It’s been a while since the Patriots and Chiefs faced one another — and it doesn’t bring back good memories.
Yup, the 2008 season opener at Gillette. The same game that Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard lunged at Tom Brady’s knee, tearing his ACL, ending his season and putting the Patriots season to bed before the first quarter of the first game even ended.
Pollard is gone, as are a lot of players on both sides from that game.
“A lot of new faces, of course new coaches, quite a few new players from the last time we played them,” Bill Belichick said. “So we’re really starting from scratch. Impressive team. I think some of the things I’ve been impressed with are their overall toughness.
“I think they’re a hard-nosed football team that’s tough. They’ve got some receivers, and some big physical guys that really like to take it to the defense.”
One very familiar face is that of Romeo Crennel, now defensive coordinator of the Chiefs and formerly of the Patriots. The Chiefs play a similar defensive scheme as the Pats, so both sides know what they’re getting into.
“Defensively they’re very well coached,” Tom Brady said. “We’ve been around Romeo for a long time, so we have a decent understanding of what he does but we haven’t played these guys in a while.”
