The New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs will square off to open the 2017 National Football League season on Thursday night, and already NFL analysts are weighing in with not only predictions, but what in sports talk parlance are known as “hot takes.” And the hottest take of all may have come from former Jacksonville Jaguars and Oakland Raiders running back Maurice Jones-Drew, now an analyst for NFL Network, who made headlines for all the wrong reasons with his own over-the-top claim on Monday.
During a broadcast alongside former Patriots fullback Heath Evans, Jones-Drew claimed that Chiefs head Coach Andy Reid actually gives his team an edge in the coaching department over Patriots boss Bill Belichick — who has led the New England team to five Super Bowl titles and seven Super Bowl appearances in his 17 years at the helm in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
“First of all, Andy Reid, I appreciate you, offering us all those good things on Fridays, junk food Fridays,” Jones-Drew said on the broadcast. “I got to go with you, not because of junk food Friday, because of week one and on bye weeks, Andy Reid is 26 and 10. He has a winning record. I know he’s going against Bill Belichick, but I feel like Andy Reid, always has when he has extra time to prepare for a team, he knows how to pull out all the stops, I got to go with the Chiefs.”
Watch Jones-Drew deliver his hot take as an incredulous Evans looks on, by clicking on the video below.
A report on the comments by CBS Boston immediately labeled Jones-Drew’s claim “Most Ridiculous Statement of the Year.” Which is especially remarkable because the 2017 NFL season has not even officially started yet.
Nonetheless, Jones-Drew did concede that the Patriots have an advantage over the Chiefs in most other offensive categories, including quarterback, running backs and the receiving corps. As a result, Evans dismissed Jones-Drew’s claim about Reid having an edge over Belichick as “you trying to make it look close.”
Football fans on Twitter were also stunned by Jones-Drew’s hot take.
Today I learned that Andy Reid is a better coach than Bill Belichick… pic.twitter.com/jXQ8hgLjgR
— Ian Walorz (@TheWalorz) September 4, 2017
How does Maurice Jones-Drew still have a job at NFL Network after this? Bad look for “National Media”. https://t.co/6OIqMzSjRU
— John O’Callaghan (@JOCallaghan_ENT) September 4, 2017
What league is he watching???? It’s not the NFL. pic.twitter.com/BMvsb2pRI3
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) September 4, 2017
The guy picked Andy Reid over Bill Belichick…Now that’s a Come’On Man moment
— Jason Heuer (@kingrancher07) September 4, 2017
Either blatant disrespect towards Bill Belichick, or somebody has been drinking too much of that red Kansas City loving Andy Reid Kool-Aid https://t.co/jqZqBwpBhk
— Rally Towel (@RallyTowelMedia) September 4, 2017
The Chiefs and Patriots have not faced each other since the two teams met in an AFC Divisional Round playoff game on January 16, 2016. The Patriots won that matchup by a 27-20 score, but were defeated in the AFC title game by the Denver Broncos who went on to win that season’s Super Bowl.
That playoff game marked the second of two meetings between Belichick and Reid since Reid took over the Chiefs’ head coaching job after the 2012 season. In 2014, the teams clashed in a regular season game — a game that was a rare low point in Belichick’s tenure, with the Chiefs clobbering his Patriots 41-14 on September 29, 2014. But the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl in that season anyway.
In games either following bye weeks or in the first week of the season, since he took over the Patriots with the 2000 season, Belichick’s teams have won 39 times and suffered only 12 defeats.
[Featured Image By Al Bello/Getty Images]
