FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — For the first time in his seven NFL starts, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t keep up with their opponent.
It took a classic duel with Tom Brady to beat Mahomes, though.
Mahomes threw for 352 yards and four touchdowns, but that wasn’t enough. Brady threw for 340 yards and the New England Patriots outlasted the Chiefs 43-40.
Two Mahomes interceptions in the first half played a role in the loss. Mahomes also cost the Chiefs some big plays by missing some throws to open receivers in the first half.
But he threw four touchdown passes in the second half — three of them to Tyreek Hill, including a 75-yard bomb. Mahomes also threw a 67-yard scoring pass to Kareem Hunt.
The plays helped the Chiefs back from a 15-point halftime deficit. They led briefly at 33-30 in the fourth quarter.
Mahomes and the Chiefs are 5-1 this season. They are 6-1 when Mahomes is their starting quarterback, counting the final regular-season game against the Denver Broncos last year. In that game, Mahomes led the Chiefs to a walkoff field goal and a 27-24 victory.
In the first half, Mahomes put the Chiefs in a bad situation with a mistake for the first time this season. He threw an interception that was returned by linebacker Don’t’a Hightower to the Kansas City 4 and the Patriots used the favorable field position to score a touchdown.
His other interception late in the first half cost the Chiefs points. The interception was his first in the red zone this season.
Starting quarterbacks under 25 are now 0-24 at New England since 2001.