Damien Williams (rib) and Darrel Williams (hamstring) aren’t practicing today, and I think Kansas City on Sunday will be looking at some combination of LeSean McCoy, Darwin Thompson and Spencer Ware.
McCoy should be the main guy, probably playing more than he has in any game all year.
Thompson is a neat little player, but he doesn’t have much experience – a 200-pound free agent rookie who played his way onto the roster with a nice preseason. Ware is a painfully slow inside banger who just re-signed with the team; he hasn’t played in a regular-season game in almost a year.
McCoy has been a rotational back thus far. He hasn’t been on the field for half of the team’s plays in any game. But he might be out there for 60-70 percent of their downs on Sunday.
I think what McCoy does as a pass catcher will be more notable than his work as a runner. New England’s secondary is really strong – tough to get the ball to wide receivers and tight ends against this defense. But the linebackers aren’t great in coverage. Duke Johnson was able to give them problems on Sunday night, catching 5 passes for 54 yards, with the opening touchdown.
In each of Kansas City’s last three games against the Patriots, its starting running back has put up big receiving numbers – 15 catches, 269 yards and 5 TDs in those three games. That’s not run-rec production – that’s just the receiving work.
| KC RB catches vs. Pats | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | Score | Rec | Yds | TD |
| Kareem Hunt | 2017 | W 42-27 | 5 | 98 | 2 |
| Kareem Hunt | 2018 | L 40-43 | 5 | 105 | 1 |
| Damien Williams | 2018 | L 31-37 | 5 | 66 | 2 |
This will all need to play out, of course. Let’s see if the Williams boys remain out of practice. One of the team’s beat writers suggested yesterday that he thinks Damien Williams will play. That would change things.
But if we’re looking at no Williams running backs, I think McCoy’s role as a pass catcher will be significant.
—Ian Allan