Chiefs bury Patriots
Charles sharp for Kansas City in return from injury
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It made sense that Andy Reid spoke in baseball metaphors after Kansas City whipped the New England Patriots on Monday night, with the Royals poised to end a long playoff drought just across the parking lot from Arrowhead Stadium.
He may have stretched things a bit when it came to Jamaal Charles, though.
“It’s a heck of a thing to bring 25 off the bench as a relief pitcher,” Reid said. “That’s a pretty good player. To add him back to the mix is something.”
Relief pitcher? How about staff ace.
Charles returned from an ankle injury to score three touchdowns, Tom Brady was picked off twice by the opportunistic Chiefs, and Kansas City routed New England 41-14 to hand Bill Belichick one of his worst losses as coach of the Patriots.
Charles, who missed last week’s win in Miami with a sprained ankle, ran for 92 yards and a score. The Pro Bowl running back also caught two short touchdown passes from Alex Smith, who had 248 yards passing and three touchdowns.
“Coach said he was going to look for me, and see how it feels during the game,” Charles said, “and I guess I started feeling like myself. He didn’t want to take me out.”
The Chiefs (2-2) ended a four-game skid at Arrowhead Stadium dating to last season by making things miserable on Brady, who had one of his two picks returned for a touchdown.
Brady also was strip-sacked and finished 14 of 23 for 159 yards and a touchdown.
Knile Davis added 107 yards rushing for Kansas City, forming a potent one-two punch with Charles in the backfield. Travis Kelce had eight catches for 93 yards and a score.
Brady was picked off by Husain Abdullah in the fourth, and Abdullah returned the interception 39 yards for a touchdown.
Abdullah was flagged afterward for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the devout Muslim said it had nothing to do with dropping to his knees in prayer. He said the penalty came because he slid to his knees. The lesson learned? “Stop before you drop,” Abdullah said.
Chiefs 41, Patriots 14
| New England | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | — | 14 |
| Kansas City | 7 | 10 | 10 | 14 | — | 41 |
KC—Charles 2 run (Santos kick)
KC—Charles 5 pass from A.Smith (Santos kick)
KC—FG Santos 22
KC—Charles 8 pass from A.Smith (Santos kick)
KC—FG Santos 31
NE—LaFell 44 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick)
KC—Kelce 2 pass from A.Smith (Santos kick)
KC—Abdullah 39 interception return (Santos kick)
NE—Gronkowski 13 pass from Garoppolo (Gostkowski kick)
A—76,613.
| NE | KC | |
| First downs | 13 | 26 |
| Total Net Yards | 290 | 443 |
| Rushes-yards | 16-75 | 38-207 |
| Passing | 215 | 236 |
| Punt Returns | 2-10 | 2-3 |
| Kickoff Returns | 2-45 | 2-36 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 0-0 | 2-73 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 20-30-2 | 20-26-0 |
| Sacked-Yards Lst | 3-14 | 2-12 |
| Punts | 6-48.8 | 4-45.0 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 3-30 | 4-35 |
| Time of Poss. | 23:33 | 36:27 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—New England, Ridley 5-28, Vereen 8-26, J.White 3-21. Kansas City, Davis 16-107, Charles 18-92, A.Smith 4-8.
PASSING—New England, Brady 14-23-2-159, Garoppolo 6-7-0-70. Kansas City, A.Smith 20-26-0-248.
RECEIVING—New England, LaFell 6-119, Vereen 5-41, Edelman 4-23, J.White 3-15, Gronkowski 2-31. Kansas City, Kelce 8-93, Bowe 5-81, Charles 3-16, Avery 2-46, Davis 1-12, Jenkins 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.