Kansas City’s early-season tour of 2019 AFC division champions continues this weekend, with a game against the most recent winners of the AFC East. After beating the AFC South and AFC North champions in Week One and Week Three, the trifecta is within reach.
But the Patriots won’t be an easy opponent for the defending champions. They have Cam Newton. They have a potent defense. And they have Bill Belichick.
Belichick discussed the challenge his team faces with reporters on Tuesday.
"[A]nother impressive performance, like usual,” he said regarding Kansas City’s 34-20 win over Baltimore. “They were really dominant in the first half -- basically scored [27] points there in a half of football on the road. That’s a good football team. They’re a very explosive group. They played the Ravens well defensively. So they’re a good football team, very talented, well-coached, played with a lot of poise and discipline, so we know we’re going to have our work cut out for us in Kansas City. It’s a championship football team and we’re going to have to play our best game and coach it.”
One of the big reasons for that is the ongoing presence of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who can do it all for the Chiefs.
“I mean, all the superlatives that have been said about him, I’d just be repeating them all,” Belichick said of Mahomes.
The superlatives continue to be heaped on Mahomes based on last night’s performance, during which he extended his run against Lamar Jackson to 3-0.
Mahomes has never faced Cam Newton; the Panthers and Chiefs last played in 2016, the year before Mahomes was drafted. Regardless of the outcome, it has the potential to be the first of potentially two meetings this year between a pair of former league MVPs -- just like last night’s game.