Last year the Patriots lost a Super Bowl when Tom

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Brady threw for 505 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions , thanks to the defense failing to stop the Eagles’ offense. That was the story of the season in New England, when the offense was great but the defense couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain.This season has been different: Tom Brady’s stats declined in 2018, but the defense was better. New England improved in defensive DVOA from 31st last season to 16th this season. By yards per play allowed, New England improved from 30th to 19th. By takeaways, New England improved from 25th to sixth.Last year’s Patriots defense forced 19 turnovers in 19 games, counting postseason. This year’s Patriots have forced 30 turnovers in 17 games, even though turnovers league-wide were slightly down this season.Takeaways will be particularly important on Sunday against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. When the teams met in the regular season, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a lot of big plays, but the Patriots also intercepted him twice, and New England won the game. It’s hard to picture last year’s Patriots forcing those interceptions and beating an offense as good as Kansas City’s.The defensive improvement is a credit to linebackers coach Brian Flores, who took over many of the coordinator responsibilities when Matt Patricia became head coach of the Lions after the Super Bowl. Flores is expected to become the Dolphins’ head coach after the Patriots’ postseason run ends, and the way the Patriots’ defense has performed this season suggests that the Dolphins found themselves a good coach. The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 9-1 by defeating the Arizona Cardinals, 26-14, on Sunday.Here were the snap counts for the Chiefs:OffenseDefenseSpecial teams (only)Starters (offense): WR Tyreek Hill , LT Eric Fisher, LG Cam Erving, C Austin Reiter, RG Andrew Wylie, RT Mitch Schwartz, TE Travis Kelce, WR Chris Conley, WR Demarcus Robinson, QB Patrick Mahomes, RB Kareem HuntStarters (defense): LDE Allen Bailey, NT Derrick Nnadi, RDE Chris Jones, LOLB Dee Ford, LILB Reggie Ragland , RILB Ben Niemann, ROLB Justin Houston, RCB Kendall Fuller, RCB Steve Nelson, S Eric Murray, S Ron ParkerActive, but did not play: QB Chad Henne, LB Anthony HitchensInactive: WR Sammy Watkins, S Eric Berry, S/CB Josh Shaw, LB Frank Zombo, OL Mitch Morse, RG Kahlil McKenzie, DT Justin HamiltonTakeaways (in no particular order)Three Chiefs skill-position were on the field more than 90 percent of the time Sunday—tight end Travis Kelce (58 offensive snaps) , Tyreek Hill (54 offensive snaps) and Chris Conley (54 offensive snaps).Wide receiver Demarcus Robinson saw the most playing time he’s seen (43 offensive snaps) since Week 4 against the Denver Broncos.Running back Spencer Ware saw his offensive snaps go up from 14 last week to 20 this week. He had his first touchdown of the season vs. the Cardinals.The iron men on defense for the Chiefs on Sunday were cornerbacks Kendall Fuller and Steve Nelson, as well as safety Ron Parker (73 defensive snaps each). Eric Murray missed only on defensive snap (99 percent) on Sunday. In their returns: Linebacker Justin Houston had 49 defensive snaps (67 percent) and safety Daniel Sorensen had 32 defensive snaps (44 percent). Houston played quite a bit—an indication he is back to full health.Inside linebacker Ben Niemann had 29 defensive snaps (40 percent) in his “debut.” Nose tackles Derrick Nnadi (27 defensive snaps) and Xavier Williams (23 defensive snaps) nearly split time. Williams is a former Arizona Cardinal.Even in Houston’s return, Breeland Speaks out-snapped Tanoh Kpassagnon, 24-10.Special-teams standouts for Sunday (18 or more special-teams snaps): TE Demetrius Harris (23), LB Ben Niemann (21), CB Charvarius Ward (21), WR Marcus Kemp (19), LB Dorian O’Daniel (19), RB Damien Williams (19), FB Anthony Sherman (18),

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