Chiefs stun Patriots with 42-27 win in NFL season opener

Kansas City Chiefs beat the New England Patriots

(Image credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

last updated 8 September 2017

The Kansas City Chiefs crushed the defending champion New England Patriots in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Thursday night, 42-27, in the 2017 NFL season opener. Few saw the upset coming, least of all the Patriots, who kicked off the game with an elaborate celebration of their five Super Bowl victories. The Chiefs chalked up 542 yards against the Patriots, the most allowed by New England under the direction of coach Bill Belichick.

Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith completed 28 of 35 passes, and three of the six scoring drives were for 90 or more yards. Three of those Chiefs touchdowns were carried in by rookie running back Kareem Hunt, who began his first game in the NFL with a fumble but then scored his first touchdown at the end of the second quarter and pulled the Chiefs ahead with a 78-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ended the night as a meme. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.