Hammock Parties
01-14-2016, 08:16 PM
:clap:
http://espn.go.com/blog/kansas-city-chiefs/post/_/id/15627/herm-edwards-picks-chiefs-to-beat-patriots-and-eventually-advance-to-the-super-bowl
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Herm Edwards coached the Kansas City Chiefs for three years in the 2000s and coached against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for several seasons before that as the coach of the New York Jets.
Now an analyst for ESPN, Edwards picked the Chiefs to beat the Patriots to advance to next week's AFC Championship Game against either the Denver Broncos or Pittsburgh Steelers.
"I think the Chiefs have a chance, a great chance," Edwards said. "It wouldn't surprise me if they win. It's going to be tough. They'll have to play well. This isn't Houston. This is an opponent that has a lot of pride and has had a week off and Kansas City ran them out of the stadium last year.
"But the Chiefs are playing with great confidence. The whole team is playing well. They know they can go up to New England and win. It's no different than when they went to Denver this year. All those years they haven't won in Denver and then they beat Denver up there."
What's more, Edwards said he believes that for the Chiefs, Saturday's game is their de facto AFC Championship Game, even though it's in the divisional round. Edwards said the Chiefs would beat either the Broncos or the Steelers, if they get that far.
"This is the game for them," said Edwards, who had a 15-33 record as Kansas City's head coach and took the Chiefs to one wild-card playoff appearance before being fired after the 2008 season. "If the Chiefs win this game, this is the one that takes them to the Super Bowl. This is the hardest one they've got. It's a difficult place to play. There's a reason Brady is 14-3 up there (in the playoffs). It's not luck why they won all of those games.
"They're all hard but this is the one. If they win this one, this gives them the energy and the momentum to beat whoever they've got to go against next week. If they win this game on the road against the defending Super Bowl champs in a playoff atmosphere and in a place where they don't lose a lot, the Chiefs are going to be hard to beat next week."
But the Chiefs have to beat the Patriots first. And, Edwards said, they'll probably have to do it with the Patriots trying to take away two of their biggest offensive threats.
"I would think they'll take (tight end Travis) Kelce away and make (quarterback Alex) Smith try to beat you from the pocket and don't allow him to extend plays with his legs like he has all year," Edwards said. "They're not going to let him run. They'll have a spy on the guy. You can't take everything away but (Belichick) is probably going to focus on those two guys."
When the Patriots have the ball, Edwards said he likes the Chiefs' ability to get pressure with their pass rush on Brady and cover New England's wide receivers with cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Sean Smith.
"The matchups when New England has the ball will be interesting," Edwards said. "The Chiefs have some components that can bother New England. They can rush the quarterback and that's got to be a concern for New England.
"I wouldn't think Brady will throw outside the numbers a whole lot. They won't play into the strengths of the Chiefs' corners. They'll probably try to get (tight end Rob) Gronkowski matched on a linebacker. (Julian) Edelman and (Danny) Amendola are the guys that move the chains for them with those little, short passes and then they'll try to get the ball to Gronk over the middle and see if he can break some tackles. That's what I think will be the plan, try to go on those methodical nine-, 10-play drives that wear the Chiefs down. If they can do that, I think New England has a chance to win. But it won't be easy for them, not against the defense Kansas City has."
http://espn.go.com/blog/kansas-city-chiefs/post/_/id/15627/herm-edwards-picks-chiefs-to-beat-patriots-and-eventually-advance-to-the-super-bowl
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Herm Edwards coached the Kansas City Chiefs for three years in the 2000s and coached against Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for several seasons before that as the coach of the New York Jets.
Now an analyst for ESPN, Edwards picked the Chiefs to beat the Patriots to advance to next week's AFC Championship Game against either the Denver Broncos or Pittsburgh Steelers.
"I think the Chiefs have a chance, a great chance," Edwards said. "It wouldn't surprise me if they win. It's going to be tough. They'll have to play well. This isn't Houston. This is an opponent that has a lot of pride and has had a week off and Kansas City ran them out of the stadium last year.
"But the Chiefs are playing with great confidence. The whole team is playing well. They know they can go up to New England and win. It's no different than when they went to Denver this year. All those years they haven't won in Denver and then they beat Denver up there."
What's more, Edwards said he believes that for the Chiefs, Saturday's game is their de facto AFC Championship Game, even though it's in the divisional round. Edwards said the Chiefs would beat either the Broncos or the Steelers, if they get that far.
"This is the game for them," said Edwards, who had a 15-33 record as Kansas City's head coach and took the Chiefs to one wild-card playoff appearance before being fired after the 2008 season. "If the Chiefs win this game, this is the one that takes them to the Super Bowl. This is the hardest one they've got. It's a difficult place to play. There's a reason Brady is 14-3 up there (in the playoffs). It's not luck why they won all of those games.
"They're all hard but this is the one. If they win this one, this gives them the energy and the momentum to beat whoever they've got to go against next week. If they win this game on the road against the defending Super Bowl champs in a playoff atmosphere and in a place where they don't lose a lot, the Chiefs are going to be hard to beat next week."
But the Chiefs have to beat the Patriots first. And, Edwards said, they'll probably have to do it with the Patriots trying to take away two of their biggest offensive threats.
"I would think they'll take (tight end Travis) Kelce away and make (quarterback Alex) Smith try to beat you from the pocket and don't allow him to extend plays with his legs like he has all year," Edwards said. "They're not going to let him run. They'll have a spy on the guy. You can't take everything away but (Belichick) is probably going to focus on those two guys."
When the Patriots have the ball, Edwards said he likes the Chiefs' ability to get pressure with their pass rush on Brady and cover New England's wide receivers with cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Sean Smith.
"The matchups when New England has the ball will be interesting," Edwards said. "The Chiefs have some components that can bother New England. They can rush the quarterback and that's got to be a concern for New England.
"I wouldn't think Brady will throw outside the numbers a whole lot. They won't play into the strengths of the Chiefs' corners. They'll probably try to get (tight end Rob) Gronkowski matched on a linebacker. (Julian) Edelman and (Danny) Amendola are the guys that move the chains for them with those little, short passes and then they'll try to get the ball to Gronk over the middle and see if he can break some tackles. That's what I think will be the plan, try to go on those methodical nine-, 10-play drives that wear the Chiefs down. If they can do that, I think New England has a chance to win. But it won't be easy for them, not against the defense Kansas City has."