Pats Hold Off Chiefs on 'Monday Night'

F O X B O R O, Mass., Dec. 5, 2000 -- One of Monday night’s least meaningfulmatchups turned into another last-minute thriller. And it endedKansas City’s final hope for a playoff berth.

The New England Patriots held on for a 30-24 victory over theChiefs in a matchup of teams going nowhere.

It was the third Monday night game in the last seven that wasdecided on the last play.

“We were able to build a big enough cushion to sustain it, butoverall, that’s not what we want,” New England coach BillBelichick said.

Elimination Time

The Chiefs (5-8) certainly didn’t since their fifth straightloss eliminated them from playoff contention.

“We play as hard as any team can, but it’s disheartening,”Kansas City coach Gunther Cunningham said. “We keep making mentalerrors at the wrong time. It’s eating away at me.”

Drew Bledsoe’s sore thumb didn’t stop him from having one of hisbest games, throwing for a season-high 282 yards. He completed 33passes, third-most in his career, in 48 attempts for twotouchdowns.

And Adam Vinatieri kicked three field goals, including a53-yarder that gave the Patriots (4-9) a 20-10 halftime lead.

But as the game wound down, it was sparked memories of thePatriots’ 20-19 Monday night loss to the New York Jets in Week 2when they allowed two touchdowns in the last 6:25.

The Chiefs cut the lead to 30-24 on Elvis Grbac’s 19-yard passto Kevin Lockett with 3:58 left. Then they drove to the Patriots12, but had no timeouts. Time expired when Tony Gonzalez wastackled by Tebucky Jones in the middle of the field after a 5-yardcompletion.

“I wasn’t going to let him score,” Jones said. “I knew if Imade the tackle and laid on him, the game was over.”

Grbac threw to Gonzalez, who had 11 catches for 147 yards, as alast desperate attempt.

“I probably should have thrown the ball into the end zone,”said Grbac, who was 25-for-46 for 350 yards and three touchdowns.“But I saw Tony was open and I got him the ball. Any time I getthe ball to Tony, he can score.”

This time, Gonzalez didn’t.

Wasted Run

The Chiefs gave up two fumbles after losing just four all seasonand wasted Grbac’s 81-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Alexander, whohas three scoring catches of over 80 yards in his career plus an82-yard TD run.

The loss came eight days after Kansas City became San Diego’sonly victim of the season. Grbac missed that game with an injuredright index finger.

The Patriots treated a chilly crowd—missing 9,964 no-shows -to their best offensive display of a season in which they oftenfaltered in the waning moments of games. They entered with a 7-18Monday night record, worst in the AFC.

“We know we are out of the playoffs, but it is a big win,”Patriots wide receiver Tony Simmons said. “It builds ourconfidence.”

The win was some consolation after their 34-9 loss in Detroit onnational television on Thanksgiving Day.

Looking for a Little Respect

“After the last game, we were really faced with a challenge,”Bledsoe said. “Which way were we going to go? Were we going tomail it in the last four games or come out and compete?”

Bledsoe, who had thrown just two touchdown passes in hisprevious six games, threw a 17-yarder to Troy Brown and a 1-yarderto tight end Jermaine Wiggins, signed seven days earlier afterbeing cut by the Jets.

Bledsoe completed all seven passes during the drive that wascapped by Wiggins’ touchdown to make it 27-10 with 7:09 left in thethird.

“It’s still a little sore,” Bledsoe said of his thumb. “Itdoesn’t have a profound effect.”

The Chiefs marched back, reaching the New England 27, but OtisSmith intercepted Grbac’s pass at the 4 and returned it 56 yards.The Patriots couldn’t capitalize as Vinatieri’s 37-yard field-goalattempt went wide, ending his streak of 16 successful kicks.

Grbac then threw a 4-yard scoring pass to Gonzalez, cutting thelead to 27-17 with 13:43 left. But Sylvester Morris’ fumble on theChiefs’ next possession was recovered by Tony George and led toVinatieri’s 27-yard field goal with 7:37 remaining.

He also hit a 48-yarder on the first series before Todd Petersontied it with a 42-yard field goal

The Patriots, who had just two touchdowns in their previousthree games, scored two in the first half on Kevin Faulk’s 1-yarddive and Bledsoe’s pass to Brown, who had a career-high 12 catchesfor 119 yards.

In between those scores, the Chiefs tied it on Grbac’s pass toAlexander. It was Alexander’s fourth touchdown of more than 80yards in two seasons.