The Patriots are so Bad They Cost the Chiefs a Primetime Opportunity

The Super Bowl-winning days are long gone in New England, and the NFL 's scheduling decision-makers recognized that in a league-first announcement on Thursday.

A Week 15 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots has been flexed out of the Monday Night Football stage. In its primetime place, the NFC-leading Philadelphia Eagles will now play the Seahawks in Seattle on December 18. The Chiefs-Patriots contest will air at 1 p.m. ET on Fox the day before. This marks the first time the NFL has moved a game out of the Monday night spotlight. Flexible scheduling was first implemented by the league in 2006. But this is the first year it has been expanded, on a trial basis, to include Monday and Thursday night games.

The Eagles (10-1) are positioning themselves for another Super Bowl run, while the Seahawks (6-5) are currently clinging to a Wild Card spot. And the league deemed that a more entertaining national game than a meeting between the AFC's reigning champion and the conference's last-place team.

Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots speaks with Mac Jones #10 in the second half of the game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on October 22, 2023, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Patriots are 2-9 and at the bottom of the AFC.

Maddie Meyer//

Airing a Kansas City game is usually a network's dream. The Chiefs (8-3) are the defending Super Bowl champs and feature perhaps the league's best player in Patrick Mahomes, plus—as a bonus—the Travis Kelce -Taylor Swift relationship has been a draw for audiences. But the decision to keep them off national screens shows how poorly things are going in New England for the 2-9 Patriots.

Not that the team's players don't already know.

"You lucky we ass," Patriots Defensive Back Jabrill Peppers said to New York Giants Running Back Saquon Barkley in a mic'd up moment after New England's 10-7 loss on Sunday.

The Patriots' most recent defeat was their fourth straight. The franchise is on pace to finish with its fewest wins in the 24-year Bill Belichick era. Quarterback Mac Jones was benched again after throwing for only 89 yards and two picks in the first half against the Giants. Bailey Zappe took over under center, led the team on a touchdown drive to open the third quarter, but eventually finished 9-of-14 passing for 54 yards and a pick in the loss.

New England ranks 31st in the NFL in points per game and 25th in yards this season.

"Yeah, just bad quarterback play and wasn't good enough by me," Jones said postgame. "So, if the quarterback doesn't play well, you have no chance... I understood. I wasn't moving the ball. I wasn't scoring points. So, I understand why that happened."

Before the NFL flexed the Patriots out of the Monday night game, New England was scheduled to appear in primetime for three consecutive weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Patriots on Thursday Night Football in Week 14, then the Pats play the Broncos in Denver on Sunday Night Football in Week 16. The Chiefs game is sandwiched in between.

Who will be taking snaps for the Patriots in these games? Or even this week? That's up in the air.

"Yeah, I'm not going to make any announcements on our lineup at any position," the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach said at his Wednesday press conference when asked about the QB situation. "So, it doesn't matter what the position is. We'll see how practice goes, see if everybody is ready to go. Hopefully, everybody is ready to go, see what the injury situation is, and we'll go with who we think is best on Sunday."

The Patriots host the Chargers (4-7) at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.

In other scheduling news, the league announced a tripleheader of Saturday games for Week 15. The Minnesota Vikings (6-6) and Cincinnati Bengals (5-6) will face off at 1 p.m. ET on December 16, followed by the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-4) playing the Indianapolis Colts (6-5) at 4:30 p.m. ET. The trio of games will culminate in a Denver Broncos (6-5)-Detroit Lions (8-3) game at 8:15 p.m. ET. All three contests will air on the NFL Network.

Uncommon Knowledge

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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.