Midway through the third quarter Saturday at Gillette Stadium, the methodical, numbing Patriots offensive automatons had just cruised 69 yards on five plays for a 15-point lead. For a team that was 65-0 when leading by a touchdown or more at halftime during the Bill Belichick era, that figured to mean curtains for the Chiefs.
But facing third and 7 and a swarm of Patriots rushers on the Chiefs’ next drive, quarterback Alex Smith whirled, wriggled and otherwise willed his way free for what would become a 26-yard gain to a hyper-extending Jason Avant.
That awakened some echoes of the enchanted fall in which the Chiefs began their 11-game winning streak as an encore to the Royals’ World Series win.