Bill Belichick does it again, and I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised. We’ve been seeing his defenses come up with the key stops for close to 30 years – dating back to his work as a coordinator with the Giants.
Back in the 1990 season, we saw the Giants somehow derail a great 49ers offense in San Francisco, winning 15-13, and we saw them beat the red-hot Bills 20-19 in the Super Bowl the next week. Yesterday’s game only adds to the legacy.
Patrick Mahomes finished with 295 yards and 3 TDs, and Kansas City managed to score 31 points, but their offense had problems throughout. He completed only 16 of 31 passes, they couldn’t run the ball, and they consistently struggled to keep drives going.
A play here or there could have swung the result, but there’s no disputing that New England was the better team all along, finishing with 234 more yards and over 23 more minutes of time of possession.
During Belichick’s 19 years in New England, they’ve played 13 playoff games against opponents with top-5 scoring offenses. They’re 10-3 in those games, and in eight of them, those high-scoring opponents have finished with at least 10 fewer points than they averaged in the regular season.
Remarkably, the Patriots have been able to do it without having dominating superstars. They never pick in the top 10, so they don’t have the luxury of picking up super-elite talents like J.J. Watt, Aaron Donald and the like. Instead they have to do a better job of developing their less-heralded guys, and they’re always on the lookout via trade or free agency to pick up a player who might be more successful in their scheme – most recently, Kyle Van Noy (pictured).
| PATRIOTS VS. TOP-5 SCORING TEAMS IN PLAYOFFS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Opponent | Avg | Score | Diff |
| 2001 | Oakland | 24.9 | W 16-13 | 11.9 |
| 2001 | St. Louis | 31.4 | W 20-17 | 14.4 |
| 2003 | Tennessee | 27.2 | W 17-14 | 13.2 |
| 2003 | Indianapolis | 27.9 | W 24-14 | 13.9 |
| 2004 | Indianapolis | 32.6 | W 20-3 | 29.6 |
| 2006 | at San Diego | 30.8 | W 24-21 | 9.8 |
| 2006 | at Indianapolis | 26.7 | L 34-38 | -11.3 |
| 2007 | San Diego | 25.8 | W 21-12 | 13.8 |
| 2013 | at Denver | 37.9 | L 16-26 | 11.9 |
| 2016 | v. Atlanta | 33.8 | W 34-28 | 5.8 |
| 2017 | Jacksonville | 26.1 | W 24-20 | 6.1 |
| 2017 | v. Philadelphia | 28.6 | L 33-41 | -12.4 |
| 2018 | at Kansas City | 35.3 | W 37-31 | 4.3 |
| 2018 | LA Rams | 32.9 | ??? | ??? |
—Ian Allan