offensive team in 2018 when James White is on the field.The running back Sony Michel Jerseys 2019 , known more for his pass catching than his running, has seen his number of snaps slip the past two weeks with the return of the previously injury Rex Burkhead. The Patriots lost both games, giving them five losses for the first time since 2009.But the White numbers and their effect on the team go back beyond the past two weeks.Consider:鈥擳he Patriots are 7-1 in games White gets 35 or more snaps, 2-4 in games he gets 34 or less.鈥擶hite averages 14.7 touches (runs or passes caught) per game in New England's wins, just 7.4 in the losses.鈥擭ine of White 10 touchdowns this season have come in victories.鈥擶hite is averaging 6.6 catches per games in the wins, 4.4 in the loss - and seven of those came in the first loss at Jacksonville.鈥擧e is averaging 7.4 carries per game in wins, 3.0 in losses.鈥擜nd he has had 59 snaps since Burkhead's return; White had as many as 61 in a single game, a win, earlier in the schedule."We have guys, a lot of different role players. I just try to play my role each and every week," White said Wednesday. "You play 10 snaps, you play 60 snaps, it just kind of depends on how the defense is matching up against us and the flow of the game."All of us try to make the most of the opportunities that we get. It could be me one week, it could be somebody else another week. I can't complain if there's one game I'm not touching the ball as much one week as the previous week."Asked if he thrives on more work, White, who hasn't scored a touchdown in the last five games Byron Cowart Jersey Boys , flashed a big smile, laughed and said, "I just try and make the most of the opportunities that I get, whether it's more work, less work, you just have to capitalize on what you get."In other words, as a captain 鈥?and a Patriot 鈥?he's not about complaining about playing time."Any time you have multiple guys that play a similar position that are capable of doing good things in the game, you obviously have choices to make," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Tuesday. "Sometimes those choices mean more or less of something, and other times, they are factors that are not necessarily in our control that affect overall production and ability to get one person the football."Certainly, James is a player that has been very successful and productive in his role, and other teams are aware of that. He gets plenty of attention from other people and sometimes that means the ball needs to go somewhere else, and sometimes we can still find a way to get him the football and let him have the opportunity to make plays. I mean, he's obviously a very good player for us, has been tremendous in his role White Duke Dawson Jerseys , is very valuable. So, the more he touches it, the more we can get it to him, we usually feel very good about those opportunities." By this point in his legendary career, we know a few things about Bill Belichick.We know that as a defensive game-planner, he wants to “take away what you do best.” He wants to make the opponent “fight with one arm behind their back.” Odds are you will hear one or both of those cliches this Sunday afternoon when the New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs. We also know that Belichick is a student of Sun Tzu, given some of the promotions for the upcoming NFL100 special from the NFL Network. As Belichick is filmed saying:We also knows that he fears tight ends. That was exemplified this week when in comments to the media, Belichick heaped praise on Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. It was also exemplified over a year ago, when in their regular season meeting Belichick focused a ton of attention in #87’s direction. Using some combination coverages, some bracket coverages and often denying him a free release off the line of scrimmage — even when aligned well outside the box — Belichick and the Patriots were able to hold Kelce out of the end zone back in Week 6 last season. That challenge is renewed this week when the Chiefs visit Gillette Stadium.Belichick said of Kelce this week “[h]e’s good at everything. He’s big. He’s fast. He’s good after the catch. He does a really good job of gaining leverage on defenders. He also creates space for other players as well. He’s a very smart player. He’s a hard guy to tackle when he gets the ball.” Furthermore, he is a tight end in name only. “Call Kelce whatever you want, he’s one of the best receivers in the league.” The TE has the route tree to back that statement up. “(His route tree) is probably bigger than anyone in the league,” Belichick said to the media. “He’s got every tight end route, every receiver route. There’s not a route he doesn’t run. He does everything but run routes out of the backfield. He probably does some of that. Maybe they’re saving that.”Numbers back this up too. According to Pro Football Focus’s charting data, Kelce has been targeted 12 times this season on throws of 20+ yards, tied with Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews for the most among TEs this season. On those 12 targets? Kelce has eight receptions for 274 yards and three touchdowns. Only six wide receivers in the league have more touchdowns on throws of 20 yards or more. Of course Andy Reid is no fool. He knows that among the many weapons at his disposal Duke Dawson Jerseys 2019 , including Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, Kelce poses a unique challenge. That is why Reid often uses Kelce on Y-Iso alignments, forcing the defense to make a difficult choice.