Patriots
“There’s something about being the villain. I loved being on the road sometimes.”
Julian Edelman played in some of the greatest football games in NFL history over the span of his 11 years with the Patriots.
The former wideout played a pivotal role in three Super Bowl triumphs over the Seahawks, Falcons, and Rams, culminating in Super Bowl MVP honors during New England’s victory over Los Angeles.
But, speaking to David Andrews and Brian Hoyer on the “Quick Snap” podcast, Edelman said that his favorite game as a Patriot was actually a road playoff game — the 2018 AFC Championship matchup against the Chiefs.
Edelman — who finished the game with seven catches for 96 yards — said that he wanted to secure a playoff victory on the road, considering that a majority of his postseason victories were at Gillette Stadium.
“Honestly, I was just so damn sick and tired of hearing Bill (Belichick) talk about the old team going into San Diego and winning [the 2006 AFC Divisional playoff game] or, you know, the Troy Brown [forced] fumble,” Edelman said. “And then the narrative that the league thought: We could only win when we had it at the house.”
For Edelman, the rise of the Chiefs’ dynasty following the Brady Era in Foxborough also made that AFC title game a riveting matchup.
The Chiefs entered that bout with the Patriots as the favorites amid Patrick Mahomes’ breakout MVP season. But, Kansas City’s hopes of punching its ticket to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1970 came to a halt due to Tom Brady and New England.
Both Brady (348 yards) and Mahomes (295 yards, three touchdowns) dueled during a frigid night at Arrowhead Stadium, with New England ultimately sealing the win with a 75-yard drive in overtime that ended with a touchdown run by Rex Burkhead.
The Patriots converted on three third-down situations during that game-winning drive.
“That was kind of like the passing of the torch between the organizations — Tom to Patrick, Patriots to Chiefs,” Edelman said of that game. “They were the sexy, young, fast, fun team … and we were the old team that no one talked about.
“We were dog crap throughout the whole season. ‘Oh, they don’t have the guys, they don’t have the receivers, they don’t have the linemen, they don’t have the team, and Tom’s too old.’ And we went out and we just … we won.”
Beyond the stakes involved in that playoff showdown, Edelman admitted that the opportunity to send a stadium full of opposing fans home with a loss was a feeling that both he and the rest of his teammates relished.
“They had a great atmosphere. I mean, the Chiefs’ stadium gets rocking,” Edelman said. “There’s something about being the villain. I loved being on the road sometimes.”
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