Page 17 - Aruba Today
P. 17

SPORTS A17
                                                                                                                                                               Friday 15 January 2016

Up For Grabs

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) catches a pass for a touchdown over Houston Texans strong safety Quintin Demps (27) during an NFL football
game in Houston. The Patriots face the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday in a playoff game.

                                                                                                                                                                                                      (AP Photo/George Bridges)

Playoff Preview:

   Belichick: Charging Chiefs Are Hard To Plan Against

Associated Press              terback Tom Brady was          A fifth straight AFC Cham-     drop from first to second in   terback (21).
(AP) - There are two Kansas   14 of 23 for 159 yards, one    pionship game beckons for      the conference. They were      Chiefs quarterback Alex
City Chiefs games on Bill     touchdown and two inter-       the Patriots at home in Fox-   2-4 after a 10-0 start.        Smith doesn’t have a bad
Belichick’s mind.             ceptions. Jimmy Garop-         borough on Saturday, but       They lost running backs        record either.
One is the Chiefs’ most re-   polo finished the game         the Chiefs have a streak of    Dion Lewis and LeGarrette
cent one, when they beat      and there was some talk        their own.                     Blount for the season, and       In four career playoff
the Houston Texans 30-0 last  he should replace Brady        The Chiefs have won a          star wideout Julian Edel-      games, he has 10 touch-
weekend in the first round    as the starter. But the Pa-    team-record 11 straight        man missed the last seven      downs and just one inter-
of the NFL playoffs. The      triots dominated the rest of   games, and Belichick says      games.                         ception.
other is New England’s pre-   the season and won their       that makes it harder to        Only their formidable re-      Smith bristles at the notion
vious encounter with them,    fourth Super Bowl.             prepare for them because       cord makes them slight         that he’s a “game manag-
when they beat the Patriots   “There are some things we      there were so few exam-        favorites. They are 17-4 at    er,” as if that’s a derogatory
41-14 in 2014, the second-    can take from (the last        ples of things opponents       home in the postseason;        term reserved for quarter-
worst defeat of Belichick’s   matchup). There are some       did that worked.               in NFL history, Belichick has  backs one step down from
coaching tenure with the      things that are outdated. ...  The injury-riddled Patriots    the most playoff victories     elite. But in his case, it may
Patriots.                     It has relevance,” Belichick   stumbled to the finish. They   by a coach (22), and Brady     be a flattering description.
In that game, Patriots quar-  says.                          lost their final two games to  has the most of any quar-
                                                                                                                                Continued on Page 19
   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22