Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

This was setting up to potentially be one of the greatest regular season wins in franchise history.

October 5, 2020 was going to be a night Patriots fans remembered in the same class as the comeback against Denver on that frigid night in Foxborough or, Drew Bledsoe’s win over Minnesota. The incredible story was unfolding before all of our eyes.

New England’s starting quarterback was diagnosed with Covid-19 on Saturday. The team flew to Kansas City Monday morning for a 7 P.M. game. Still, they had a chance to knock off the defending Super Bowl champions trailing by just three at halftime.

Unfortunately, veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer made some horrible decisions and at times the officials played far too big of a role in the Patriots’ demise as well. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be as the Patriots fell to the Chiefs 26-10 at Arrowhead Stadium.

“We did what we felt was best, so that’s what we did” Bill Belichick said when asked what went in to the decision to start Hoyer over Stidham. ”

The young defense answered a ton of questions early and often on Monday night – albeit with two dropped interceptions that could have changed the game – limiting the high-powered Kansas City offense as best they could (323 total yards). The Chiefs opened with the ball and drove right downfield, but, the Patriots’ defense held them to a field goal.

The Patriots’ ran just eight plays combined on their first two possessions, but, they also held KC to a punt and another field goal to keep it at 6-0 with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.

Just one play later, Hoyer (15-24, 130 yards) threw an interception to Juan Thorhnill who took it to the Pats’ 23. On the first play of the second quarter Stephon Gilmore stripped Sammy Watkins after a catch and J.C. Jackson recovered the fumble at the New England 15.

Hoyer was somewhat impressive on the ensuing drive, leading the team on a 13-play march that ended with a 43-yard Nick Folk field goal among it 6-3. The game then took a brutal turn for the Patriots on the ensuing Chiefs possession.

With Kansas City facing a 3rd-and-4 at its own 42 and 6:22 to go in the half, Shilique Calhoun appeared to intercept Mahomes as he was being sacked by Chase Winovich. The ball popped into the air and Calhoun rumbled forward with it and could have scored, but, the referees declared Mahomes was “in the grasp” and called it a sack, therefore, the play was unable to be challenged.

“He called forward progress and he was down, you can’t challenge that,” Belichick said.

In the pool report following the game, official Tony Corrente said the following:

“I felt (Mahomes) was being controlled quite a bit as he was going to the ground. And as he was being controlled, other players were coming in at him. And so with those other players baring down on him, a quarterback is considered in the grasp and and his forward progress is considered stopped when I feel as though the player’s safety is being jeopardized.”

KC ended up punting the ball down to the New England 35, completely flipping the field. Still, Hoyer managed to drive the ball down to the Chiefs’ 13-yard line. Inexplicably he proceeded to take a horrific sack on 3rd-and-9, letting the clock run out and even trying to call a timeout with none remaining, leaving it a 6-3 game instead of possibly tying or taking the lead.

Belichick was asked if there was a communication issue there at the end.

“Nope,” he replied.

New England and Kansas City traded punts to open the second half, and the Patriots’ offense returned to the field with 11:09 left in the 3rd still down just three points. The drive started on the Patriot 16-yard line and methodically moved to the KC 10-yard line in 12 plays. The 13th play was an abject disaster as Hoyer was strip sacked and the Chiefs recovered, again wasting a golden opportunity to tie or take the lead.

“Two bad decisions down in the red area really cost us points,” said Hoyer. “It’s frustrating, it’s disappointing, you know, I’ve got to do a better job.”

Seven plays later Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill for a 6-yard TD and the Chiefs went up 13-3 with 42 seconds left in the third quarter. Jarret Stidham entered the game on the ensuing drive, handing the ball off twice as the game headed to the fourth quarter.

Five plays after that, Stidham threw his first career touchdown pass to N’Keal Harry – an absolute dime to the left corner – from four-yards out and New England crept back within three at 13-10.

“Obviously, I was really excited to get the opportunity just to get in there and play football with the guys,” Stidham said. “I just wanted to come in and move the chains and try to keep it close and give us a shot to score some points.

“It’s frustrating we couldn’t pull out the win, but, we can definitely learn and get better.”

Stidham clearly supplied a boost, but, the officials soon reared their ugly heads again.

Facing 3rd-and-10 at their own 25, the Chiefs were bailed out by a pass interference call on Kyle Dugger. On the very next play Mahomes ran outside for a gain of four. Deatrich Wise Jr. was in pursuit and briefly grabbed Mahomes’ collar. Mahomes suddenly fell to the ground as Wise was pulling up and he was subsequently flagged for a late hit, pushing the Chiefs out to the New England 40.

Five plays later Mecole Hardman took a 6-yard jet sweep in for a touchdown, making it a 19-10 game after a missed extra point from Harrison Butker. The first play following the kickoff was a quick look out to Julian Edelman, who promptly had the ball go right through his hands and into the waiting arms of Tyrann Mathieu who ran it back 25-yards for a pick-six and the 26-10 lead with 8:57 to go.

For some reason the Patriots took their time on the ensuing drive, chewing up 5:30 on 11-plays, only moving 38 yards. The drive ended with anther Stidham interception in the end zone, ending what could have been a special night on a terrible note.

“We’ve just got to do a better job of coaching playing and take advantage of our opportunities, we missed some in all three phases of the game,” added Belichick. “We’ll keep working to improve on those and get better.”

This young defense showing they can execute a Bill Belichick game plan at a high level against the defending champs under brutal circumstances should be the biggest takeaway from this game, but, it won’t be. The performance will be overshadowed by both Hoyer’s dismal decision making and the horrific call on the Calhoun play.

If you’re looking for a silver lining aside from the defense and Damien Harris (17 carries, 100 yards), I genuinely believe this is going to continue to be one of the most fascinating Patriots’ seasons to follow in recent memory. Gone are the days of guaranteed 12-4 seasons. We all knew that anyways, but, nights like Monday are what NFL fans round the country go through almost every year. Kinda fun, isn’t it?

We’ve been spoiled for far too long, enjoy the ride. Monday is just the first of many more emotional roller coasters to come in this wild 2020 season.