FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots had their 21-game home winning streak (including playoffs) snapped on Sunday with a 23-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, as their late comeback bid fell short.
The loss, which included two questionable officiating calls that went against New England, drops the Patriots to 10-3.
The Ravens, who beat the Bills on Sunday to improve to 11-2, strengthened their hold on the AFC’s No. 1 seed with three games remaining in the regular season. The Ravens own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Patriots after beating them Nov. 3.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs improve to 9-4 and have a three-game lead in the AFC West.
The Patriots were hurt by two officiating rulings and coach Bill Belichick was furious on the sideline after the first – when Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was ruled down by contact late in the third quarter as the football came loose when he was tackled by safety Devin McCourty.
Cornerback Stephon Gilmore recovered and had a chance for a significant return, possibly even a touchdown, had the play not been blown dead.
Belichick fired his red challenge flag on the field, and the Patriots, trailing 23-13 at the time, took over at their own 43-yard line.
The Patriots appeared to score a touchdown on their ensuing drive when, at the Chiefs’ 15, rookie wide receiver N’Keal Harry took a short pass from quarterback Tom Brady and raced toward the pylon on the left side of the end zone.
Harry dove to the pylon but was ruled out at the 3-yard line. Replays appeared to show Harry didn’t step out of bounds.
The Patriots, who were out of challenges after Belichick had unsuccessfully challenged a spot and pass interference on a play earlier in the third quarter, ended up settling for a field goal.
That the Patriots needed a comeback was a result of some poor play after they started fast, with a flea-flicker for a touchdown on their opening drive – Brady to receiver Julian Edelman for 37 yards.
But the Chiefs scored the next 20 points, taking a 20-7 lead into halftime, with the home crowd showering the Patriots with boos as they headed to the locker room.
Those boos later turned to chants of, “Brady! Brady! Brady!” as the Patriots mounted a spirited comeback. But it fell short as the Chiefs’ defense stiffened in the red zone and Brady’s fourth-down pass to Edelman for a possible game-tying touchdown was knocked away.
