6 points in the nine he played before the Patriots averaged 23.1 without him.

 

Though Edelman is expected to play Saturday, Gronkowski's status is suddenly murkier. He missed practice Tuesday because of a knee injury suffered Nov. 29, was limited Wednesday and sat out Thursday's final workout before the game. Reports indicated he had treatment at a local hospital that included an injection in his knee.

 

Bill Belichick's team dropped four of its final six after winning its first 10 and managed just 196 total yards - its fewest since 2010 - in a 20-10 loss at Miami in the regular-season finale.

 

"I think the more dependable, consistent players that are out there, the better our offense is going to be. (Edelman's) been one of them for as long as he's been here," Brady said. "Depending on what he can do we'll try to find ways to integrate him.

 

"Whoever's out there we're going to have to have confidence in. There's no next week, so we're going to have to do everything you can do to be out on the field and help us win."

 

That includes lineman Sebastian Vollmer, who sat out against the Dolphins after being carted off the field with a leg injury in an overtime loss to the New York Jets on Dec. 27.

 

Brady has been sacked 38 times this season - the third most of his career - behind a line that has been hurting for a good portion of the season. That may not bode well against the Chiefs (12-5), who finished fourth in the league in sacks with 47 - two behind New England, which ranked second.

 

Kansas City has overcome a 1-5 start behind a defense that has allowed an average of 296.2 yards during the winning streak and forced five turnovers in last week's 30-0 rout of Houston in the wild-card round that ended a 22-year drought without a playoff win.

 

The Chiefs forced 29 turnovers in the regular season compared to 13 all of last year, which included six interceptions. Rookie Marcus Peters tied for the league lead with eight this year and had another in the wild-card game.

 

"Any time you can get to the quarterback and put pressure on him, or make him uncomfortable in the pocket, you can create turnovers," linebacker Justin Houston said. "Every week that's our plan, that's our goal: Dominate every snap."

 

The Patriots haven't lost three in a row since a four-game skid in 2002, but the Chiefs aren't going into this matchup believing New England is any less dangerous just because it's going through a bit of a slump.

 

Brady's 102.2 passer rating and 36 touchdowns passes were his best marks in four seasons and came despite Gronkowski (one game), Danny Amendola (two) and Edelman all missing time.

 

"Bill's a friend, he's a heck of a football coach. Tom Brady is unbelievable. And the job they've done there, the accomplishments they've had, they've made history," coach Andy Reid said. "We look forward to the challenge of playing them. That's what this is all about."

 

The Chiefs also have some potentially serious injury issues. Leading receiver Jeremy Maclin left the wild-card game with a high-ankle sprain and didn't practice until doing so in a limited fashion Thursday. Star pass rushers Houston and Tamba Hali sat out Thursday's drills.

 

Reid called Maclin and Houston game-time decisions.

 

Alex Smith relied heavily on Travis Kelce, who finished with eight catches for 128 yards. He also praised the efforts of Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, who have helped make up for Jamaal Charles' absence.

 

Ware finished with 67 yards rushing and a touchdown against the Texans. He's dealing with a sprained ankle but is expected to be ready by Saturday.

 

"Ultimately, it comes down to those two guys," Smith said. "Obviously, I think everybody knew it was a big deal when Jamaal went down and rightfully so. (They're) making the plays in the game and then building off of that, getting the confidence that you know you can do it at this level."

 

The Chiefs' offense ranked 27th with an average of 331.2 yards per game, but it looked much better in a 41-14 win over the Patriots in last year's meeting - the second-worst loss of the Belichick era. New England doesn't anticipate that happening again, especially since it appears Chandler Jones should be ready to go.

 

Jones, who ranked fifth in the league with 12 1/2 sacks, was hospitalized Sunday under mysterious circumstances. As more evidence was revealed, he apologized to his teammates and the New England fans on Thursday for "a pretty stupid mistake" that sent him, shirtless and disoriented, to a local police station. An officer who went to Jones' house to retrieve the player's keys commented on the smell of marijuana.

 

With that possible distraction and having had nearly two weeks off, it appears the Patriots are ready to get on the field and find a way to end the Chiefs' winning streak.

 

"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," Belichick said. "So we've got to figure out a way."

 

This will be the first postseason meeting between the clubs. The Chiefs have lost all five meetings in New England since last winning there in 1990.

 

 

 

How are the Pats going to win?

 

No, tell me, because I don't know.

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I never want to count Tom Brady out of anything, especially not with Edelman and Gronk returning.

 

KC isn't exactly a juggernaut, but I think their defense does enough to pull this one out:

 

:Patriots: 17

:Chiefs: 24

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It's the Patriots at home...

 

:Chiefs: 13

:patriots: 37

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Definitely a good game to kick the divisional round off, we're looking at two of the best playoff QBs going head to head here, and while the Chiefs have a stout defense, the Patriots match it with the best offensive weapon in football and a metric ton of playoff experience. Worst comes to worst, I think the Pats still have an edge here, but if Gronk isn't 100% yet, they'll be in serious trouble.

