Tyreek Hill has been giving defensive coordinators nightmares ever since he landed with the Kansas City Chiefs out of the 2016 draft. But when legendary quarterback Tom Brady went on the New Heights podcast this week, he explained how Hill had once forced the New England Patriots to change their entire third-down plan against the Chiefs.

On the podcast, Brady discussed receivers who can track the ball without ever slowing down. The conversation started with Randy Moss and DeSean Jackson, and then shifted to Tyreek Hill. That’s when Brady described a night when New England head coach Bill Belichick went in ready to double Travis Kelce, and walked out knowing Hill had to be treated like the primary problem.

“We play you guys one year, and Bill was like, ‘All right, the calls on third down are one double Travis, one double 87,’” Brady said. “And we didn’t double Tyreek, and Tyreek went for like 200-plus that game, and you guys beat us. And Bill came in the next day, and says, ‘We’re doubling Tyreek too, and we are not going to let him go for 200 on us.’ So it was like back and forth on third down, who we were doubling.

“And it’s kind of cool for us cause most NFL players are obviously supremely talented. And then, every once in a while, you see someone who is just a little more talented than everybody else, and you go, ‘Man, that is a special talent. That’s crazy.’”

Now, Brady got the numbers a bit wrong here as Tyreek never actually hit 200-plus against the Patriots. His biggest day versus Tom Brady was 142 receiving yards and three touchdowns in that 43-40 shootout at Foxborough in Week 6 of the 2018 season. The year before, in the 2017 season opener, Hill stacked 133 receiving yards (141 total, including a punt return) and a score in a 42-27 Chiefs win at Gillette Stadium. But Hill does have 200-plus-yard games against other teams.

He went for 215 receiving yards and two touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 11 of the 2018 season. The next outing came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 12 of the 2020 season, where he went for 269 yards and three touchdowns. The final statement on that stat line came in Week 1 of the 2023 season against the Los Angeles Chargers. In his second season with the Miami Dolphins, Hill went for 215 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Bill Belichick did not consider Hill a threat, and the Patriots paid the price. As of the 2025 season, Hill has an 8-3 record against New England.

Before Brady told his story, Travis Kelce had already painted Hill as that kind of a problem. Kelce went back to the OTAs in Hill’s rookie season, remembering a play where the WR caught a bubble route in seven-on-seven and never let a defender get within two arms’ lengths as he glided down the sideline.

Chiefs coaches had similar early-camp stories in 2016, with cornerbacks coach Al Harris shaking his head in disbelief after watching Hill land a 40-plus-yard touchdown by catching an overthrown pass and leaving a defender in the dust. And yet Hill wasn’t impressed, “It doesn’t mean anything because it’s not pads.”

Bill Belichick didn’t rewrite third-down rules for many receivers. He crafted a dynasty that brought six Super Bowl rings to New England through a no-nonsense attitude that tackled every training session as playoff preparation. But Tyreek Hill forced him to change his schemes.