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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A half dozen New England Patriots made big plays. None made as many as Tom Brady.
Brady threw for 315 yards, including a touchdown to Deion Branch, and the Patriots beat the Chiefs 27-19 Monday night for their 24th win in 25 games.
The victory was New England's third straight after its NFL-record 21-game winning streak was snapped in Pittsburgh last month.
The Patriots took advantage of the absence of Priest Holmes, out with a knee injury, by shutting down the Kansas City running game for most of the night.
But quarterback Trent Green also took advantage of injuries in the New England secondary, throwing for 381 yards, including touchdowns of 65 and 26 yards to Eddie Kennison. The Patriots played without starting cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole.
The second score to Kennison came after Corey Dillon, who had two short touchdown runs, fumbled at the Kansas City 3 as the Patriots seemed set to take a 31-13 lead. Instead, Green drove the Chiefs the length of the field to cut their deficit to 24-19 with 6:13 left - a 2-point conversion failed.
The Chiefs, however, couldn't stop the Patriots, who killed nearly 41/2 minutes on a drive that ended with Adam Vinatieri's 28-yard field goal. That almost guaranteed that the Chiefs will miss the playoffs after going 13-3 last season.
Dillon, who carried 26 times for 98 yards, had two runs for one first down, then Brady, who completed 17-of-26 passes, hit Christian Fauria for 14 yards and Branch for 9 yards more. Branch finished with six catches for 105 yards.
He was one of just many Patriots to make big plays.
Rodney Harrison stopped a Kansas City threat with an end zone interception in the last minute of the first half; Tedy Bruschi forced a field goal by stuffing Derrick Blaylock on a third and 1 after a long Chiefs drive in the third quarter; tight end Daniel Graham had two big catches; and David Patten's only reception was a 46-yarder that set up a touchdown.
Dillon's touchdown runs of 5 yards and 1 yard and Vinatieri's 37-yard field goal gave the Patriots a 17-10 halftime lead. It was preserved by Harrison's interception in the end zone.
Dillon's 5-yard score came at the end of a 71-yard, 10 play drive on the opening series of the game. It featured a 27-yard third-down pass to Daniel Graham on a short flip by Brady over a blitzing linebacker.
A 44-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes cut the lead to 7-3, then Green found Kennison behind career Earthwind Moreland for a 65-yard touchdown.
Dillon's second score came at the end of a 75-yard yard drive that featured passes of 22 yards to Troy Brown and 14 to Branch.