It wasn’t Sony Michel’s three touchdowns that should have given Patriot fans a familiar sense of the willies.
It wasn’t Julian Edelman’s 151 yards receiving, nor Tom Brady’s 343-yard performance against the San Diego Chargers last week that should instill some added swagger heading into Sunday’s AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs. It wasn’t even the fact that Adrian Clayborn showed up, finally, in the final game played this season at Gillette Stadium.
No, the reason the Chiefs should be fearful of another playoff hiccup is because these new Patriots seem a lot like the old Patriots.