Patriots 27, Chiefs 19

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A beaten Trent Green walked across the Arrowhead Stadium turf to shake Tom Brady's hand.

”You guys have a great team,” the Kansas City quarterback told his New England counterpart. ”I don't know how else to say it.”

Whether they were on offense, defense or special teams, nothing the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots did seemed particularly spectacular. It was just solid.

Brady was especially effective, throwing for 315 yards in a 27-19 victory Monday night over the host Chiefs.

”Now I can see why they're 9-1,” said Green, who threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns. ”It's not a swagger or anything like that. They just feel really good about what they're doing.”

And why shouldn't they? The defending Super Bowl champions have won 24 of their last 25 games.

Green completed a scoring strike to Eddie Kennison — a 65-yard pass that covered more ground than any the Chiefs have had in over a year. But it wasn't enough.

The Patriots took a 7-0 lead on their first possession when Corey Dillon scored on a 5-yard run, then they wrapped up the win with an 11-yard drive capped by Adam Vinatieri's 28-yard field goal with 1:46 to play.

In between, the Chiefs (3-7) failed time after time to wrest the momentum away.

”It's a tough place to come in here and play,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. ”I thought our players really did a good job of standing up to the adversity here, the hostile crowd and all that. These people really support their team.”

Dillon wound up with 98 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Deion Branch caught six passes for 105 yards. Daniel Graham had a 48-yard reception, and David Patten had a 46-yarder.

”It's the first time I've had a chance to play against Brady,” Chiefs linebacker Scott Fujita said. ”He just carries himself real well. He sees defenses real well. You can feel the confidence in the whole team. It was impressive.”

New England won its third straight since its NFL-record 21-game winning streak was snapped last month in Pittsburgh.

”We're still trying to improve,” Brady said. ”We left some points out on the field tonight. I think everyone's just glad we won this game.”

The Patriots' defense also contributed by shutting down a Kansas City running game missing Priest Holmes, who was out for the second straight week because of a knee injury. The Chiefs gained just 64 yards rushing, exactly 100 yards fewer than their average coming into the game.

Derrick Blaylock, who had 186 yards against New Orleans a week ago Sunday in his first NFL start, managed only 58 yards on 19 carries against the Pats.

”I thought we would be able to run it better than we did,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said.

Green also had a 26-yard TD pass to Kennison, as the Patriots played without starting cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole.

The second score to Kennison came after Dillon, who also had a 1-yard touchdown run, fumbled at the Kansas City 3.

Green then drove the Chiefs 97 yards, capped by Kennison's 26-yard scoring pass. But a 2-point conversion attempt failed.

Kansas City was poised to score at the end of the first half but Green's pass into the end zone to tight end Tony Gonzalez was intercepted by Rodney Harrison with 43 seconds left.

The Chiefs thought interference should have been called.

”You saw the play, didn't you?” Vermeil said when asked about the non-call. ”I'm not going to say anything about it. It was a low throw and it shouldn't have been a low throw. It normally is high and to the back of the end zone or out.”

Notes: The Chiefs set a team record by gaining more than 400 yards for the fifth consecutive game. They won just two of those contests. … Brady has thrown a touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games, the longest current streak in the NFL. … New England tied a league record by scoring first in 15 straight games.

AP-DS-11-23-04 0238EST