Chiefs vs. Patriots: How Julian Edelman Can Lead New England to AFC Championship

If the New England Patriots want to maximize their chances of making it to the AFC Championship game, wide receiver Julian Edelman will have to get back to what he does best.

After missing the last seven weeks of the season to nurse a broken foot, Edelman is expected to play in the divisional-round game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, according to 7News' Joe Ambrosino (h/t Boston.com). Don't expect him to have any limits on playing time, either.

"I'm going to go full-throttle regardless. If it goes, it goes," Edelman said, via ESPN.com's Mike Reiss.

Now, it's one thing to say you're going full-force, but after a seven-week layoff, there are legitimate concerns.

Will Edelman be able to explode out of those breaks and run those crisp and sharp routes that made him one of the best route-runners in the league? Will he able to—as they say ad nauseam on the broadcasts—“put his foot in the ground and go”?

That could be a real concern for the Patriots, considering that Amorosino noted how Edelman has been running:

If you're the Patriots, you should hope so. For one, the Patriots scoring offense has suffered without Edelman.

In the first 10 weeks of the season (nine games), the offense scored 33.7 points per game. Since Edelman's been out, they've mustered 23.1 points per contest, according to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. 

Quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski are clearly the two most talented players on the team, let alone the offense. And yet, the presence of Edelman in the intermediate passing game really helped the production of both players. There was a noticeable drop-off after Edelman was hurt.

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Both players were still productive in their own rights, but there has been a dip in both players' production in the second half of the season, especially a dip in consistency.

In the Patriots' first nine games, Brady threw for over 300 yards six times and threw for at least 275 every game. After Edelman was out of the lineup, he broke 300 just once and hit 275 only three times. 

As for Gronkowski—he missed Week 13—he had five 100-yard games in the first 10 weeks. After Edelman's injury, he didn't break 100 the rest of the season. With Edelman back, he can claim the underneath routes, opening up the middle for the Patriots' star pass-catcher.

True, the injuries to the offensive line were devastating for the Patriots this season, but Edelman's return gives Brady's quick-passing attack that much more talent. 

Brady is capable of adjusting to poor line play because he can read defenses so well and gets the ball out so damn quick. With his top route-runner, who's seemingly always open, it can do wonders to stall the Chiefs pass rush that has been destroying fools all season.

Speaking of that Chiefs defense, it's been playing well during their 11-game win streak and have been near-shutdown over the past few weeks.

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Regardless where you stand on the quarterback rating as a stat, the Chiefs hold quarterbacks to a 54.4 rating, meaning they defend the intermediate passes better than any other distance.

They have 10 sacks and six interceptions when teams are at a distance of seven-to-nine yards from the first-down marker, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

This matchup could bode well for Kansas City because 66.7 percent of Brady's throws come when the Patriots have 7-10 yards to go, as noted by Pro-Football-Reference. And with corners like Sean Smith and Marcus Peters and safety Eric Berry, the Chiefs are more than capable of snagging a couple of coverage sacks, even when covering the underneath and intermediate routes.

But that's why Edelman's presence is needed even more.

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While Brady throws two-thirds of his passes when the Patriots have seven-to-10 yards to go, 55.7 percent of Edelman's targets come within that same distance, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Simply put, Brady needs Edelman to help open up the passing game again. His abilities are just too valuable to the team and an incredibly good fit for how Brady plays quarterback.

And if the Patriots want to beat the Chiefs, then they should hope that Edelman starts right where he left off during the first 10 weeks of the season.