Every week leading into the Patriots' next game, ESPN NFL analyst Tedy Bruschi and ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss preview the matchup. This week, it's ESPN's "Monday Night Football" matchup between the Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium (8:30 p.m. ET):

Mike: Let's lead off with the Monday night atmosphere, Tedy. It's ESPN, and everyone's watching.

Tedy: As a player, "Monday Night Football" can be great because of that atmosphere. At the same time, a Monday night road game is tough because you're waiting around all day. You have the late start and you know that sometimes you won't be home until the sun comes up. That can put a toll on your body later in the week. So the wait it just brutal on the road, and more bearable when you're home; that's why when that schedule comes out in the spring you're hoping that any Monday games are at home.

Mike: Let's get into the Chiefs, a team that has impressed me the last two weeks in road games against Denver (24-17 loss in which they controlled significant parts of the game) and Miami (34-15 win). They looked like a different team than the one that opened the season with a 26-10 home loss to Tennessee.

Tedy: The first thing to acknowledge is the status of running back Jamaal Charles. Is he going to go with the ankle injury? He's listed as probable, so he is likely to play. It's obvious they're more dangerous with him, as he's their No. 1 weapon. When head coach Andy Reid has a weapon like that, he's going to find ways to get him the ball. He'll run between the tackles. He has the speed to take it outside. And there are different ways they get him the ball in space, using misdirection, like the simple swing screen they ran in the season opener against Tennessee (13:41 of the first quarter). On plays like that, they're trying to get the defense to take that one false step, and it gives offensive linemen time to get in position on blocks. Those are the little elements of play-design that you have to take into account when going up against an Andy Reid-coached offense. You have to be patient. As a linebacker, or a defensive player in general, you have to read and diagnose the play before you react. You can't bite on the first look, and have to understand that with Andy Reid, there's always another play off certain action he gives you.

Mike: The Patriots are familiar with this from the times they faced his Eagles teams, like Super Bowl XXXIX, but the personnel is obviously different now.

Tedy: It comes back to Charles. If you jump on that initial look, the first half-second of a play, then you can put yourself out of position. So the thought has to be in your mind, "Going up against a player like this, what are the other possibilities I have to defend?" The Patriots have a lot of talented players on defense, and their patience is a big thing this week. That's true with Charles' backup running back, Knile Davis, as well. His 21-yard second-quarter touchdown run last week against Miami (6:46 remaining) came off a fake toss action to the left before he got the handoff inside. Again, that's Reid trying to get the defensive player to take that half-step to one side so the offensive line can get angles going back to the other side.

Mike: And that's a good Miami defensive front, as we saw in the season-opener. That was a very effective play by the Chiefs, with receiver A.J. Jenkins motioning into the backfield to set up the fake toss. Creative. The Patriots have been better against the run the last two weeks, but whether it's Charles or Davis on Monday night, this is arguably their toughest challenge of the season.

Tedy: That includes quarterback Alex Smith, too, as he's a threat to run. So this is a team, with Smith and Reid's scheme, they have ways to threaten a team that doesn't look like good news for the Patriots. At the same time, as good of a coach as Reid is, sometimes you still scratch your head with him. You'll see the running game disappear at times and Charles won't have as many carries as he should. In the season-opener, he only had seven rushing attempts for 19 yards as Reid abandoned the running game way too early. You don't always know what you're going to get with him, and that includes some questionable decision-making, like calling for a shot down the field right before halftime in the season opener. The Chiefs were backed up at their own 2, there were 37 seconds left, and the Titans intercepted it and turned it into a field goal. Then, down 20-3, he called a fake punt in the third quarter with 1:28 left. There's still a lot of time at that point. So I'd say he's not afraid to take chances.

Mike: What do you see from Smith?

Jamaal Charles is the Chiefs' top weapon when he's healthy; will an ankle injury hamper him Monday night? AP Photo

Tedy: He is a good quarterback. I'd say he has average arm strength. He's not the type of quarterback who you fear will take you down the field, more of a close-to-the-vest signal-caller. So if you want to say it, yes, he's conservative. There are a lot of slant routes, passes to the flat, angle routes from the backfield. An angle route is when the running back gives you a look as if he's going to the flat and then angles to the middle of the field. So you see a lot of throws shorter than 20 yards, and the longer the throw, the less accurate he becomes. It ties to the mentality that he doesn't want to make a mistake and it's not in his style to go deep on a consistent basis.

Mike: ESPN's Stats & Information had this nugget from last week's Chiefs game against Miami -- Smith's average pass traveled 2.9 yards downfield. That was the shortest by any quarterback in a game in the last three seasons.

Tedy: Defensively, against this type of West Coast offense, you want to be physical at the line of scrimmage and re-route receivers to throw off the timing. Once Alex Smith sees routes disrupted and timing affected, he pulls the ball down and that's when you have to consider that he's an athletic quarterback who can run. They do call runs for him, but I don't think that's a major point of emphasis for a defense. This isn't like Randall Cunningham back there. At the same time, he does have a knack for getting the first down and initiating his slide.

Mike: One of the words Bill Belichick used to describe the Chiefs' offense this week was "explosive."

Tedy: I was curious about that, because I don't necessarily think "explosive" when I watch them. When I think "explosive," it's usually more going deep, taking consistent shots down the field, and threatening down the middle with an athletic tight end. So if I were to characterize this offense, I might say it's explosive after the catch. But almost everything is a 5-to-10-yard pass, you have misdirection runs, sweeps going to the outside, and it's all about making tackles for the defense. A lot of these pass plays are catch-and-runs and if no one is close, they'll take it up the field for 10-to-15 yards. To me, explosive is more what you think of with a team like the Bengals with receiver A.J. Green. I'm not thinking that with the Chiefs, and Alex Smith and receiver Dwayne Bowe. Sure, Charles is one of the most explosive players in the league, but a lot of their explosiveness is getting open by scheme -- you think one thing, and they hit you with something else. So I guess I view "explosive" a little differently than my old coach.