Chiefs vs. Patriots: TV Schedule, Odds, Ticket Info, Game Time and More

The New England Patriots might be well-rested after a first-round bye, but it's the Kansas City Chiefs marching into Foxborough with every ounce of momentum in Saturday's AFC Divisional Round showdown.

New England, despite the week off, has plenty of question marks hovering around big names, led by quarterback Tom Brady's slight ankle issue. At the same time, the Patriots might get a boost with the return of wideout Julian Edelman to fully forget a sluggish two-loss streak to end the season.

The Chiefs have few problems to speak of after breezing past the Houston Texans, 30-0, in the postseason's Wild Card Round while pushing their notable win streak to 11 games. The momentum derives from an elite defense and an efficient offense.

What's about to unfold in New England might be the best chess match of the round. Here's everything to know.

Game Details

When: Saturday, January 16, at 4:35 p.m. ET

Where: Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts

Television: CBS

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Over/Under: 42

Spread: New England (-5)

Team Injury Reports

NAME	STATUS
Jeremy Maclin, WR	Questionable

NAME	STATUS
Tom Brady, QB	Probable
Rob Ninkovich, DE	Probable
Dont'a Hightower, LB	Questionable
Chandler Jones, DE	Questionable
Devin McCourty, DB	Probable
Julian Edelman, WR	Questionable

Injury reports courtesy of ESPN.com.

Riding the Wave

The Chiefs are the most impressive team in football.

One could argue the merits of an 11-game streak while beating up on the San Diego Chargers twice, the Oakland Raiders twice, the Pittsburgh Steelers without Ben Roethlisberger, etc., but at some point, it's downright silly to not dish out credit.

Safety Eric Berry and the elite defense rank third in the league at just 17.9 points allowed per game. They also rank ninth against the pass and eighth against the rush. Quarterback Alex Smith upheld his end of the bargain by completing 65.3 percent of his passes with 20 touchdowns.

Maybe the only negative from the laugher against the Texans, in which Berry's defense forced four interceptions, was losing wideout Jeremy Maclin to injury. Potentially losing the owner of 87 catches for 1,088 yards and eight scores for the Patriots game hurts, but head coach Andy Reid didn't make the issue sound too serious, according to ESPN's Bob Holtzman:

Regardless, this is a defensive-minded team, and the lone goal for the Chiefs on Saturday has to be preventing a shootout. The unit only really struggled once against a star quarterback this year, when Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers tossed five scores in a 38-28 Week 3 outcome.

After holding Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins to six catches for 69 yards and securing four picks, the Kansas City defense will enter Foxborough with plenty of confidence.

With a Justin Houston-led rush putting pressure on Brady and Chiefs cornerback Sean Smith, Berry and others patrolling the secondary, Kansas City won't change up much of what has worked while trying to slow the Patriots.

Rebounding

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Maybe the most important difference between the Chiefs and Patriots this year? Kansas City had a well-positioned Week 9 bye, whereas New England got its break out of the way in Week 4—and it shows on the injury report above.

Perhaps the most important piece used last weekend's break to get healthy, though, as the aforementioned Edelman is cleared to play, according to Joe Amorosino of 7News:

Brady's put up MVP-esque numbers this year while losing Edelman, running back Dion Lewis and others, throwing 36 scores to seven interceptions. But the lack of Edelman has hurt the offense regardless—after all, he still sits in second on the team in receiving with 61 grabs for 692 yards and seven touchdowns despite only appearing in nine games.

It's a good thing the Patriots will have Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on the field at the same time against such a game opponent. Head coach Bill Belichick wasn't shy about praising the Chiefs while chatting about Kansas City's win last weekend.

"Typical Kansas City game—a lot of turnovers on defense, no turnovers on offense, capitalized on opponents’ mistakes and didn’t make any," Belichick said, according to ESPN.com's Mike Reiss. "They’ve won a lot of games pretty much doing that."

While the focus goes to the offense, keep in mind the New England defense only surrenders 19.7 points per game, meaning this may very well devolve into a quarterback showdown.

After a week of rest and extra preparation with a returning superstar on board, the Patriots look to get back on track against one of the most dangerous opponents around.

Prediction

Here's where folks can start tossing around criticisms about the who and what of Kansas City's run—when staring down Brady at home, backed by a strong defense in the postseason. 

Kansas City hasn't been tested like this in a while, maybe not since a Week 10 trip to Denver (which it won, 29-13). This is a different animal, though, in that the Chiefs might need Smith to outduel Brady with his arm while not getting much in the way of help from a running game.

In a game decided by quarterback play in the cold and in the postseason, one has to go with Brady. Kansas City's defense has looked great, but accounting for Gronkowski and Edelman at the same time might prove too much, especially if Smith can't forge out some sustained drives.

Look for Brady and Co. to pull away in the second half.

Prediction: Patriots 33, Chiefs 17 

Stats courtesy of NFL.com and accurate as of January 13. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus. All betting information courtesy of Odds Shark.