Gold Stars, Penalty Flags: Chung Shuts Down Kelce; Edelman Makes Immediate Difference
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots are headed to their fifth straight AFC Championship Game, thanks to their 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday. They'll now head to Denver to face off against Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.
Here are your Gold Stars and Penalty Flags from Saturday's AFC Divisional Round win at Gillette.
Gold Stars
- Safety Patrick Chung gets a gold star. Travis Kelce is a very good tight end and he was rather pedestrian on Saturday thanks to Chung. He has done a phenomenal job this year at slowing down the other team's tight end threat. After Saturday's win, Devin McCourty said if there's a better free safety in the game, he needs to see it.
Chung may not get a ton of recognition, but on Saturday he was a defensive star. He shut down Kelce in man-on-man coverage, holding the tight end to 23 yards on six receptions.
- Julian Edelman gets a gold star after catching 10 passes for 100 yards on 16 targets. So much for easing him in after missing two months with a broken foot. It was fabulous to have him out there and you can see the difference he makes on the game immediately. Edelman is the offensive line's best friend, is Tom Brady's chain mover and the Pats have not lost a game this year in which Edelman has started. He was good on Saturday and the Pats offense looked much better with him in it.
- Tom Brady's emotion gets a gold star. Brady making a dash to the end zone and then the dive for the pile was maybe the play of the game. Watching the emotion of Brady when they were reviewing the call was the best. He's 38 years old and Tom still gets it; he looked like a kid out there hugging and high-fiving Josh McDaniels. That was what people needed to see and his love for the game is so appreciated. It's the reason he's considered the best to ever play the position.
Penalty Flags
- I'm nitpicking here but the Pats' third down defense needs to get better. Alex Smith converted four out of five third downs to start the game and kept KC on the field. That has to improve. Next week the Pats won't have to worry about a running quarterback, assuming Peyton will be the starter. So that should ease their third down woes.
- Andy Reid still can't manage the clock. His clock management skills get a penalty flag. This is something I will never understand. It happened in the Super Bowl when he was coaching the Eagles and then again on Saturday with the Chiefs. There was no urgency when they were down two scores and and trying to get down the field. Where was the no huddle -- time was of the essence?
Even Alex Smith should know better, he's been in this league since 2005. Baffling to understand why they had no sense of urgency.
