One of the key matchups in Saturday’s game between the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs will be one of strength versus strength.
Tom Brady has thrown 18 touchdown passes and four interceptions on passes between the painted numbers this season. It’s one of his favorite areas in which to target Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola.
But during this 11-game Chiefs winning streak, Kansas City’s defense has sealed off the middle of the field.
The Chiefs have allowed three touchdowns but made 18 interceptions on throws inside the painted numbers since Week 7 (including last week’s win). No other team has even 15 interceptions in that span.
The Patriots will want to do something different from what they did in this regard against the Chiefs last season. In that Week 4 loss to Kansas City, Brady was 6-for-13 for 54 yards and two interceptions when targeting Gronkowski, Edelman or Amendola. And that was without Marcus Peters and Eric Berry in the secondary. Peters' eight interceptions were twice as many as any other NFL rookie had this season and the most by a rookie since Bills safety Jairus Byrd had nine in 2009.