Four turnovers. Two trips deep inside the red zone with nothing to show for it. An emergency starting quarterback in Brian Hoyer who proved once again he doesn't belong on an NFL field unless there is a clipboard in his hands. Even in that scenario I'm sure there's a wiser and savvier player that can handle that role. No offense.
There were also two missed interceptions right through the hands of talented defensive backs Devin McCourty and J.C. Jackson. Don't forget bad penalties at bad times and a clear interception taken away from the Patriots by the referees; a consistent pattern in games versus the Kansas City Chiefs in recent years.
There was a lot of bad play to review on what must have been a long day in the film room for the Patriots on Tuesday and yet none of those lowlights are the real story.
All that poor play on the field somehow still buried the lede.
Off the field was the real story, as once again Bill Belichick proved that regardless of the opponent, insurmountable odds or the individual talent or lack thereof that may or may not be on the field, it is Belichick himself that is the true lead in any Patriots story.
He's the differentiator and always has been.
I've been watching NFL football for 43 years and the 2020 Kansas City Chiefs are the most explosive, talented, fastest and unstoppable offense I've ever seen. It's not even close.
The St. Louis Rams "Greatest Show on Turf" whom Belichick's 2001 Patriots bested in Super Bowl XXXVI with an airtight game plan, is a flavorless diet soda compared to the full course 5-star meal that is the 2020 Chiefs offense. Those same Chiefs however managed a meager six points up to midway through the third quarter on Monday night despite the Patriots best efforts to consistently give the game away.
Unbelievable.
Our own Nick "Fitzy" Stevens was basically laughed off the station Monday after predicting a Patriots win, based solely on the notion that if you have Bill Belichick, you have a chance. While others laughed, I'll simply say "Yahtzee" or maybe better said, "Harrumph."
Nobody was laughing on Tuesday though were they? Despite the Pats setting 1990 Patriots levels of unforced errors. Rather, folks in these parts woke up Tuesday morning angrily frowning, knowing the Patriots gave one away. A game that most people, me included, thought they had less than no shot to win.
I'm a big Belichick believer, as big as anybody in fact but I just didn't see any hope coming on Monday night. Though yet again, despite all the obstacles we saw the perfect defensive game plan to upset the perfect offense. The Chiefs literally had no answers throughout the night. They looked like the Brad Stevens Celtics trying to decode that whacky, never seen before zone defense.
For many years in these parts much has been said of the Belichick/Brady paradigm that led the most improbable and unparalleled twenty year era of success maybe in professional sports history. Arguments raised and debates batted around barstools (when one could actually frequent a bar) about who had the bigger impact on their collective success.
It's an argument I don't particularly care for, as I think the ideal owner, found the ideal coach and personnel man and he found the perfect quarterback all at the perfect time. It was a perfect ensemble, each of them and many others along the way, all doing their part to create sustained greatness.
On this debate though I will simply quote my longtime friend and co-host on the WEEI Fantasy Football Hour, Pete Davidson who once said, "Brady is the golden egg for sure, but Belichick is the goose the laid the golden egg." Amen.
I'll just add this; based on what I saw Monday night and pretty much every game since Brady took over in 2001, I think this goose has some more gold to give. Everyone needs to ramp up their appreciation for that and for what it's worth, Cam Newton would be styling in gold.