 

:Chiefs: 23

:patriots: 19

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Edelman playing with a steel plate in his shoe, Gronk got a knee injection yesterday, and Amendola was limping even worse than Gronk last game. Not to mention Brady got his ankle rolled on by that fat fuck Suh last game, and Vollmer will be protecting the blind side in his 1st game back after being carted off the field 3 weeks ago. The offensive line is in shambles and facing their toughest test of the year.

 

Who the fuck knows.

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I just can't fathom this game being close no matter who wins. New England is great at home, so they could start fast and roll, but they're also so beat up. I know this sounds strange but I'm calling either NE by 20-25 or KC by 10. No single digit score, here.

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Julian Edelman (foot) is active for Saturday's Divisional Round game against the Chiefs.

Edelman hasn't played since Week 10, but there wasn't much doubt about his status. Danny Amendola (knee) and Rob Gronkowski (knee, back) are also active.
The Patriots inactives are OG Tre' Jackson, LB Jon Bostic, OT LaAdrian Waddle, WR Chris Harper, S Tavon Wilson, DE Geneo Grissom, and DT Ishmaa'ily Kitchen.

 

 

 

Jeremy Maclin (ankle) is active for Saturday's Divisional Round game against the Patriots.

Maclin will play, but isn't close to fully healthy. He might not be more than a decoy after being held out of practice all week. Spencer Ware (ankle) is also active.
Kansas City's inactives are QB Aaron Murray, CB Marcus Cooper, LB Ramik Wilson, OL Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, DL David King, and DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches.

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Gronk is 100%, Patriots cannot lose.

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AFCChampionshipLogo.jpg

 

booker-t-spinaroonie-o.gif

 

Fifth straight trip to the AFCCG. Feels good man.

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AFCChampionshipLogo.jpg

 

booker-t-spinaroonie-o.gif

 

Fifth straight trip to the AFCCG. Feels good man.

AND you get to play noodle-armed, still inexperienced Brockweiler, or sprained AC joint Big Ben. Wow. Welcome to the Super Bowl, New England.

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Andy Reid's clock management strikes again. After fifteen years, he hasn't learned.

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All the Chiefs fans I know are salty as hell, man. You'd think they truly believe that was a one possession game. Garbage time touchdowns do not count. Everybody knows that.

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http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2016/1/18/10785566/kansas-city-chiefs-clock-management-timeout-andy-reid

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid drew criticism for poor clock management in the final minutes of a Divisional round loss to the New England Patriots, but on Sunday he said that the slow pace was intentional.

A touchdown with 1:13 left in regulation cut the Patriots' lead to 27-20, but it came after the Chiefs drove to the 1-yard line with 2:33 remaining. Kansas City had no problem winding the clock all the way to the two-minute warning after just one play and then huddling after a second down play, allowing the clock to tick off another 30 seconds. All the while, Reid had three timeouts at his disposal.

"We wanted to maintain our timeouts the best we could," Reid said on Sunday, one day after the loss. "We didn't want to give the ball back, at any point, to New England after we go ahead and score that next touchdown."

After finally finding the end zone, the Chiefs attempted an onside kick that was recovered by the Patriots. If Kansas City managed to grab the onside kick, Reid says the team would've been in perfect position to tie the game as time expired in the half.

"We potentially would've had three timeouts and an opportunity to drive the field, which I thought was huge," Reid said. "It put us in a perfect position to do that, we work, again on that every week. And so I thought that part was handled right."

Even with the Patriots recovering the onside kick, the Chiefs had a chance to get another possession thanks to the conservation of the timeouts. But getting the New England offense off the field was a problem all game and the Chiefs couldn't force Ryan Allen's fourth punt of the game, due plenty to a blown opportunity that came with some bad luck.

 

 

patz.0.gif

Reid's clock management has been consistently criticized throughout his coaching career and he joked on Sunday that he "could tell the Philly media was up in the booth" watching his handling of the final minutes.

The Chiefs also dealt with communication problems, although Reid dismissed the idea that those were a reason for the loss. While headset communication problems are often tied to Gillette Stadium, Reid said after the game on Saturday that it was just small problems in the first half that weren't out of the ordinary.

"Just a little bit from coach to quarterback," Reid said. "The coach to quarterback headset was cutting in and out just a little bit, not much, though. It wasn't bad, but a couple of those first half ones, couple of those."

Kansas City outgained the Patriots 378 yards to 340, but were unable to force a single turnover, despite a few errant throws by Tom Brady. The Chiefs forced at least one turnover and a total of 28 during an 11-game winning streak that ended on Saturday.

 

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The one time Reid is actually conscious of keeping his timeouts, he still takes eight minutes off the clock to score. Unreal.

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