Final, Chiefs 41-14: This one is mercifully over.
The Patriots got outplayed, embarrassed and exposed. Brady was terrible and Garoppolo showed poise in his first regular season action, but it’s not time to call for a quarterback controversy just yet, despite some desperate pleas on Twitter.
Fourth quarter, 2:25, Chiefs 41-14: Amendola got flagged for a personal foul, Garoppolo was sacked and the Patriots had to punt. There will be some interesting press conferences after this game from Brady and Belichick.
Fourth quarter, 4:25, Chiefs 41-14: The Patriots’ defense finally stopped the Chiefs’ offense, and the Patriots have a chance to score again with more than four minutes on the clock.
Fourth quarter, 7:25, Chiefs 41-14: The Patriots just drove down the field with ease — and Jimmy Garoppolo was at the helm.
Garoppolo connected with Gronkowski for a TD after LaFell had another long reception. It might have been a bad idea to insert Garoppolo. The reactive columnists and radio hosts will be calling for Brady’s retirement this week.
Fourth quarter, 10:34, Chiefs 41-7: This nightmare won’t end for Brady and Bill Belichick.
Brady just threw a pick six to put the Chiefs ahead 41-7. He also got hit hard by Justin Houston on the interception return.
Fourth quarter, 11:52, Chiefs 34-7: The challenge didn’t do anything but kill 16 seconds off the clock. The Chiefs scored on the next play on a Smith pass to Travis Kelce.
Fourth quarter, 12:08, Chiefs 27-7: The Chiefs have a touchdown for now, but I could see this one coming back.
Jamaal Charles fumbled into the end zone, and the Chiefs recovered it for a touchdown. It appears Charles’ knee was down before his let go of the ball, though.
Update: His knee was down. No touchdown.
End third quarter, Chiefs 27-7: Since the Chiefs can run on the Patriots at will, they’re able to kill a ton of clock here. They’re only on the Patriots’ 39-yard line, and they’ve already killed 3:26 off the clock.
Third quarter, 3:26, Chiefs 27-7: There will be no shutout tonight.
Patriots receiver Brandon LaFell broke free for a 44-yard touchdown to put points on the board for New England.
LaFell’s score came after a big 28-yard reception by running back Shane Vereen.
Third quarter, 5:29, Chiefs 27-0: The Patriots were able to hold the Chiefs to a field goal. It doesn’t matter, though. This one is over.
Third quarter, 7:03, Chiefs 24-0: The Chiefs have the ball inside the Patriots 20-yard line again. Brady threw an interception to Sean Smith after Edelman stopped his route.
This might be the worst the Patriots have played in the Belichick era.
Third quarter, 8:38, Chiefs 24-0: This one looks over.. The Patriots were backed into their own end zone and Brady got strip sacked by Tamba Hali. The Chiefs scored two plays later on a pass to Jamaal Charles.
There’s nearly 23 minutes left, but the Patriots can barely get a first down. Don’t think we’ll see a comeback in this game.
Third quarter, 9:58, Chiefs 17-0: The Patriots forced the Chiefs to punt. That’s allowed?
The Patriots have the ball at their own 1-yard line, though, so they’re still in rough shape.
Third quarter, 13:55, Chiefs 17-0: Well, the Patriots held the ball for a minute and five seconds — and they went three and out.
Brady nearly fumbled the ball away inside their own 20-yard line, but the Patriots miraculously recovered the ball. The Chiefs will start at their own 28-yard line after the punt.
Patriots-Chiefs Live: New England Lucky To Be Down 17-0 After First Half: The Patriots might be lucky to be down just 17-0 at the half. They played horribly on offense and defense and could still mount a comeback with some big plays on both sides of the ball in the second half.
The Patriots had the Chiefs stopped in the red zone after Revis prevented Bowe from getting into the end zone, but Logan Ryan was called for a penalty, allowing the Chiefs to kick a field goal.
The Patriots will need a 2013-esque comeback to win this game.
Second quarter, 2:24, Chiefs 14-0: The Patriots’ offense is officially inept.
They couldn’t get 4 yards on two plays as Brady threw two incompletions. The Patriots were forced to punt again, and the Chiefs have plenty of time to drive down the field. This is ugly.
Second quarter, 4:08, Chiefs 14-0: The Patriots’ defense actually forced a punt after the Chiefs were called for a costly block in the back. Receiver Junior Hemingway also dropped a pass.
Edelman tried to return a punt but got dropped at the 9-yard line. If he had let it go, it might have gone for a touchback. The Patriots need a big play, but Edelman has to be smart on those punts.
Second quarter, 7:14, Chiefs 14-0: The Patriots had a 4th and 2 at the 46-yard line and forced the Chiefs to call a timeout when they put their punt team on the field, then ran out the offense.
