Chiefs vs. Patriots: Pressure on Pats to Avoid Upset Against Wounded Chiefs

The New England Patriots had to run the gauntlet for a couple of weeks there, but matchups don't get much easier than tonight's tilt with the Kansas City Chiefs.

If you're just now joining us, all you really need to know is that the Chiefs don't quite have the team they thought they were going to have this year. They did a fine job of weathering the losses of star running back Jamaal Charles and star safety Eric Berry, but the loss of quarterback Matt Cassel for the season should prove to be their death knell.

It's not that Cassel is all that good, mind you. It has more to do with the fact that he was the last bit of glue that was holding this Chiefs team together. Now that he's gone, all bets are off.

As for the Patriots, we kind of know what we're getting with them at this point. They have their weaknesses, but the rest of the AFC East is running away from them and their schedule down the stretch is very soft. The division is theirs for the taking.

The pressure is on them not to Red-Sox it up (yup, that's a verb), and that starts with tonight's game against the Chiefs.

It's certainly going to be easier said than done, but the idea of the Chiefs winning this game is not all that far-fetched. Unless Tyler Palko is the best-kept secret in the NFL, the Chiefs aren't going to do much offensively, which is going to put a lot of pressure on Kansas City's defense to keep Tom Brady and the Patriots offense at bay.

But remember, this is an offense that was mired in a slump for a couple of weeks. It is not the same juggernaut as it was in the regular season last year, and even the great Tom Brady has been humbled. If the Chiefs can humble him, this game is going to be way too close for comfort.

In the event the Patriots offense goes back into its slump, the Chiefs would only need a bit of good luck to finish them off.

Am I implying that the Patriots are categorically doomed? That would be a fun thing to say, but I assure you that this is more of a warning than it is a prophecy. This is a game the Patriots should win, and it's a game that I'm about 99 percent sure they will win.

But it's games like these that any good team has to watch out for. If the Patriots somehow lose, the rest of the AFC East is that much closer and the Patriots look that much weaker. The rest of the season would be tightrope territory.

Make no mistake, a loss in this game would be devastating, especially with a game looming against a Philadelphia Eagles team that, while weak, is no pushover.

As such, the Pats don't want to screw this up. If they do, they'll regret it.