The New England Patriots continue to fall as they were outmatched by the Kansas City Chiefs 27-17 to drop to 3-11 at Gilette Stadium on Sunday.

Kansas City went into halftime with a narrow 14-10 lead, but put the pedal to the floor in the 3^rd quarter. The Chiefs scored 13 unanswered points in the 3^rd quarter to extend their lead to 17 with eyes on putting the game out of reach.

Though New England would put up another score in the 4^th after a Kevin Harris 18-yard touchdown, the Kansas City defense would tighten up and force New England to go scoreless for the remainder of the game to walk away with a 10-point victory.

The Chiefs were led by their superstar QB, Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes recorded 305 yards on 27/37 passing for 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. This comes after Mahomes struggled in last week’s loss against the Buffalo Bills, where he threw for 271 on an uncharacteristic 58.1% completion for a TD and an interception.

Rasheed Rice complied 9 receptions for 91 yards and a touchdown reception. Clyde Edwards-Helaire gathered 101 total yards with a TD reception.

On defense, L’Jarius Sneed was an anchor for Kansas City. Sneed had 8 solo tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 pass deflections.

With this win, the Chiefs continue to be in the race for the #1 seed in the AFC. Sitting at 9-5, Kansas City is two games behind the leading Baltimore Ravens and a game behind the second place Miami Dolphins.

Zappe Fever Cured

Last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bailey Zappe and the New England offense looked to have solved some of their lingering issues. But, after this week’s performance against Kansas City, the Zappe fever looks to be healed.

Bailey Zappe threw for 180 yards on 23/31 passing for a touchdown and an interception.

“Just simply not good enough,” said Bailey Zappe. “Started out hot in the first half again, like we did the previous week”.

Last week Zappe had an impressive performance versus the Steelers by having 240 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception performance but couldn’t lead New England to a score in the 2^nd half. This week the Patriots only managed to score one touchdown in the 2^nd half.

“We had some opportunities to put more points on the board, but we really didn’t,” said David Andrews. “There were some early, 2some later in game. When you’re playing a good team like this. A good defense. A good offense. You’ve got to score points”.

New England struggled to move the ball downfield, as they only recorded 10 first downs and 206 total yards. They also stumbled against the tough Kansas City defense to convert on late downs going 2-12 on 3^rd down and 1-2 on 4^th down.

With the Patriots already being eliminated from playoff contention and having a tough remaining schedule, it will be important to keep an eye on their position for this upcoming draft. New England currently hold the #2 overall pick and are one game behind the Carolina Panthers.

Up Next

Next week the New England Patriots travel to Denver to take on the Broncos on Sunday night, while the Kansas City Chiefs will return home to battle the Las Vegas Raiders on Christmas at noon.