New England Patriots: 3 reasons team is ‘fired up’ to face the Chiefs

A matter or revenge

The New England Patriots are not a team that publicly uses revenge as motivation, but this is the team that handed Bill Belichick two of his most embarrassing loses over the last decade.

First there was that 41-14 debacle in 2014, which led to the famous “Onto Cincinnati” game and eventual Super Bowl victory.  Then, there was last season’s 42-28 Week 1 loss to basically the same Kansas City Chiefs team.

The difference this year is that Patrick Mahomes II is behind center and certainly presents a different challenge than Alex Smith.  The emphasis will be on the coaching in this game.  Chiefs coach Andy Reid has gotten the best of Belichick in two of the team’s last three meetings.

In this one, Belichick has to figure out a way to stop Mahomes and the speedy Chiefs receivers.  Typically, he does good in these situations.  Add the memory of those two bad losses and Bill Belichick and his coaches will be out to prove that they can provide the blueprint to slowing down the impressive second-year quarterback.

You better believe Tom Brady and the players who were on the team last season have that 2017 Week 1 loss in the back of minds also.