New England Patriots’ most likely 2019 primetime games
1. Kansas City Chiefs (HOME)
When considering the most entertaining, most closely-contested games between AFC teams in 2018, it’s hard to look past the first two rounds of Patriots/Chiefs.
Ever since Andy Reid arrived in Kansas City, the Chiefs have evolved into one of the top teams in the conference, year in and year out. Sure, they’ve had their defensive struggles over that time period, cycling through numerous players, coaches, and coordinators as they tried to shore up things in that aspect of the game. But offensively, they’ve been one of the strongest teams in the NFL under Reid – especially since the emergence of wunderkind Patrick Mahomes.
A gunslinger out of Texas Tech University, Mahomes was drafted by Reid specifically to run his style of offense. And boy oh boy, have the results been pretty in just one full season having Mahomes as starter. The young quarterback threw for over 5,000 yards, 50 touchdowns, and just 12 picks in his second year in the NFL, winning league MVP along the way.
He torched the Patriots’ defense in a shootout primetime loss back in Week 6 of last season, a game New England won on a field goal, 43-40. The two teams met again in the AFC Championship Game, only this time in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. The first half belonged to the Patriots, and most of the second half belonged to the Chiefs.
But as he’s done so many times before, Tom Brady did just enough in the fourth quarter and then in overtime to force his way back to another Super Bowl appearance. After the game, Brady sought out Mahomes in the Chiefs’ locker room to commend him on his play during the game and all season long – a gesture that deeply resonated with Mahomes and also encapsulated the classiness of Brady as a competitor.
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If the Browns aren’t selected as the Patriots’ season opener in Week 1 of the 2019 season, then our preference would be to see the Chiefs come to Foxborough on Sunday Night Football instead. If that game is anything like the last two we’ve seen between these two AFC heavyweights, we’re sure to see some fireworks on the field – even more than just the ones they’ll set off as the Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl banner gets unveiled before the game.