Mike Reiss explains how he thinks things will play out with Belichick, Patriots

On Tuesday's edition of Zolak & Bertrand, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, joins the show and gives his opinion on how the end of the season will play out between the Patriots and Bill Belichick.

Mike Reiss: I look at it. I'll just speak for myself Beetle. You know, I think on this story, when I think about Bill's future, I've always thought it was going to be at the end of the year, three people are going to sit down, Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft and Bill Belichick. And that meeting will ultimately be the decider as to what happens. Because I think at points along the way Beetle, like if you had asked me what would Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft be feeling after that Germany game? I think they would probably be like, it's time. There are points in the season where it can get so emotional, but you know like there are also people who measure out their decisions, like they don't make emotional decisions. So, like you said Beetle, they might know and they might have already measured it out. For me, I'll speak for myself. I'm just going to wait to find out what happens in that meeting. And ultimately, we might find out. Yeah, they did. They were ready to move on.

Bertrand: I think they might be having that meeting going into it, thinking to themselves he's staying. So I don't think it's one way or the other. I think they've got a decision made, but I think it could be that they want him to stay. I don't think it's automatic that they want him fired.

Mike Reiss: So that's interesting.

Bertrand: I think that meeting is happening either way, given how this is played out on the field and that they have these meetings at the end of the year, every year.

Mike Reiss: That's right.

Bertrand: But that meeting this year is about him, not just about the team. And they might be going into that meeting saying this guy is not going anywhere.

Mike Reiss: I think that's interesting, Beetle, because I think to me, the context of the discussion comes back to March, when Robert Kraft said it's very important to me that we're in the playoffs. And I also think from the big picture, the four year snapshot, like, Tom leaving that to me is where I start on this whole discussion because we know with Robert Kraft, that really hurt him. He really wanted that to happen, you know for Tom to stay here and it didn't. And so I think he's as he measures this out as we talk about it, it's the four years what's happened since that point. And then it's this season and how it went downhill. So I don't know Beetle based on that. I don't know. That's an interesting point of view that you think he would want him to stay.

The New England Patriots hung around with the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half, but cooled off as Patrick Mahomes and K.C. pulled away in the second half, handing the Pats their 11th loss of the season by a 27-17 final.

Mahomes went 27-of-37 for 305 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, getting the Chiefs back on track after two straight losses. Patriots quarterback Bailey Zappe was 23-of-31 for 180 yards, one touchdown and one interception in defeat.

The Patriots briefly took the lead in the second quarter, but the Chiefs then rattled off 17 unanswered points. Mahomes completed passes to 10 different receivers, while running back Jerick McKinnon scored both receiving and passing touchdowns. The Chiefs ultimately made a few more plays on offense, and the Patriots made a few too many mistakes to keep up with the superior club.

New England briefly had a chance to rally in the fourth quarter, after a Jahlani Tavai interception turned into a Kevin Harris touchdown run. But the Chiefs killed about half of the remaining clock on the following possession, then forced a turnover on downs and ran the clock out from there.

The Patriots are now 3-11 on the 2023 season. Their final three games are on the road at the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, then at home against the New York Jets.

The game started with some lowlights, namely a missed field goal each between Patriots rookie Chad Ryland and the Chiefs' Harrison Butker. Before Ryland's miss, Zappe went 7-of-7 on the drive to set up the field foal try, including a 20-yard completion to DeVante Parker.

After taking over at the Patriots' 31-yard line, Mahomes drove the Chiefs down the field and into the end zone in four plays. Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire got to the red zone with a 48-yard catch-and-run. For the touchdown, McKinnon took the direct snap then pitched it ahead to receiver Rashee Rice.

The Patriots were able to answer that touchdown two possessions later, with the same connection that powered them to a win over the Steelers. First, Zappe made an improbable pass to Parker for another big gain, keeping the drive alive on third down.

But to cap the drive, Zappe went back to tight end Hunter Henry, who caught two touchdowns in Pittsburgh. The 16-yard score made it 7-7 late in the second quarter.

The Pats followed the touchdown up with a takeaway. On the first play of the ensuing Chiefs drive, rookie Marte Mapu snatched the ball away at the catch point against tight end Blake Bell for his first career interception.

The Patriots almost grabbed a go-ahead touchdown, but the score by Henry got called back due to an offensive holding penalty on left tackle Conor McDermott. The Patriots did grab their first and only lead, though, as Ryland converted from 25 yards.

Mahomes, meanwhile, answered that with another touchdown to put the Chiefs back on top. He completed passes of 31 and 20 yards as part of an 11-play, 75-yard drive, finished off with a short touchdown catch-and-run by McKinnon. The Chiefs went to halftime up 14-10.

To start the third quarter, Mahomes spread the ball around en route to a 29-yard field goal by Butker to make it 17-10. Then, on the Patriots' first offensive play of the quarter, Zappe forced a throw that Willie Gay intercepted, setting the Chiefs up at the Patriots' 7-yard line. Edwards-Helaire finished it off with a touchdown catch-and-run, making it 24-10.

Harris' touchdown run was accomplished with stout blocking by center David Andrews and left guard Atonio Mafi. The latter did an admirable job filling in for Cole Strange, who was carted off with a possible serious knee injury in the second quarter.

Up Next: The Patriots will try to get to four wins in a good challenge on the road against the Denver Broncos on Christmas Eve.

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Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Check out all of Matt's content.