(Something the Patriots would often do with Rob Gronkowski, but that is a discussion for another time).Take this third down conversion by the Chiefs from last week. Facing 3rd and 10 against the Oakland Raiders, they line up with Patrick Mahomes (#15) in the shotgun and they employ a bunch look to the right, with Kelce isolated on the left:Kansas City runs a sail concept here to the bunch side of the formation, while Kelce runs a deep curl. Oakland responds with a Cover 1 Robber look:One of the safeties rotates down into the middle of the field to take away in-breaking routes, such as Kelce’s curl route which drifts towards the middle of the field. That leaves the Raiders exposed in man coverage situations along the boundary, and Hill (#10) is able to spin his defender as he breaks to the outside on a deep out pattern:Mahomes hits the speedy wideout in stride, and the Chiefs have a first down.This play highlights the difficulties facing this offense, which get magnified when the Chiefs use this formation. By putting Kelce isolated to one side of the formation, the defense needs to declare pre-snap their intentions. Do they play zone coverage with a cornerback over him? Man coverage with a safety? Man coverage with a cornerback, which either forces you to play man coverage with a safety elsewhere, some kind of combination coverage or go light with extra defensive backs in the game, exposing you to the run game. You probably do not want to spot drop into straight zone coverage against this look, as the Los Angeles Chargers tried on this play from Week 11:The defense spot drops into a basic Cover 2 scheme on this play White Danny Etling Jerseys , and it is like taking candy from a baby. The Chiefs run a Flat-7 Smash concept, and Kelce is wide open for the touchdown. In their regular season meeting last year, the Patriots tried a few different things against Kelce and managed to have some success limiting his production. He had five catches for 61 yards and was held out of the end zone, and needed nine targets to produce those numbers. In addition, both of Mahomes’ interceptions came on passes thrown in his direction, such as this end zone pick:If you notice on this play, Dont’a Hightower (#54) aligns on Kelce who is detached from the tackle and chips him on the TE’s release. Then, the Patriots bracket Kelce with Patrick Chung (#23) using outside leverage and Duron Harmon (#21) playing him to the inside. Mahomes is flushed from the pocket (in part by Hightower) and still looks for his tight end, and the pass is intercepted. The extra attention does, however, come at a cost. On Hill’s stunning 75-yard touchdown with just over three minutes remaining, Kelce is virtually triple covered, and Harmon is left alone with the speedy Hill:Devin McCourty (#32) has inside leverage against Kelce while his twin brother Jason (#30) is playing him to the outside. Kelce does not see the football, but the Chiefs see the end zone. Returning to this season, often Reid will pair Kelce’s Y-Iso alignment and route with a multi-level passing concept to the other side of the formation. On this short completion to Hill against the Raiders, Kelce runs a corner route out of an isolated alignment Danny Etling Jerseys 2019 , while the Chiefs have a “Peel” (post/wheel) concept to the outside, and Hill working underneath against a linebacker in space:The secondary takes care of the peel combination, as well as Kelce on his vertical route, but that leaves Hill working underneath against a pair of linebackers. While this just goes for a six-yard gain, something tells me that Reid will take that every time, given the potential for Hill to get more with just one missed tackle. Here is just one more example of this philosophy. On this second quarter throw to Kelce on a quick out pattern, Mahomes also has a levels concept working to the strength of the formation, His tight end is open quickly out of his isolated alignment, but had Kelce been covered Mahomes could have worked back to the concept with three receivers to choose from:Kelce pulls in this throw, but Mahomes also had Sammy Watkins (#14) open on the backside of this play on his dig route.It goes without saying, the Patriots’ defense will have their hands full on Sunday. Perhaps Reid is also a student of Sun Tzu, and he knows that Kelce and their Y-Iso alignments are a way to play to their strengths as an offense. More than anything else, these formations force a defense to make some difficult choices and decisions. The decisions the Patriots make — and the execution of those responses — will go a long way towards deciding Sunday’s contest.