New England Patriots: Studs and duds vs. Chiefs in Week 14

Stud: Special teams

Particularly in the second half, the New England special teams group stepped up and gave the Patriots a chance late in the game at home on Sunday evening. With New England down a few scores in the third quarter, the special teams unit blocked a Chiefs punt that shortly thereafter resulted in a Patriots rushing touchdown which narrowed the game down to just 10 points.

That punt block not only helped New England narrow the deficit it faced in the second half, but it gave the Patriots some much-needed momentum and some life going into the fourth quarter at home while trying to complete a comeback.

Dud: Losing two in a row, first game at home

The loss at home pushed the Patriots losing streak to two games in a row and the defending champions have now lost three of their last five games going into next weekend on the road in Cincinnati.

The defeat at Gillette Stadium is something we haven’t seen from the Patriots in quite some time, as well, as New England fell at home for the first time this season and snapped an impressive 21-game home winning streak for the Patriots in front of their home fans.

There are still a few games remaining in the regular season for New England to figure things out ahead of the postseason, but the fact that the Patriots are struggling when they are usually starting to find their stride in the home stretch of the regular season is certainly concerning.