The New England Patriots (2-1) and Kansas City Chiefs (1-2) will square off on Monday Night Football, the first meeting between the two teams at Arrowhead Stadium since 2005. Kansas City comes in off its first win of the season, a 34-15 victory over the Miami Dolphins, while New England is riding a two-game winning streak.
The Patriots lost to Miami in the season opener before topping the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders in consecutive weeks. New England has gotten excellent performances from its revamped defense, allowing a total of 16 points in its wins. Tom Brady has not had to do much, throwing for 632 yards and three touchdowns this season. While New England has won without a potent offense, that may not be a recipe for success this season. New England ranks last in the league in yards per play and failed to top 300 yards of total offense in each of the last two games. The Patriots won both, but at some point, Brady and the rest of the offense will likely need to find some success. Brady is completing less than 59 percent of his passes thus far, which would be his lowest mark in any full season.
Kansas City has been crippled by injuries early on, but appears to be getting healthy. Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry were both injured in the first half of their Week 2 tilt against the Denver Broncos, and have not played since. Both are expected to be on the field Monday. Knile Davis picked up the slack for Charles, rushing for 132 yards and a touchdown in Week 3. Turnovers have been a problem for the Chiefs thus far. They are yet to force one on defense and with five turnovers in three games, Kansas City was last in the NFL in turnover margin heading into Week 4. That has been an area of strength for New England which has forced eight turnovers and sits with a plus-6 turnover margin.
How to Watch
Where: Arrowhead Stadium
When: 8:25 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden
Radio: Chiefs radio listings | Patriots radio listings
Online Streaming: Verizon NFL Mobile
Odds
The Patriots are favored by 2.5 points over the host Chiefs with the over/under at 47.5, per OddsShark.
Nuts and Bolts
Known as one of the toughest venues for a road team to play in, Arrowhead Stadium will be especially loud Monday night. The Chiefs are trying to reclaim a Guinness Book World Record for the loudest outdoor stadium in the world. Kansas City had the record for a little over a month last year before Seattle's CenturyLink Field took the mantle.
The story of this game could be turnovers. New England has more takeaways than anybody else in football and has a turnover differential of plus-6, which is tied for best in the league. The Chiefs are the only team without a takeaway this season, a surprising stat when you consider Kansas City was second in 2013 behind only the Seahawks in turnover ratio.
Further Reading
For more on the Patriots, please check out Pats Pulpit.
To read up on the Chiefs, head over to Arrowhead Pride.