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[Teach]

The New England Patriots must keep “the pocket clean.” They must protect Brady. The Patriots offensive line did an outstanding job protecting Brady in the recent playoff game against the Chargers. Bosa was a non-factor and Ingram only exerted pressure when the game was well out of hand. The Patriots must pay particular attention to #55 Dee Ford coming off the edge. He’s very quick. Chris Jones is a pass-blocking and deflecting force in the KC interior line.

But what about the Patriots, offensively. I believe they must establish the run. The offensive line must exert its dominance. The Chiefs were terrible as a rush-defense team. They averaged giving up over 132 yards on the ground to their opponents. If the Patriots can run up those numbers in Sunday night’s game, it’s off to Atlanta. Further, the Chiefs pass-defense is atrocious. They were 31st in the league. They allowed almost 275 years through the air per game. If there’s a weakness, the Chiefs secondary appears to be it. If Andrew Luck had put up a passing attack earlier, the complexion and possibly the outcome of the game would have been different.

Furthermore, if there’s an “Achilles Heel,” it may well be in KC’s special teams punting unit. The Colts’ Goode blocked one (watch the films) for a touchdown (Pascal recovered in the end zone). Goode was later flagged for a ridiculous roughing-the-kicker call on another block.

I would expect Andy Reid to put double-coverage on both Julian Edelman and James White (White had five receptions in that opening, time-consuming Patriots drive against the Chargers). That set the tone.

But where does that leave us? “Gronk”. He was targeted only once in the Chargers game. He made the catch and added after-the-catch yardage. It was like watching the hard-to-bring-down “old” Gronk. This may be his “last hurrah”. His “swan song.” His coda tune. Gee, Rob Gronkowski could make a huge difference in this game. Just being on the field and providing key blocks. Yet, I believe he’ll catch minimum attention, i.e., single coverage. “Gronk” can do serious damage if he were to catch four or five balls during the game. His involvement would certainly open up other receivers. As the techno-rock group, “Daft Punk,” sang: “One More Time!”

Yet, if Julian Edelman and James White are kept in check, who can “Tom Terrific” turn to? There may be some unlikely heroes. For example, Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett. I would add Rex Burkhead, James Develin and Coradelle Patterson.

Of course, we can expect Sony Michel to get the bulk of the carries. If Michel can have the same kind of a game (he got off to a slow start) that he did against the Chargers, it’s off to Mercedes-Benz (And, I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout Janis Joplin).
Then, there’s the defense. Every man “must do his job!” Names like Dont’a Hightower, Trey Flowers, Kyle Van Noy, Lawrence Guy, Marcus Cannon, Stephon Gilmore, the McCourty twins, Patrick Chung, etc.

Finally, Stephen Gostkowski, in addition to hitting his field goals, must keep the ball out of the hands of Tyreek Hill. That goes for Ryan Allen, as well.

Finally, if the Patriots win, Bill Belichick will win his 9th conference championship as a head coach. The most in Super Bowl history. That’s quite a legacy. In the same vein, Tom Brady, if the Patriots win, will have won his 9th conference title as a starting quarterback; the most in NFL history.