5 takeaways from the Patriots’ crushing loss to the Chiefs

The New England Patriots lost a consecutive game in controversial fashion to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Offense clearly isn’t good enough

McDaniels will need the greatest play-calling of his professional career to find enough life within this Patriots offense to go on a deep playoff run.

The offensive line got bullied by an aggressive Chiefs defense that never respected the Patriots receivers to create separation. It was for good reason because that was exactly the case, again. Julian Edelman and running back James White are the only two reliable receiving targets on the team, and it showed up with both continuing to lead in receptions.

It’s also tough to win games with Brady as the second-leading rusher. He had more rushing yards than Sony Michel on Sunday.

It’s hard to envision them competing against some of the more well-rounded teams in the postseason, even if the defense continues to play at an exceptionally high level. McDaniels will need to scrape the bottom of his bag of tricks to get the offense rolling with some confidence. We saw the beginning of that on Sunday with the flea flicker touchdown pass by Brady on the first drive of the game and the 35-yard pass from White to Jakobi Meyers.