New England Patriots: 5 observations from tough loss to Chiefs

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New England Patriots N’Keal Harry (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) /

2. Hard to beat the Chiefs and the refs

When New England Patriots haters are saying the team got screwed by the referees, then there is really a problem.

While the Patriots could’ve certainly played better on both sides of the balls, two plays took touchdown scores off the board for the team and ultimately was the reason for the loss.

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Every team in the NFL has had plays go against them that may have cost them a game, but the two blown plays in this game were unbelievable.

On the first, an obvious fumble by Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was blown dead as down by contact initially. The originally play was a scoop and possible score by Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore.

Bill Belichick used his second challenge to protest the call and benefitted, but the score was taken away because the whistle was blown.

To add salt to that wound, the Patriots got hosed again when N’Keal Harry scored a touchdown that was called back due to him stepping out of bounds. Harry clearly did not step out of bounds, but Belichick couldn’t challenge the play because of a lost challenge earlier in the game.

The New England Patriots only put up a field goal on that play, which should’ve actually made the game 23-20 with a successful extra point, rather than 23-16.

While the offense is frustrated enough with their play, it is even more frustrating to have calls not go their way when they do make plays on the field. After the game N’Keal Harry summed it up.

"“It’s definitely frustrating,” Harry said, via Patriots.com. “But at the end of the day, I was always told to control what I can control, and I did that. I felt like my effort was good and that’s all I can give.”"

Despite calls not going their way, the New England Patriots offense must continue the effort.

Eventually, that effort will result in better offense.

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