FOXBOROUGH — Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ dramatic 43-40 win over the Chiefs in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
GAMEBOOK
HEADLINES
Offense rules. In many ways, it was reminiscent of a 2002 shootout in Foxborough between the Chiefs and Patriots. In this one -- a classic "last team with the ball wins" type of game -- New England had a little more left at the end, as Stephen Gostkowski knocked home his fifth field goal of the night as time expired to give New England the three-point win. There were several offensive heroes — Tom Brady (24-for-35, 340 yards, one touchdown), Sony Michel (24 carries, 106 yards, two touchdowns), James White (five catches, 92 yards from scrimmage) and Rob Gronkowski (three catches, 97 yards). While the Patriots struggled for sizable portions of the second half on defense -- more on that in a second -- it turned out to be a landmark night for the offense. New England didn’t punt the ball all evening. (It was just the fifth time in franchise history the Patriots went a full game without punting.)
"We had control, and then we let them back in the game," Brady said of the game, a contest where the Patriots held a 24-9 halftime lead before the Chiefs came roaring back. "But, they were making plays on offense. We were making plays. And, we talked about competing for 60 minutes, and that’s what it took. It took us right down to the last three seconds."
Chiefs didn’t blink: Pat Mahomes had a pair of balls picked off in the first half and Kansas City went into halftime trailing 24-9. A lesser quarterback would have folded, but Mahomes and the Chiefs came out firing in the second half, putting up 17 points in the third and eventually taking a 33-30 lead midway through the fourth quarter. It was an impressive display of resilience on the part of Mahomes and the Kansas City offense, which rose to the challenge all evening and had the Patriots' defense guessing for large periods of the third and fourth quarter. In all, Mahomes finished 23-for-36 for 352 yards, with four touchdowns and a pair of picks. His finest moment? A 75-yard thunderbolt to Tyreek Hill that briefly gave the Chiefs a fourth-quarter lead. Basically, the kid was as good as advertised. It’s easy to see why people believe that this Kansas City team is different.
An AFC championship preview? There’s a lot of time between now and January, but at this point on the calendar, these are easily the two best teams in the conference. The Jaguars have lost three of their last four, the Steelers are all over the place, and no one is quite sure what to make of the Chargers. That leaves New England and Kansas City. Provided neither team sustains a serious injury and continues trending in the right direction, would anyone be surprised if these two teams met again in January for the right to go to the Super Bowl?
TURNING POINT
The catch.@RobGronkowski | #KCvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/yOYmcpKikb
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 15, 2018
Right down the middle. For the win.#KCvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/aOHlNSJxvK
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 15, 2018
Sony on repeat. TD2 for @Flyguy2stackz.#KCvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/i7kCRzDSEQ
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 15, 2018
First regular season interception of @zeus30hightower's career leads to the first TD of the night. #KCvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/9tfRiixkMC
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 15, 2018
Tom throws it. @ChrisHogan_15 | #KCvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/t04X0ypVf3
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 15, 2018
