Julian Edelman had a great career as a wide receiver, winning three Super Bowls and even earning MVP honors in one. But we all have things we dread in life. For the former New England Patriots star, it was playing against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead.
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Edelman isn’t alone either. Many former and current players hate facing the Chiefs in their stadium. The atmosphere, the weather, and the noise all make it tough to handle.
“I hated playing here in Kansas City. You couldn’t hear anything. You knew you were playing against a great football team,” Edelman shared on NFL on Fox.
Ever since Andy Reid took over in 2013, the KC Chiefs have indeed been a great football team. In fact, they’ve never finished lower than 2nd in the AFC West, and have won the division 9 times in a row. Basically, if you had to pick a team you didn’t want to face on the road, Arrowhead in KC would be right near the top. No wonder Edelman dreaded it.
However, today’s matchup is a tall task for the Chiefs. After losing Week 1 to the Los Angeles Chargers, they need to bounce back. Tom Brady thinks so, too.
“This is a big statement game for them. Less so than last year’s game… I think the Chiefs just need to get back on track this season. They’re 0-1, their first home game of the year, and they got a quality opponent [in the Eagles]. They gotta find a way to pull this one out,” Brady said on NFL on Fox.
If the Chiefs were to lose and fall to 0-2, alarms might start going off in the Red Kingdom. It might sound silly, but despite making the Super Bowl last season and going 15-2, Kansas City got a bit lucky last year. They won a league-leading 12 games by just one score, a pattern that carried into the playoffs. That is, until they ran into the same Philadelphia Eagles they’re about to face and got thoroughly pounded.
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The first game of the year for the Chiefs felt somewhat like a regression to the mean. They lost by one score and were playing catch-up all night. If the same were to happen again today (or even worse, if they lost by multiple scores like they did in the Super Bowl), concerns would be justified. That’s why this game is one to watch closely.
One thing is for certain, though. The Chiefs have the home-field advantage. Now, they just need to use that advantage to secure a gutsy win.
