OFF AND RUNNING
K.C., led by Alex Smith and rookie Kareem Hunt, upend Patriots to kick off the 2017 season
Winning at New England when the Patriots are coming off an historic Super Bowl victory is worth getting a little wild over.
That’s not the Kansas City Chiefs’ style. Not even when a rookie is setting records.
Kareem Hunt, after fumbling on his first NFL carry, scored three times and set an NFL mark in a 42-27 stunner Thursday night to open the NFL season. Hunt’s 239 yards in his pro debut were a record since the 1970 merger.
“We’re going to enjoy the heck out of it,” coach Andy Reid said after a superb second half carried his team. “It’s one of 16 and something to build on.”
Judging by how they won, it certainly is. There were big plays all over the field. The Chiefs, not the Patriots, were making them. Particularly Hunt.
“It started out just a little bit shaky, but it was all heart,” Reid said of the third-round draft pick. “He was trying too hard.”
Alex Smith threw two long touchdown passes and became the first quarterback with 300-plus yards, four TDs and no interceptions against coach Bill Belichick. The 42 points were the most the Patriots have allowed in Belichick’s 17-plus seasons.
Coming off their sensational Super Bowl rally to a fifth Lombardi Trophy, the Patriots faded badly in the second half. A raucous sold-out crowd of 65,878 celebrated the unveiling of yet another championship banner, and there was plenty of talk about Tom Brady leading them to a 19- 0 record.
After Week 1, though, they are winless.
“I just think we need to have more urgency and go out there and perform a lot better,” Brady said “It’s a winning attitude, a championship attitude you have to bring every day. We had it handed to us on our own field.”
It was the first time the Patriots lost at Gillette Stadium when leading at halftime, a span of 82 games. They were no match for the Chiefs in the last two periods.
Tyreek Hill scored on a 75-yarder and Hunt put the Chiefs in front with a 78-yarder to punctuate Kansas City’s charge after trailing 17-14 at halftime. Hunt also had a 58yard scamper and finished with 141 yards rushing and 98 receiving. Hill had 133 yards through the air, and Smith went 28 for 35 for 368 yards and four touchdowns and no interceptions.
“To start on your first carry like that and have it go like that, it would be hard to overcome for a lot of guys,” Smith said of Hunt, from Toledo. “I thought it was awesome coach coming right back to him.
“There was a good chunk there where we were going as Kareem was going. He was really a big chunk of the offense tonight. For a young guy, we put a lot on him, in all facets of the of- fense tonight, and he was able to handle it.’
Brady, the 13th quarterback to start an NFL game at age 40, didn’t look too spry. He struggled mightily in the second half and didn’t throw for a touchdown, finishing 16 for 36 for 267 yards.
“Just a very poor effort and we’ll have to do a lot better,” Brady said. “Didn’t make a lot of plays tonight, actually.”
Patriots newcomer Mike Gillislee scored on three short runs, becoming the first player since Terrell Owens of Philadelphia in 2004 to score three touchdowns in his debut with a new team.
And Kansas City aided the Patriots’ cause with 15 penalties for 139 yards. Yet, in the end, the Chiefs looked like world-beaters.
• Not only did the crowd revel in the video highlights from the Super Bowl, the fans booed vigorously when Commissioner Roger Goodell was shown talking on the sideline Chiefs owner Clark Hunt during warmups. A website distributed thousands of tow- els featuring Goodell’s face adorned with a clown nose, and many fans also had Tshirts with the caricature. Goodell watched the game from a suite, but not with Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
NEW START FOR SARK »
Steve Sarkisian doesn’t expect to feel overly anxious when his career as an NFL offensive coordinator begins this weekend.
He’s been through several big moments and tough times over the last two years, so when the Atlanta Falcons open the season Sunday in Chicago, Sarkisian believes he will settle down quickly on the sideline.
Sarkisian, 43, has reinvented himself after selfdescribed issues with alcoholism led USC to fire him as the Trojans’ head coach in October 2015. Following treatment, he landed a job as an offensive analyst at Alabama before coach Nick Saban promoted him to coordinator a few days before the Crimson Tide played in the national title game eight months ago.
The Falcons came calling after they lost the Super Bowl, hiring him to replace Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator. Sarkisian originally planned to work this season as Alabama’s coordinator, but he couldn’t pass up the chance to coach quarterback Matt Ryan, receiver Julio Jones and the NFL’s top-scoring offense.