Before anyone even starts thinking about the fact that the Patriots have already beaten the Chiefs this season, I want to address it.
Yes, the Patriots beat the Chiefs earlier this season—in New England. Why do I stress the fact that the game was in New England? Because no other team in the NFL had a more drastic discrepancy between home and away games. The Patriots are a perfect 9-0 (including their playoff win) at home this season. Not only were they undefeated at home, but their average margin of victory was 15.9 points. So not only do they win at home, but it isn’t even close (usually).
The road is another story. This same Patriots team that pummels most opponents at home doesn’t even have a winning record on the road. That’s right, New England is just 3-5 on the road this season.
Now surely if the Patriots had that hard of a time on the road, it must have been because (like the Chiefs) they faced so many high-quality opponents on the road. Right? Well, not so fast. Those five road losses were to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers. In case you weren’t keeping tabs at home, NONE of those teams made the playoffs. The Patriots faced just one playoff team on the road this season (the Chicago Bears) and still went just 3-5 in those games.
So at home, the Patriots were an unstoppable force (like we saw against the Chargers on Sunday) and on the road, they went just 2-5 against non-playoff teams. Oh, and by the way, the one and only team to go into Foxboro and lose by less than a touchdown? That’s right, your Kansas City Chiefs who lost by just three points on a last-second field goal. Every other team lost by at least a touchdown or more.
To make matters worse for the Patriots, the Chiefs have been excellent at home this season, boasting a 9-1 record with their latest playoff win factored in. The Chiefs only home loss coming at the hands of the Chargers late in the season. So the Patriots already have issues on the road and now they have to travel to Arrowhead Stadium, home of the loudest fans in the NFL to face a team that is 9-1 at home this year. I like those odds.
If you’re still not convinced yet, let’s dig into those five New England loses a little more and see if there are any other reasons that KC fans should feel optimistic.