Insider: Monday Night Flex Is 'Favor' For New England Patriots

The New England Patriots' flex out of "Monday Night Football" says more about them than it does their would-be opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs.

Even in their bleakest hour, the New England Patriots are making history under Bill Belichick.

This week, New England became one of the first teams to lose a "Monday Night Football" spot by the NFL's latest flexible scheduling caveats. Their Week 15 contest against the Kansas City Chiefs was removed from ESPN's airwaves in favor of an NFC clash between Philadelphia and Seattle. The Patriots and Chiefs will now do battle in an early Sunday afternoon slot on Dec. 17.

Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports Boston insider Albert Breer commented on the occurrence on WBZ-FM's "Toucher and Rich Show" claiming that the powers that be are doing the Patriots a "favor" by removing them 

“The first Monday Night (Football) flex was going to happen,” Breer said. “I think the most embarrassing thing about it isn’t that it’s the first Monday night game. It’s that somehow you are bad enough to get Patrick Mahomes flexed out of a Monday night game.”

New England and Kansas City will now play on Dec. 17 / USA TODAY SPORTS

Removing the Patriots (2-9) from one of their increasingly inexplicable late prime time slots certainly appears to say more about New England than its respective opponents and the matchup against the Chiefs is particularly glaring: Kansas City is not only the defending Super Bowl champion but also in the thick of the chase for the AFC's top overall seed ... and is also armed with new legions of fans and viewers eager for the latest chapter in the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift saga.

Thus, any ejection of the Chiefs would only be enforced in case of a dire emergency. New England, alas, is that crisis.

"How bad does it have to be for an ESPN to say, ‘Yeah, we got to take Mahomes and the Chiefs out of that slot?’" Breer rhetorically asked. "I think they might be doing the Patriots a favor because if it was like 28-0 by the first drive of the second quarter, the rest of the broadcast might be an autopsy."

Unwatchable: Once-Proud Patriots Kicked Off Monday Night Football

Even with their freefall to the bottom of the AFC standings, the Patriots will play a direct role in clearing up the conference playoff picture: following Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Chargers (1 p.m. ET, CBS), the Patriots have three consecutive showings against teams engaged in the postseason tango. They'll face the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming Thursday on Amazon Prime Video (which had its own insult in store for the Patriots) before the Chiefs game. The Christmas Eve nightcap places them in Denver, which is currently tied for the final wild card.