The NFL season started on Thursday night, and early on, it looked like the New England Patriots were going to take care of business against the Kansas City Chiefs in Foxborough. Everything seemed to be pointing to the Patriots running away with a win, but the Chiefs dug down and stunned the football world.
Kansas City walked out of New England with a 42-27 win over the defending Super Bowl champions. Alex Smith was out of his mind (28-for-35, 368 yards, four touchdowns) while Tom Brady looked like a quarterback in his 40s (16-for-36, 267 yards, no touchdowns). Rookie running back Kareem Hunt fumbled on his first carry of the game, but the Chiefs kept him in the game and he made a massive statement, rushing 17 times for 148 yards and a score.
The Patriots got outgained, 537-371. This is not something that happens to New England anywhere, let alone their own building, so as you can guess, everyone felt the need to pile on after the loss.
The only time Tom Brady has ever been jealous of Alex Smith. pic.twitter.com/6ORsZlUGrd
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 8, 2017
The Jets are five minutes away from leading the Patriots by a 1/2 game in the AFC East. Chew on that for a sec. @cjzero pic.twitter.com/I9eqYL3WKk
— Tuv(s/z/n) (@Tuvs248) September 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/FatKidDeals/status/906009916866936832
when you win in foxborough pic.twitter.com/G94zvHXt18
— nick (@nick_pants) September 8, 2017
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) September 8, 2017
There were plenty of Brady jokes, as he was caught sitting on the sideline with a look on his face that screamed “I just got thrashed by Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs in my own building.”
when you're struggling to think of a relatable, real-life scenario for the latest sports meme pic.twitter.com/rlr9uBEyad
— nick (@nick_pants) September 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/906009538532216832
https://twitter.com/MikeGianella/status/906010881816895488
https://twitter.com/iamHectorDiaz/status/906008302168838145
There were even some callbacks to the Super Bowl, including an observation by Shannon Sharpe that is sure to make Falcons fans upset.
Hope Falcons aren't watching this gm. With all this running of the 🏈 👀👀👀👀
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) September 8, 2017
Had this cued up for the Super Bowl but never got to use it. So… enjoy. pic.twitter.com/RU2XVvkc2Z
— Mostly Bryan (@TeachSlate) September 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/MattRHinton/status/906016169844289537
No one had more joy watching this than former Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew. That’s because he did this when he was asked to break down the game a few days ago…
https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/906007527417987073
…and tweeted this out when it was obvious the Chiefs were going to come out on top.
— Maurice Jones-Drew (@MJD) September 8, 2017
The most stunning part about the game was easily the fact that New England just did not look like the juggernaut they’ve been for the last nearly two decades, especially Brady, who had an objectively terrible game. The least stunning part, though, was that the internet was ready to make jokes at the Patriots’ expense when the game reached its conclusion.
