The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
PATRIOTS AT CHIEFS
game AFC championship
6:40 p.m., Jan. 20 Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo. Patriots 12-5, Chiefs 13-4 WOIO 1 seed on the road. That’s the reality, just like we’re tough to beat at home when we’re the No. 1 seed,” Brady said this week. “It takes a lot. It takes a lot of good football. It takes a great complementary game. All three phases have to be on point. We’re going against a team that scores a lot of points.”
They will also have to deal with what could be the coldest temperature for a game in Arrowhead Stadium history. An arctic blast is forecast for Kansas City.
Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower said his focus will be on trying to contain the NFL’s top scoring offense and not the thermometer.
“It’s definitely one of the hardest places to play. But, at the end of the day, it just comes down to executing It comes down to football and executing plays,” Hightower said. “They’re a high-powered offense and they’re real good on defense, so obviously defensively, we’re going to have to eliminate big plays.”
The Patriots opened the week as a three-point underdog, the first time in 68 games, including playoffs, that Brady didn’t enter a week as the favorite.
The previous time Brady wasn’t the favorite was on Sept. 20, 2015, at Buffalo. The Pats were two-point underdogs that day and won the game 40-32.
It’s why Chiefs coach Andy Reid is expecting Brady and the Patriots’ best effort on Sunday.
“They’re a heck of a team, so I don’t get caught up in all that,” Reid said. “You’re talking about a dynasty, if there is such a thing, in the National Football League. They’ve been that. You’re talking about a head coach that I think the world of him, I think he’s a great coach. He’s done a phenomenal job keeping that thing together. We’re getting ready to get their best shot, offense, defense and special teams.”