Bill Belichick remembers again: “We're on the way to Cincinnati” and praises the Chiefs for his weekly “ManningCast” appearance

There was routine excitement on every defensive line, allowing opposing quarterbacks to get into the pocket, and a moment or two to praise the strong New Orleans special teams.

“The Saints are a good special forces unit,” Belichick mused at kickoff after the Saints had scored the only points of the first half. “They like to force kickoff returns, and this time Kansas City mishandled the ball (and) they took it to the 20-yard line. They did that all year long. They covered kickoffs really well.”

Above all, it meant praise for a Chiefs franchise that Belichick had seen plenty of during his two-decade tenure with the Patriots. Travis Kelce caught three straight balls from Patrick Mahomes, the centerpiece of a 78-yard touchdown drive and a monster half for the superstar tight end as Belichick joined the Manning brothers on Monday night's alternate broadcast.

Belichick's respect came just as easily.

“Kelce, on those extended plays, third down, red zone,” Belichick said. “He’s a problem.”

The tight end accounted for more than a quarter of Kansas City's offense and went 16-7 with eight catches for 67 yards on 10 targets. That included a 5-yard catch on a third-and-21 that Kelce turned into a 20-yard play with a lateral to Samaje Perine. (The Chiefs converted on fourth down and eventually scored a field goal.)

It was more than Kelce — who Peyton said had “the best feel for zone coverage ever” — usually managed against Belichick's Patriots. In eight games, Kelce averaged 50.5 yards and two touchdowns. Regardless, Belichick knew he would always be someone to focus on.

“We always doubled it. He's a big problem. I just felt like you had to do something to neutralize him,” Belichick said. “Whether it was blocking him on the line, doubling him inside out. Try to stop him from getting a clean discharge. He was her contact.”

Long before Kelce's lateral, Belichick pointed to the tight end's versatility, and not just as a run blocker. Belichick recalled the Chiefs' win in December 2019 at Gillette Stadium, in which the Patriots limited Kelce to 66 yards but didn't keep him off the scoreboard.

“We did a pretty good job on him most of the game, and then they got into the red zone (and) Andy (Reid) put him at quarterback,” Belichick said. “He executed the option. . . . We messed up the assignments and he scored.”

Belichick was also eager to praise Reid, an opponent as coach of both the Donovan McNabb Eagles and the Mahomes-led Chiefs.

“He always has an athletic quarterback. Obviously Mahomes is very good at this. That creates problems,” Belichick said. “Andy is doing a good job of improving his team throughout the year. And look, sometimes they start very quickly. They killed us in the opener in Foxborough (in 2017). I think you just have to do it, he does a good job of figuring out what his team is good at and adjusting the offensive plan to take advantage of the players he has and their strengths.”

Belichick also called Reid “one of the best red zone coaches I've ever coached against” and emphasized Kansas City's situational ability. (Although taking advantage of the last timeout in the first half, with 27 seconds left, embarrassed the trio.)

Belichick won all three of his playoff games with Reid's teams, but was just 7-5 overall against him. One of those losses came on a Monday night in Week 4 at Arrowhead Stadium (41-14) in September 2014. You probably remember the following week better, when the Patriots moved on to Cincinnati, as Belichick pointed out in a legendary press conference the Brothers played at the two-minute warning.

The coach had to laugh. For one thing, New England's subsequent win over the Bengals kicked off a 13-2 run to the franchise's fourth Super Bowl title.

“Go on to Cincinnati. That’s all we could do,” Belichick said. “Our guys responded really well the next week. Luckily they saved me in the process. . . . It was a long night, a long night in Kansas City. I can promise you that.”