A win for the 8-4 Kansas City Chiefs would see them move within one game of the 10-2 New England Patriots in the race for a top two spot in the AFC and a bye in the first week of the playoffs.
The Patriots will look to put their 28-22 defeat to the Houston Texans behind them. A win against the Chiefs would not only do that but also near enough cement a top two berth.
Last season saw these teams face off twice. The Patriots won out in two close games, firstly winning 43-40 in the regular season after a Stephen Gostkowski field goal as time expired. They met again in the AFC championship game with the Patriots winning 37-31.
Offensive woes for the Patriots
Since the 37-20 week nine loss to the Baltimore Ravens, the Patriots have seen their offense struggle. In-between that and last weeks loss they won two games. However in those wins they scored only 17 against the Philadelphia Eagles and 13 points against the Dallas Cowboys.
In Sunday night's game there was some improvement. Despite Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throwing for 326 yards and three touchdowns, they were unable to overcome the Texans and they will want to rebound from that against the Chiefs.
This game presents the Patriots with an opportunity to get their offense back on track. Although the Chiefs are Super Bowl contenders their 25th rank defensively doesn't reflect that.
Brady will be looking to add to his three TD's last game as he chases history. On 535 career passing TD's he is only four behind Peyton Manning for the all-time record. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he could get there in this game.
What we may see though against a Chiefs team ranked 30th in stopping the run is a heavy dose of running-backs James White and Sony Michel running the ball, this will also help the Patriots manage the clock and keep Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes off the field as much as possible.
Field position and turnovers crucial last time out for the Chiefs
Last Sunday the Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders 40-9. A fair assumption to make would be that Mahomes put up astronomical numbers and destroyed the Oakland defense.
In that game Mahomes only threw for 175 yards and one TD. In addition the Chiefs rushing total was 96 yards with three TD's spread among Mahomes, Darwin Thompson and LeSean McCoy.
In the game before this against the Los Angeles Chargers, Mahomes posted similar numbers throwing 182 yards, one TD and one interception. Low numbers by Mahomes high standards.
The Chiefs were able to put that many points on the board against the Raiders due to their defense coming up big, recovering a fumble as well as intercepting Raiders QB, Derek Carr twice. One of these was returned for a TD by Juan Thornhill.
Despite the defense's lowly overall ranking they rank joint fifth in interceptions with 12, they have also recovered seven fumbles.
The Chiefs benefitted from good field position during this game. The penalty count was also a massive benefit with the Raiders giving away 12 penalties while the Chiefs gave away none.
Kansas City won't be able to rely on such luxuries against a Patriots team renowned for discipline. They will need Mahomes to put behind a mediocre two game stretch and to be firing on all cylinders against the Patriots.
Knowing what we know about Mahomes you can be sure he will and we will be in for an exciting battle against two of the premier teams in the NFL.