Returning home

WEEK 11
Patriots 34, Chiefs 3 (11/21/'11): My brother Jim and I rolled into Gillette a few minutes into the first quarter. We were a little late because I had to work -- not because Jim had returned home from Morocco less than 48 hours earlier.

The Patriots were also returning home after their huge win against the Jets. The Pats lost their last home game a few weeks ago to the other New York team, snapping their 20-game winning streak at Gillette. Last night, in the cold, it was time to start a new one. Since they were playing the Chiefs a victory seemed certain.

But as Jim and I settled into our seats and buttoned up our jackets, the zeros on the scoreboard made it clear the Pats were continuing their trend of slow starts. It's a trend that has to stop. But, for the second week in a row, it's a trend that did not prevent them from winning going away.

The Pats scored two quick touchdowns in the final five minutes of the second quarter to turn an ugly 3-0 deficit into an entertaining 14-3 halftime lead. The fun continued in the second half. The stars of the game were Gronk -- again -- on offense and Andre Carter -- again -- on defense. Brady, after a slow start, had a solid game and Julian Edelman (or Lt. Jim Dangle as we now call him at the tailgate) returned a punt for a touchdown. Kyle Arrington added another two picks to his league leading total of seven. All-in-all it was an entertaining night of football against an inferior team.

It's not a game worth spending too much time analyzing. Beating the Chiefs easily at home is just one of the things a team has to do if it wants to win its division. The win moves the Pats to 7-3, now two games ahead of both the Jets and Bills. It looks like the Pats' domination of the AFC East will continue. Sorry Rex.

Other positives were the running game (157 yards) and the D holding the Chiefs to just three points. That should help lower the all-important points-allowed-per-game stat. The defense has held the other team below 20 points the last two weeks. Granted, neither the Jets nor the Chiefs have much of an offense right now. But it's still a good trend, especially when considering how shorthanded the D has been during that time. Both the offense and special teams made big plays when needed. There was a lot to like.

The thing I liked the most about the night? It was the first game this year where it was cold enough to see your breath. It really is football season now.