The Pats came out slow but turned it on late in the half.
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, right, heads to the end zone past Kansas City Chiefs free safety Kendrick Lewis (23) for a touchdown during the second quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011.A few observations from the Patriots-Chiefs game where New England leads 10-3 at halftime.
Gronk: Tight end Rob Gronkowski provided the only bright spot for the New England offense in the first half on his 52-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. No one covered him off the line as his man, Derrick Johnson, was frozen by the play-action, but Gronkowski showed impressive speed to beat safety Kendrick Lewis to the end zone. It may not be long before people start considering Gronkowski the best tight end in the NFL.
Another slow start: Not a whole lot went right for the Patriots until the final minutes of the half. Quarterback Tom Brady spent most of the first 30 minutes running away from the rush on his back and looked as confused as he has been by a blitz since last January's playoff loss to the Jets. He was sacked three times, lost a fumble, and had a lot of trouble finding his receivers.
The offense was starting to hum at the end of the half and appeared to solve the blitz, so we'll see if they can keep that going in the second half.
Vollmer whiffs: Offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer may have had the most pathetic blocking attempt of the season. On Brady's third sack he put his hands up and completely whiffed on Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali.
Secondary not looking great: Up against Tyler Palko, who is making the start of his career, the Pats secondary hasn't looked great. Antwaun Molden, who is filling in for Devin McCourty, was badly beaten by Dwayne Bowe in the first quarter and safety James Ihedigbo missed on a 32-yard Thomas Jones run.
Interesting lineup changes: Brandon Deaderick started over Shaun Ellis at defensive end, illustrating how far Ellis has slipped, and Jermaine Cunningham finally made an appearance at linebacker.
Brown and out: Ihedigbo suffered a minor injury in the first quarter and was interestingly replaced by Ross Ventrone instead of Sergio Brown. It appears Brown has nearly fallen off the depth chart.
Edelman in the game: Wide receiver Julian Edelman is getting a lot of time at cornerback. On one series of plays in the second quarter he drew a holding penalty on tight end Leonard Pope and then made a third-down tackle on the next play.
Depleted: How depleted is the Patriots secondary? Their dime package consists of Molden, Kyle Arrington, Phillip Adams, Edelman, Sterling Moore and Ihedigbo.
Where's Wes?: Not a single target for Wes Welker in the first half. Can't say I remember that happening before.