Postgame, Week 12: Patriots 16 @ Chiefs 26

Tom Brady tied a career high with four interceptions, and the New England Patriots defense gave up 420 yards, nearly all in the first three quarters, as New England fell to the Chiefs, 26-16, in Kansas City.

At least two, and possibly a third, of Brady's interceptions were catchable by receivers, but both Brady and his receivers had problems, not the least of which was an absent running game. The Patriots (6-5) were able to maintain a two-game lead in the AFC East, as Buffalo (4-7) lost 13-9 at Carolina. Miami, also 4-7, beat host Oakland, 33-21; and New York (2-9) lost at home to New Orleans.

New England remained in the game until the final few minutes with the defense playing like the 2001 "bend-don't-break" Patriots. Kansas City moved the ball at will, but found the end zone only twice, once in each of the first and third quarters. The Chiefs had to settle for four field goals in the second, and New England blanked KC in the fourth.

Unfortunately, the offense had problems all over the field and had a hard time putting any points on the board. Brady finished 22 0f 40 for 248 yards in a Drew Bledsoe like performance. Most of the completions and yards came later in the game when Kansas City had a comfortable lead. Brady threw one touchdown -- Christian Fauria's first TD reception of the season -- and was sacked three times. Kansas City safety Greg Wesley nabbed three of Brady's picks.

Brady consistently overthrew receivers, as he has done often this season, and had little explanation for it after the game. "You just do the best you can," he said, several times in fact. "You just have to keep trying it. We have to execute better.

"We didn’t run it very well, we didn’t throw it very well. Everyone needs to be better. We did some better things in the second half. It was similar to Denver, you get down so many points and you just have to be perfect. And we certainly weren’t perfect today."

That was an understatement, but the game was indeed similar to the poor performance in Denver, with the exception of the Patriots scoring first (a field goal) in that one. Against Denver, New England found itself down 21-3 after the Broncos scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter. They made it four in the third. Sunday, the Patriots were down 19-3 at the half, and a Chiefs touchdown opened the scoring in the second half. The only difference was that Brady went 24-of-46 for 299 yards, but no interceptions, in that one.

Incidentally, Brady broke the 3,000 yard mark Sunday and is the first quarterback to do so this season, 11 games being the fastest he has reached the mark in a season in his career. That's cold comfort considering the Patriots now have more losses this season than in the last two combined.

Brady also hit nine different receivers Sunday. Tim Dwight and Deion Branch accounted for five receptions apiece and for 76 and 49 yards, respectively. The tight ends combined for 6 catches.

The Patriots also had 5 rushes listed in the gamebook. Tim Dwight was leading the team in rushing with 17 yards on 2 carries until late in the game. When Brady ran up the middle for 15 yards 6 minutes into the third quarter, he was then the teams second leading rusher behind Dwight. Patrick Pass ultimately led with 26 yards on 8 carries (with a touchdown), and the team finished with only 74 yards on 18.

If there's any good news, it's that New England was flagged for just two penalties for 22 yards. Referee Bill Vinovich and crew pretty much kept their flags in their pockets it what ultimately seemed detrimental to the Patriots. Oddly, Kansas City was actually flagged for more penalties (5 for 35 yards).

Once again, the Patriots came up way on the short side on turnovers -- one forced fumble and recovery, no interceptions, for the defense. The defense got molested all day, allowing Chiefs running back Larry Johnson 119 yards and a touchdown. Trent Green threw only 26 passes, connecting on 19, for 323 yards and a score. Only five Chiefs had receptions, and New England apparently couldn't stop any of them.

Kansas City hosts Denver next Sunday at 4:15 p.m. New England comes home to play the New York Jets, also at 4:15 p.m. It will be Week 13 and these teams will be seeing each other for the first time this season. They play each other again three weeks later on Monday Night, the day after Christmas.