Patriots Disappoint Everybody; Won't Go 19-0

What's the date under that headline above?

Yup. 8 Sep 2017.

Just checking.

Who knew the hopes, dreams, and assumptions of so many would be dashed not only in Week 1 of the NFL season, but in the very first game?

As soon as we discovered there were three hurricanes stirring the Atlantic for the first time in known history, we shoulda known this was coming.

Odds are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will show up next.

Such is the power of a football team's losses across America in Week 1.

Apparently.

Just a hunch, but based on their past accomplishments, it does seem like the New England Patriots are quite capable of overcoming this devastating one-game losing streak.

As to those spoilsport Kansas City Chiefs -- who had the audacity to upstage a perfectly worthy celebration -- they probably didn't have time to consider how much they looked like the gatecrashers they were.

Dudes were no doubt totally focused on staging their own celebration.

Between the lines.

The indignities of this game read like a litany:

• No one has laid 42 points on Bill Belichick's Patriots,
• No opponent had ever come back to win in Foxboro when the Pats' enterred the fourth quarter with a lead, a streak that stretched for 105 games,
• No rookie has set an NFL debut record of 246 yards from scrimmage against the Pats' -- or any team's defense, and
• No opponent had gained 537 yards against that defense in Belichick's 17 years at the helm.

But hell, dude's been there before.

And did anyone outside of Kansas City ever consider that the Chiefs might actually be that good?

Maybe the bookmeisters didn't think so. According to Bovada:

• In spite of their 12-4 record last season, their win line is 9½ games in light of their tougher schedule in 2017, but
• They're +160 to win the AFC West,
• They're +700 to take the AFC title, tied with the Raiders for third-best odds, and
• They're +1400 to win the Super Bowl, where the Patriots are +400.

Damn right.

Because it's Week 1.