Chiefs vs. Patriots, 27-20: Full highlights, final score and more

The Patriots held the edge over the Chiefs to advance to the AFC Championship game

The New England Patriots looked like they were going to jump all over the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday afternoon inside Gillette Stadium from their opening drive. Tom Brady was airing it out early on in a pass-centric offensive attack and the Chiefs couldn’t do anything to stop it as they drove down the field and capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski. While the Chiefs did anything but roll over after such an emphatic statement to begin the game, that certainly set the tone for the action in this AFC Divisional game of the NFL Playoffs.

Brady continued throwing the ball basically at will against the vaunted Chiefs defense, aided heavily by a returning Julian Edelman and the infallible Gronkowski. However, Alex Smith and company weren’t going down without a fight and, despite being under heavy fire from the New England pass rush for most of the day, continued to make big plays to keep Kansas City alive.

The Patriots accrued a 14-6 lead going into halftime and were firmly in control. The Chiefs played them point-for-point in the second half and tried to mount a late fourth quarter comeback. However, there was too much time wasted on a late drive in the final period that led to a Charcandrick West touchdown run. They then tried an onside kick, but Gronkowski recovered it. The Chiefs still had their three timeouts, but it ultimately didn’t matter as they again couldn’t come up with the stop when they needed it the most—albeit with a little Patriots luck that resulted in a first down that allowed them to run out the clock by taking a knee.

It was a hard-fought game, but the Patriots took control early and never relinquished their hold on the game on their home field. They kept the dream of repeating Super Bowl champs alive by advancing to yet another AFC Championship game with the victory over the Chiefs.

Three Stars

Tom Brady was a star, which you had to think was going to be the case with him getting his full complement of weapons back. He finished the contest going 28-42 for 302 yards and two scores through the air to go with a rare rushing touchdown as well.

Rob Gronkowski was the beast you would expect him to be in the postseason for the Patriots. The big tight end finished the day with seven catches for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

Charcandrick West was the silent force for the Chiefs in moving the ball on the ground for the offense. West finished the afternoon with 17 carries for 61 yards and a touchdown to go with two catches for 15 yards.

Highlights

Odds

The Patriots were six-point favorites coming into this game, a spread which they covered in the big win. The two teams also combined to hit the over on the 44.5 O/U-line

Next Week

The season is over for the Chiefs with the loss. The Patriots will face the winner of the Denver Broncos vs. Pittsburgh Steelers matchup next week in the AFC Championship game.