‘It was a whirlwind.’ How Chiefs, Patriots adjusted to COVID-19 postponement
Early Monday morning, the Chiefs talked game preparation, not game evaluation. They went over a final tuneup, not an initial install.
Some 48 hours earlier, when they last stepped foot into their facility, they were told to go home. Banned from their place of work.
Now, they prepared for a football game under some of the most unusual circumstances of their careers. A game 24 hours after they’d expected to play it. The player at the center of their game plan no longer even allowed to participate.
“You have to be able to expect the unexpected,” Patrick Mahomes said.
The Chiefs beat the Patriots 26-10 on Monday night in a game that was somehow both very un-Chiefs like and un-Patriots like. The Chiefs’ offense stalled. The Patriots committed penalties and turnovers, elements uncharacteristic of their recent history. It looked more like a preseason game, less like a matchup featuring the past two Super Bowl winners.
Or maybe it resembled a football game between teams suddenly swung more forcefully into the pandemic.
After players from both teams tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday — Patriots starting quarterback Cam Newton and Chiefs practice squad quarterback Joran Ta’amu — the NFL intervened and postponed the game from Sunday to Monday.
An extra day on the calendar, sure. Yet a tighter-than-ever window in which to prepare for a football game.
The Patriots had spent the week charging ahead with a resurgent Cam Newton. Instead, they gave 34-year-old Brian Hoyer his first career start with the franchise. The Chiefs had spent less time preparing for Hoyer than you’ve probably spent reading this story.
“It’s different. But we’re expecting different this year,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We had to put it together and kind of back up a step there. They sent us home on Saturday, which we understand, and closed the office up. We were able to get back in as coaches and work a little bit, but the players weren’t allowed back in up until (Monday), so they have not been in the building.
“But there’s no excuse to it. Heck, we had a game plan together, and it was just one little obstacle that was in there. They had an obstacle. They had to fly in today, so that’s not an easy thing. Plus, no quarterback. They were using backup quarterbacks.”
Yes, the Patriots’ itinerary said it best. They were at work before sunrise Monday, heading to their facility for one final COVID-19 test before boarding two separate planes to Kansas City, one for those who had been in contact with Newton and one for those who had not. They arrived at Arrowhead by afternoon, played a football game and then darted back home. Zero nights at a hotel.
It’s a schedule indicative of 2020 — and one that might sound unusual but could face another NFL team in the future.
“It was a whirlwind, but that’s just the world we’re living in, in 2020,” Hoyer said. “You just have to try to make the most of it. It had nothing to do with the bad plays that I had.”
The Chiefs-Patriots recent history proved it worthy of a primetime evening game, even it was never intended to be.
The play, however, didn’t fit the primetime billing. Both teams refused to blame the last-minute adjustments for the on-field product.
But how could it not affect the game?
“It’s a big challenge,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “I think football players, a lot of of us, we like rhythm and routine. We like to stay in that. I think right now, it’s unfortunate that a lot of people are going to go out of their way with their routine.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 5:00 AM.