It was a yearly exercise in the handicapping and broadcast field of predictions that “this” was the year Tom Brady and his New England Patriots would stumble. That their run of supremacy in the AFC East was doomed because ….
Never happened.
Beginning in 2003, the New England Patriots won the AFC East Division 15 of 16 seasons, the only year they failed to win their division was when Brady was injured on opening day and missed the 2008 season. Even that year, the Patriots won 11 games and just missed another title, finishing second to the Miami Dolphins in a tiebreaker determination while both teams had the same won/loss record.
In most of those seasons, the Patriots also eclipsed their preseason win/total projections which consistently hovered around 11 or 12. In recent seasons, we are having the same situation arise from another AFC team with a future Hall of Fame first ballot enshrinee running their offense; Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs.
Since he took over as the starter in 2018, the Kansas City Chiefs have won the AFC West every year, appeared in seven AFC Championship Games, and advanced to five Super Bowls while winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy three times.
Is this the year the Chiefs drop from their perch atop the AFC West standings?