New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady took to the podium Friday for the final time before this weekend's AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Belichick was asked to reflect on Robert Kraft's 25 years of owning the Patriots, and had only positive things to say.
"We have a good setup here," he said. "He's been very supportive, gives us a great opportunity to go out and compete every week, and we've done that. I hope we can continue it for a long time."
Brady said it's "cool" that Kraft has owned the team for so long.
"I've been here for quite a few of those years," he said. "The story of him buying the team is pretty cool. To have the team still here and have the kind of success we've had is really a great credit to him and everything he's put together. It's been really fun to be here, especially for a California kid.
Both Belichick and Brady continued to praise the Chiefs players and coaches, saying they present a difficult challenge for the Patriots.
"Pretty much everything the Chiefs do is tough," Belichick said. "[Coach Andy Reid] does a good job of attacking weaknesses in every defense, creating matchups. "He has a lot of good skill players, moves them into a lot of good positions. That's why they're the top scoring team in the league... They do everything well."
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Brady added that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has had "a spectacular season" packed full of explosive plays.
"They're really hard to stop all the way across the board," he said.
Asked if he's nervous about Sunday's game, Belichick said, "Yeah, every week... You want to go out there and do well. There's an anxiety. We all have things in the game that we have to do. You want to perform them well, not let your team down because everybody's counting on you to do your job. You're counting on everybody else to do theirs."
Brady said he's always "a little bit" nervous before a game, but less so than earlier in the week as he's busy preparing.
"I feel like the more prepared, the less nervous I get," he said. "As soon as the ball's kicked off, not too many nerves."
Sunday's game against the Chiefs is scheduled to kick off at 6:40 p.m. The Patriots beat the Chiefs 43-40 when they met during the regular season at Gillette Stadium.
