Still, they went into halftime with a 10-3 lead, with Gronkowski’s first score of the night providing the bulk of those points. The score came off a play-action pass, and Gronkowski found himself wide open in the middle of the field. Safety Kendrick Lewis was the only player Gronkowski had to beat, and Lewis dived low at the tight end’s legs. Gronkowski was knocked off stride but not out of bounds, and he ran the final 10 yards to the goal line, bending at the waist as though he were a racer crossing the finish line at the end of the 52-yard TD.
Arrington, who now has a league-leading seven picks, set up the Patriots’ second score, his interception and 28-yard return giving New England the ball near midfield. The Patriots got to the Chiefs’ 3 but were unable to convert on third down, and Stephen Gostkowski made a 21-yard chip shot.
“The first half we didn’t do anything,’’ Brady said. “I don’t think it could have gotten much worse than what we did in the first half. But we came out strong in the second half and took control in the third quarter.
“If you can’t complete a pass, you’re not going to move the ball. Can’t run it, can’t complete a pass - we didn’t do anything.’’
Bill Belichick, who finds his team in the driver’s seat to win its ninth AFC East title in his 12 seasons as head coach, didn’t have an answer for why the offense got off to such a slow start.
“If I knew exactly what to do we would have already fixed it. We’ve got to work harder on it,’’ Belichick said. “We have to do a better job of coaching, getting off to a better start play-calling and [with] execution. The players have to do a better job, we have to do a better job of coaching.’’
