The NFL Playoffs continue with an AFC Divisional round matchup between the 5th-seeded Kansas City Chiefs visiting the 2nd-seeded New England Patriots. The ITP editors have collected our coverage of these two teams from the 2015 season.
Kansas City
Mark Schofield uses Travis Kelce’s week one performance against the Texans to demonstrate how the Houston defense is susceptible to a big tight end in the passing game.
The Chiefs’ ten-game winning streak started on this eight-play touchdown drive against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Matt Weston broke down first round pick Eric Fisher’s play at offensive tackle, including why he was drafted in the first round, his play strength and pass blocking, and his abilities in the running game.
The Chiefs’ defense caused Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr to make a mistake in this Week 13 divisional game, leading to a Kansas City victory.
The Alex Smith-Travis Kelce connection is crucial to the Chiefs’ passing attack, and we see that here in the red zone against the Cleveland Browns.
New England
Aidan Curran broke down the composition of the Patriots’ defensive line at the start of the season, and found that Bill Belichick built a versatile unit.
New England used a four tight end package at the goal line in their Week One matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Dave Archibald examined the mismatches it can cause.
Brian Filipiak looked at the wham packages that the Patriots use with Rob Gronkowski to illustrate the tight end’s contributions in the running game.
Matthew Slater has a huge impact on the Patriots, and this was apparent when the special teams ace snuffed out a fake punt by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Tight end Michael Williams mainly contributes in the running game and his talents, as well as his size, make him a very effective blocker.
The Patriots’ ground game has had recent success against the Indianapolis Colts, and Filipiak explains the schemes that have made that success possible.
Mark Schofield looks at the play action passing concepts that the Patriots used prior to their Week 6 matchup with the Colts.
Nate Solder was placed on injured reserve in the middle of the season, and Curran examined the depth at the offensive tackle position on the roster.
The Patriots used a versatile set of plays against the Miami Dolphins for an opening score touchdown.
Flipiak shows how teamwork by the Patriots’ defense foiled a screen pass and led to a sack for Chandler Jones against the Dolphins.
The Patriots were trailing 20-10 against the New York Giants in the third quarter, but a big punt return by Danny Amendola put the offense in a position to score easily and put New England back in the game.
Going into their Week 12 game against the Denver Broncos, New England’s wide receiver corps was banged up. Former NFL scout Dan Hatman explained how the Patriots would cope with the problem.
Chuck Zodda explains what went wrong when the Philadelphia Eagles blocked a Ryan Allen punt in Week 13.
Ted Nguyen displays the Patriots’ versatile approach made to illustrating the difficulties that face opposing defenses.
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