Patriots, Tom Brady end Chiefs’ win streak in 27-20 win
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – During pre-game warm-ups before every New England Patriots game at Gillette Stadium, when Tom Brady jogs onto the field, the in-stadium deejay stops whatever song was playing and keys up Brady’s music, Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement.”
The opening beats ramp up, and Jay-Z shouts, “Allow me to re-introduce myself!”
As if Brady, on an incredibly short list of greatest quarterbacks of all time, needs to remind anyone what he can do, particularly once the calendar turns to January. But in case there is someone out there who had forgotten or was unfamiliar, Brady showed again what he is capable of against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC divisional round on Saturday evening. 
With a game plan that was incredibly pass-heavy (New England didn’t call a run until its 15th snap, during its second possession) and playing on an ankle he sprained two weeks ago in the regular-season finale, Brady completed 27 of 41 passes (65.9 percent) for 290 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions.
The Patriots dispatched the Chiefs, 27-20, in a game that New England largely controlled from beginning to end.
The win ended one streak – the Chiefs’ run of consecutive wins, at 11 – and kept another going, as the Patriots are headed to their fifth straight AFC championship game, tying the Oakland Raiders (1973-77) for the longest run of consecutive conference title game appearances.
Kansas City, which last week notched its first postseason win in 22 years with its shutout of the Houston Texans, won the opening coin toss and deferred, and the Patriots made short work of things, taking a 7-0 lead on an 11-play drive that ended with a Tom Brady-to-Rob Gronkowski touchdown.
It was the first of two on the night for Gronkowski, the All-Pro who now has eight postseason touchdowns.
New England never trailed.
Edelman, playing for the first time since breaking a bone in his left foot against the New York Giants on Nov. 15, had a couple of egregious drops that could be attributed to rust, but Brady went to him early and often. He finished with a game-high 10 receptions and topped 100 yards.
While Edelman seemed healed, Gronkowski’s health was a question mark all week; he missed two of three practices, and was initially listed on the Patriots’ report with a knee injury, though his back was also added. He caught both of Brady’s touchdowns, but his most important grab may have come early on, when his 32-yard catch-and-run got his team out of a third-and-13 situation.
With Jeremy Maclin hobbled by a sprained ankle that came against the Texans, he was not much of a factor, and finished with just two receptions. Quarterback Alex Smith did a good job spreading the ball around without his top receiver, completing passes to 10 teammates, but the Chiefs never made the big play they needed, whether on offense, defense or special teams.
Down by 14 points with 6:30 to play, Kansas City bled over five minutes off the clock, and though they got a touchdown, they left just 73 seconds on the clock for themselves to get the tying score, assuming they had gotten the onsides kick. But Gronkowski came down with the kick and the Patriots drained the remaining time.
It was the 22nd postseason win for Brady and Bill Belichick, who will play the winner of Sunday’s Denver Broncos-Pittsburgh Steelers game for the AFC championship.
