The New England Patriots vs. the Kansas City Chiefs for the chance to make it to Super Bowl LIII. The big deal for me in this game is that we are playing the best offensive team in the NFL in their house. To my knowledge, the last time the Patriots won a conference championship game on the road was eighteen years ago; in 2003. Our team, this year specifically, has played atrocious away from Gillette Stadium, and is only 3-5 while wearing white instead of blue.

     One thing that helps my nerves is that we have already proven that we can beat the Chiefs. In week 6 in the regular season we beat the Chiefs 43-40. That game in it’s own right was stressful, yet it was fun to watch; however, back then we had one key asset that we no longer have; Josh Gordon, he drew plenty of attention in their defensive scheme, and even did some damage with some big hitting plays: he had 40 catches on the season for 720 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. He was a big play machine, with his ability to go deep and catch the ball away from his body, yet the Chiefs also lost a big player in their offense as well, Kareem Hunt. Hunt was an incredible player for the Chiefs, and in his rookie season he had rushed for 1,327 yards and 8 touchdowns, and he also had 445 yards receiving and caught 3 touchdowns. He was in a draft class with some of the best young running backs who were ready to tear the NFL up. This draft class included Alvin Kamara, Leonard Fournette, Kareem Hunt, Christian McCaffrey, Dalvin Cook, James Conner, and Tarik Cohen. Hunt was replaced by Damien Williams who has played well but not to the caliber of the former star running back.

     During the game, I think the Patriots will decide to run the ball very heavily against the Chiefs defense, who have had their fair share of issues against defending the run. Our offensive line will have to focus on stopping Justin Houston and Chris Jones, for they are elite players and have the ability to mess up plays in the blink of an eye. Tom Brady will also need to have a great day with reading defenses mostly because Eric Berry is back from a torn achilles and will make Brady pay unless he plays it safe. The Patriots defense will have to set their priorities to stopping Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. I think we will have to put our fastest cornerback on Hill; in more detail, it should be either J.C. Jackson or Jonathon Jones. In most of the coverages the must have safety help or else they will be left in the dust, or Hill’s route running will shake off some of the Patriots defenders. If Hill is to ever get into open field it will no-doubt be a huge gain if not a touchdown. Stephon Gilmore will most likely be covering Sammy Watkins because of their size. Even with good scheming I can’t see the Patriots holding the Chiefs offense to a small amount of points, so the offense will really have to step up and just get the points before the Chiefs. Needless to say, this is a must win game for the Patriots.