Pennel finds home with K.C.
Patriots’ castoff plays for it all in Miami
MIAMI — Chiefs defensive tackle Mike Pennel knew his time was up in New England this summer. He just didn’t know why.
According to Pennel, he never found out.
“It was just tough,” said Pennel, who was released by the Patriots in late August after signing as a free agent. “As a competitor and as an athlete, things happen. And you always want to know and sometimes in this business, especially the NFL, you don’t get answers to questions you want to know.”
During an interview Monday at Super Bowl Opening Night, Pennel intimated several times he’s connected better with Kansas City’s staff than his former coaches in New England. He signed with the Pats on the first day of free agency last March and immediately projected as their next starting nose tackle. However, Pennel experienced an up-anddown training camp and played deep into the team’s first three preseason games, indicating his roster spot was in danger.
Two days after the third game, he was released.
“So after that point, it was a little bit of confusion, a little bit of relief when I got cut,” Pennel remembered. “(I thought) there’s bound to somewhere with a lot more transparency and things like that.”
Pennel found that transparency in Kansas City, where he signed in mid-October and now plays for former Patriots defensive line coach Brendan Daly. The 330pounder stressed he has formed strong bonds with Daly, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and head coach Andy Reid. It’s been a welcome change.
“It’s different when you can go up to your coach and can talk life and not just football. It’s different when you can have a different technique or be able to talk techniques with your coach,” he said. “Some places you can do that and some places you can’t, and New England wasn’t a place you can do that.”
He continued: “I’m close with them guys. They can come talk to me, and I can talk to them. It’s just a real good relationship between us.”
Daly praised Pennel’s impact on the Chiefs defense, which has seen significant improvement against the run since he arrived. In eight regular-season games, Pennel recorded 24 tackles and one sack.
“He’s got a great energy,” Daly said. “He works really hard, he’s got a good skill set in terms of some length, some explosiveness. He’s been able to learn well in terms of quickly picking up our system. … He kind of started with a small role, did a great job with it and it’s continued to expand.”
Chiefs: Beating Pats was turning point
It’s been more than two months since the Chiefs lost a game.
They’ve gone 7-0, winning two playoff games, picking up three divisional wins and triumphing both at home and on the road. One of those victories now stands out above all the rest: their 23-16 triumph in New England in early December.
“A lot of people talk about earlier, where our hot streak started,” Pennel began Monday, “but I think that’s where everybody got brought together and realized that we’re really starting to come together.”
Pennel admitted he played with a chip on his shoulder that day, seeking revenge over the team that had cut him that summer. Most Chiefs were on board with the idea, having lost to the Patriots in the 2019 AFC Championship Game just 11 months earlier and been denied a trip to Super Bowl LIII. But none of them knew how difficult it would be to win in Foxboro like veteran quarterback Matt Moore, who spent seven seasons with the Dolphins before signing with Kansas City this season and never won a single road game against the Patriots.
“Speaking from my Dolphins years, it’s hard to get wins up there,” Moore said. So to go up there in a game late in the year, two really good teams, and get a win, I think it kind of let guys know we can do this. We can go up against the best.”