The punt team went back on the field and Ryan Allen booted it into the end zone for a touchback.
The Patriots gained two first downs on the drive — one on a pass to Edelman and one on a defensive penalty.
Second quarter, 10:58, Chiefs 14-0: The Patriots better wake up while they still have a chance. The Chiefs just went 86 yards on three plays.
Knile Davis ran 48 yards, then Smith hit Travis Kelce for a 33-yard completion. Charles finished it off with a touchdown on a screen.
Second quarter, 12:25, Chiefs 7-0: The Patriots came up with some positive plays in their second offensive drive, but they still were forced to punt the ball away. Wideout Brandon LaFell had two key receptions for first downs. He has two catches for 22 yards on the game.
The Chiefs have the ball at their own 14-yard line.
End first quarter, Chiefs 7-0: The Patriots got their first first down of the game on an 8-yard hookup between Brady and LaFell. With the first quarter over, the Patriots face 3rd and 4 at their own 36-yard line.
First quarter, 2:15, Chiefs 7-0: The Chiefs came out with another long offensive drive, and this one resulted in a TD.
The Patriots are having a tough time stopping running back Jamaal Charles, 38 yards on seven carries with a touchdown.
Revis gave up another reception — this one a 15-yard catch by Dwayne Bowe.
The Patriots’ offense will need to respond quickly. This crowd is only going to get louder.
First quarter, 8:13: The Patriots responded by going three and out. The Patriots came out in 11 personnel with LaFell, Edelman, Amendola, Gronkowski and Vereen as the skill players. Brady fired it deep to Edelman on 2nd and 6.
First quarter, 9:16: The Chiefs ran the ball well on their first drive, but they had to punt after the Patriots pushed them back on an 8-yard sack by Chris and Chandler Jones. Smith passed for 21 yards on the first drive, and completled an 11-yard pass on Darrelle Revis.
Chris Jones started in place of Sealver Siliga, as expected.
The Patriots have the ball on their own 10-yard line.
First quarter, 15:00: The Patriots won the toss and chose to defer.
8:19 p.m.: Seeing comments on Twitter, it appears that the ESPN pregame crew thinks the Patriots are built to make the playoffs but not to win a Super Bowl. I think that’s a bunch of bunk and hooey.
The Patriots didn’t sign Darrelle Revis just to make the playoffs. And they didn’t build their defense just to make the playoffs. Bill Belichick wants to win a Super Bowl, and he thinks this team is going to net him one. We’ll see if that happens, but it preposterous to think Belichick only cares about winning but not taking the big one.
8:00 p.m.: The Patriots warmed up with Solder (LT), Connolly (LG), Stork (C), Fleming (RG) and Vollmer (RT) as the starting offensive line, so it looks like that’s the starting unit tonight.
It will be very interesting to see how Fleming plays at guard. He has always been a tackle, dating back to high school, only practicing a couple snaps at guard in college at Stanford.
7:36 p.m.: It’s surprising that Dobson and Thompkins are inactive, but not entirely shocking. Neither player has impressed, and the Patriots obviously felt that they needed an extra running back over a receiver.
The Patriots might force Hali or Houston into coverage if they use White and running back Shane Vereen in the passing game. Third tight end Tim Wright could see some extended playing time, as well.
7:08 p.m.: The Patriots didn’t pick between Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins; they made both wide receivers inactive.
Dobson, Thompkins, guards Jordan Devey and Josh Kline, cornerback Alfonzo Dennard, defensive end Zach Moore and newly signed defensive tackle Casey Walker are inactive for the Patriots.
Rookie running back James White is set to make his NFL debut. I’ve been saying this week that the Patriots must decide on three starting wide receivers. Apparently they made their choices: Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell and Danny Amendola.
6 p.m. ET: The New England Patriots are reportedly finally making a change to their offensive line for Monday Night Football.
The Patriots are starting rookie Bryan Stork at center, rookie Cameron Fleming at right guard and captain Dan Connolly at left guard against the Kansas City Chiefs, The Boston Globe’s Shalise Manza Young reported Monday afternoon. That bumps Marcus Cannon (previously started at left guard) and Jordan Devey (right guard) out of the starting lineup. Cannon could still get some work as the sixth offensive lineman/tight end.
The Patriots face a tough Chiefs pass rush that includes edge rushers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali and nose tackle Dontari Poe. Stork, Fleming and Connolly will be tasked to stop Poe, while offensive tackles Nate Solder and Sebastian Vollmer will have to face Houston and Hali.
The game kicks off at 8:30 p.m. ET, so stay here for updates and analysis before and through the game.
