Patriots legend happy for Chiefs, says string of success 'a lot of fun to watch'

There’s plenty of comparisons between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots in terms of success. It’s a debate that quickly regains steam once Kansas City reaches the playoffs, and that trend continued after the AFC Championship Game.

The Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens to punch their ticket to Super Bowl LVIII. They’ll look to become the first team to win back-to-back championships since the Patriots did so in 2003 and 2004. While some fans don’t want the comparisons and won’t even entertain it, others are enjoying watching the run the Chiefs have been on.

On the latest episode of “Eye On Foxborough,” three-time Super Bowl champion Devin McCourty joined MassLive’s Karen Guregian and touched on why he’s enjoyed watching the Chiefs have so much success over the last few years.

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“I think it’s cool man. Like how do you have these teams so similar in a way — Andy Reid has success in Philly and different things. He gets fired. Bill Belichick, not the same kind of success in Cleveland, but both get fired as a head coach, and then kind of become the two best head coaches of this generation that we’re watching lead these dynasties,” McCourty said. “And they have these once-in a-lifetime quarterbacks. (Tom) Brady has well outperformed anybody else. It’s absolutely ridiculous and then we’re like, ‘Well, (Patrick) Mahomes is ahead of him in almost every category at that age.’ Then like these two guys (Travis Kelce and Rob Gronkowski) are great tight ends. Then there’s these really good defenses now, but then at certain times, they had these great offenses with Randy Moss, Tyreek Hill putting up points. But then they also could play this other style.

“To me it’s very rare to see something like that happen so fast. That, as a football fan, I enjoy it. I think that’s what football is all about. Then each time they do something it brings up what we were able to deal with and people talk about it, and I get to live in those memories when people talk about it,” he continued. “Even being at the AFC Championship Game, pregame I’m down there, all of those feelings are coming back. But I just think that’s really cool. And I think it helps me more. I’m working in it and doing it that I don’t think so much about what we were able to do, but I just think about how fun it is telling the stories and what we were able to do and accomplish.

“I like to bring people into maybe what Kansas City is going through, what they’re thinking about because of being in a very similar situation,” McCourty concluded. “So it’s been a lot of fun to watch. And I think the success they had will always be the team that we’re going to talk about and compare it to and you should just enjoy what you’re able to accomplish.”

McCourty added his wife, Michelle Powell-McCourty, was watching the Chiefs game in hopes they lose because of the success she watched her husband have as a member of the Patriots for 13 seasons. He also credited former Patriots coach Bill Belichick for “setting a model” in how to build a championship-caliber team — which is what the Chiefs have been doing.

“To me, it’s so cool to see because it’s what we did for years, and you’re watching this other team do it,” McCourty said. “…How can I hate what they’re doing?”

McCourty won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and played a big role in their string of success under Brady. He knows how it feels to have that kind of success, and also knows what it’s like to lose the Super Bowl, come within a game of the Super Bowl and understands how difficult it is to do what the Chiefs are doing.

Mahomes and Kelce passed Brady and Gronkowski for most touchdowns by a quarterback-tight end duo, and Kelce put himself into the postseason history books by passing Jerry Rice for most postseason receptions. The Chiefs are playing some fun, competitive football, and it was on full display during the AFC Championship Game.

Now they’ll have a chance for even more comparisons with a Super Bowl LVIII win when they take on the San Francisco 49ers on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium.