K.C. concerns...

This upcoming K.C. game has me a tad nervous. Last week I joked about Bill Belichick listing himself as questionable on the Patriots injury list. Now here it is a week later, and due to the unfortunate death of his father, Belichick has had to hand the reigns over to Dante Scarnecchia for this weeks game preparations.

I don't want to sound callous, because my heart goes out to Belichick for his loss, but from a Patriots perspective, I have to wonder how his absence is going to affect the team's overall readiness for this weeks opponent.

Things should be ok. The Patriots are a veteran team and Coach Scar has been around the block enough times to know what it takes to prepare a team for a game. Plus, this will not be the first time Coach Scar has had to temporarily step into the Head Coach's shoes. He has been here before. Hopefully, The Pats won't miss a beat this week.

Despite a devastatingly personal loss, Coach B will be back on the sidelines on Sunday and that really shows what kind of guts and heart Coach B has. It takes more than a week to recover from this type of thing and I'm sure it will still be a difficult time for him emotionally. From a purely personal perspective, I hope Belichick is doing ok. Hopefully once Sunday arrives, the focus on the game itself will provide Belichick with some respite from any emotional turmoil he may be dealing with. Patriot Nation is behind you Coach.

From an injury perspective, we may finally start to see some guys coming back this week. This is a a good thing to see as we head into an extremely tough environment. Arrowhead stadium is known throughout the NFL as one of the toughest places to play for any opponent. Arrowhead has always been especially difficult for The Pats. Until last year, The Patriots had not won a game in Arrowhead in over 40 years.

Like The Pats, The Chiefs are a 6-4 team, hoping to kick off a solid run towards the playoffs. Unlike The Pats however, it will be much harder for The Chiefs to make the post-season, as they play in what is arguably the toughest division in the league. It is unlikely that they will be able to unseat Denver for the AFC West crown, but if they are to have a shot, games like this Sunday's match with The Patriots are 'must win' games for The Chiefs. This will give them a little extra motivation, as if playing the defending Super Bowl Champs at home is not enough.

Thankfully, The Pats do have some advantages going into this one. The Chiefs have had trouble stopping the pass this year while Tom Brady is among the league leaders in passing yardage. Hopefully this is an area where Brady will be able to take advantage.

The Pats have been able to string together a decent running game the last few weeks using the pleasant surprise that is Heath Evans. Patrick Pass has made solid contributions to the run game as well, when it is on the field. Additionally, there's a chance we could see Kevin Faulk back this week. If the Pats can get any semblance of a running game going to compliment the passing game, it will take the K.C. 12th man out of the game. The potential is there for it to be a good day for The Pats offense.

On defense, things do not look very easy. The Chiefs lost Priest Holmes to injury this year but have not missed a beat with RB Larry Johnson in his place. Stopping the run will be the key to this game and The Pats run defense has been improving week to week. Hopefully we will see that trend continue.

The secondary will finally get somewhat of a break this week. I say 'somewhat' because they still face a potent passing attack led by a dangerous combo in Quarterback Trent Green and Tight End Tony Gonzalez. After Gonzalez however, the Chiefs receiving corps fall off a bit, but going against New England's depleted, though steadily improving secondary, that face-off is almost a wash.

I have a feeling it will be the team that plays the cleanest game coming out on top this week. If The Patriots can run an efficient offense and not shoot themselves in the foot with penalties or turnovers, they should be ok. The defense needs to put pressure Green and try to limit Larry Johnson's running attack.

If you are looking for any other statements of the obvious, let me know. I am here for you, my friends.

GO PATS