Kansas City Chiefs stop the rot and push Bill Belichick one step closer to the end… this win vs. the Patriots should remind Patrick Mahomes and Co that good times never last forever

The signs were there long before this match-up was bumped off primetime TV and these two teams made history for all the wrong reasons. 

Long before Patriots fans huddled around open fires on Sunday morning and watched as Foxborough was painted red and white. 

Long before the end of Star-Spangled Banner, when an unmistakable cry of ‘Chiefs’ echoed around Gillette Stadium. That proved the cue for one observer to remark about the mighty and the size of their fall. The only question: What took him so long to notice? 

The fate of Bill Belichick, recent reports suggest, has yet to be decided. Patriots chief Robert Kraft is said to be still making up his mind over the head coach and the next chapter in New England. 

What is clear: the 71-year-old who - over 23 years and six Super Bowl wins - built arguably the greatest dynasty in NFL history has earned every chance to right this sinking ship. But if sport works in cycles then the scale of this downturn has been stark. It has been sad. And it will sting that, on Sunday, it was the Kansas City Chiefs who nudged Belichick ever closer to the exit door.

Andy Reid has put together the NFL’s most dominant team since the best of Belichick and Tom Brady and after this 27-17 win he branded the Patriots coach the ‘best in the business — ever’. Reid insisted, too, that the Chiefs were ‘right’ to take a knee at the end of this game, rather than run up the score. He meant well, but that might prove the most damning verdict of all. 

It remains unclear whether this defeat, a sixth in seven games that leaves the Patriots 3-11, will mark the penultimate home game of Belichick’s remarkable tenure. But after another miserable season, after just one playoff game since 2019 years, the end certainly feels near – if not nigh. His post-game press conference on Sunday was a spiky, sombre spectacle. No one pressed the coach on his future. No one need remind him of what’s at stake.

For Reid and his players, this trip should serve as a useful reminder that good times never last and that foundations, which take years and years to build, can crumble rather more rapidly.

The Chiefs caught of glimpse of that over recent weeks, when cracks began to appear in the empire Reid has built with the help of Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Co. Only twice since 2018 – when Mahomes assumed the starting berth – had the Chiefs suffered four defeats in the space of six games. 

Rarely has all the pressure and all the tension boiled over like it did last week, when Mahomes and Reid protested a late call by the officials. The decision cost them victory against the Buffalo Bills. Their outburst cost them $150,000 in fines. Here, though, the reigning Super Bowl champions ensured the rot spread no further. 

They had to come through another wobble: 10 unanswered points and a Mahomes interception saw the Patriots lead until the final 35 seconds of the first half. A touchdown from Jerick McKinnon turned the tide and, by the time the clock ticked into a fourth quarter, the Chiefs had a 17-point cushion and any hopes of any upset, any chance the Patriots had of consigning Mahomes to a first ever three-game losing streak, appeared to have been extinguished. 

Bailey Zappe had started to fade, a few crucial decisions had gone against New England and injuries were piling up, too. But then Mahomes threw another interception, the quarterback had another moan on the sidelines and soon Kevin Harris had given the home side a lifeline. 

The Patriots failed to capitalize and so the decision to pull this game from Monday Night Football proved a shrewd one. Indeed, it is a sign of how grim things have become that defeat for the Patriots was arguably a plus: at least a loss strengthens their faint hopes of landing the No 1 pick at next year’s draft. Victory, meanwhile, would have salvaged only pride. 

New England’s fate was sealed last week, when they were knocked out of playoff contention at the earliest point of any season under Belichick. Their record now stands at 3-11. Who can blame the supporters who booed and then piled out of here before the end?

The Chiefs, meanwhile, will head home relieved and re-energized - even if not entirely happy. This was a win that cemented top spot in the AFC West but did little to allay concerns over their chances of a fourth Super Bowl in five years. Mahomes’ two interceptions said less about the quarterback than about his receivers, while Kelce failed to cling on to his pass in the end zone. 

At least, in the posh seats, his girlfriend was back to watching wins. Earlier this year, Belichick saw Taylor Swift perform here and then joked that she was the biggest catch of Kelce’s career. He was in a less playful mood when asked about the pop star in recent days.

Swift braved the pouring rain to finish her show at Gillette Stadium. The heavens opened again on Sunday night and, as storm clouds continue to gather in New England, only time will tell what this defeat means for the coach’s own Era.