NFL Rumors: New England Patriots No Longer Super Bowl Favorites? Tom Brady, Dion Lewis Reject Playoffs Predictions

By Mitch de Leon
Tom Brady
Photo: AP

The New England Patriots are entering the playoffs from a slightly disappointing standpoint. After dominating the NFL at the start of the season, the Tom Brady squad lost four of their last six games before the playoffs. These losses translated to them relinquishing the top seed in the AFC, which was taken by Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos.

With these in mind, the Rob Gronkowski squad appears to have also lost the faith of the NFL community that they can replicate their Super Bowl win this season. With the Seattle Seahawks starting to show signs of championship plays, the Dion Lewis squad has yet actually to return to their old winning selves. However, Brady refuses to back down - be it against a re-energized Russell Wilson team or a surging Cam Newton squad.

Heading into the AFC divisional round playoffs, the New England Patriots will welcome the Kansas City Chiefs at the Gillette Stadium. The face off, which is scheduled for January 16 (Saturday) at 4:35 pm ET will mark the 30th career postseason game from Brady. The last time the New England Patriots faced the Kansas City Chiefs had been in 2014, where the latter crushed the former with a 41-14 final score. However, Brady and his team, later on, moved forward to win the Super Bowl trophy that same NFL season.

In an interview with WEEI's Dennis and Callahan, the New England Patriots quarterback shared his two cents on their upcoming opponent. He said, "They [Kansas] just force you into a lot of bad football, and they've got guys offensively that they can control the clock, they run the ball a lot, they have a very good quarterback who plays very efficiently. That's what they did to us, that's kind of a winning formula for them. That's been a winning formula for a long time."

Brady also cited the great defense of the Kansas City Chiefs. The quarterback also shared how the Alex Smith squad exerts pressure on the key players of the opposing teams. Brady also praised several solid football stars in the Kansas City Chiefs roster.

"They play very good defense. They rush the quarterback. They get ahead, they play on their terms," described Brady. He added, "They do a lot of things effectually schematic-wise that present problems for an offense. And then if you get a little hesitant back there as a quarterback, they force you into mistakes. And they've got a lot of playmakers on defense. Derrick Johnson's one of the best linebackers in the league, Eric Berry's one of the best safeties, [Marcus] Peters is one of the best corners, Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, along with the guys on the inside, they're all real playmakers."

The Kansas City Chiefs will enter Saturday's match with a 12-5 record this NFL season. The Justin Houston squad is fresh off a blowout 30-0 win over JJ Watts' Houston Texans in the Wild Card division. Meanwhile, the New England Patriots hold a 12-4 record and are coming off a 20-10 loss at the hands of the Miami Dolphins.

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