New England Patriots' Julian Edelman (11) returns a punt 72 yards for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the third quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011. Chasing are Chiefs' Cameron Sheffield (55) and Jeremy Horne (11). (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New England Patriots' Julian Edelman (11) returns a punt 72 yards for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the third quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011. Chasing are Chiefs' Cameron Sheffield (55) and Jeremy Horne (11). (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is upside-down as he crosses the goal line in front of Kansas City Chiefs free safety Kendrick Lewis (23) for a touchdown during the third quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, left, is congratulated by Wes Welker (83) after his touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs during the second quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, right, is sacked by Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Wallace Gilberry (92) during the second quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011. The Chiefs recovered the fumble. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley watches from the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., Monday Nov. 21, 2011. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) ? The Tom Brady-Rob Gronkowski connection kept clicking. So did the New England Patriots' defense and special teams.
Brady threw two touchdown passes to Gronkowski, Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for another score and Kyle Arrington had two interceptions to help the Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 34-3 on Monday night.
The Patriots (7-3) increased their AFC East lead to two games.
The Chiefs (4-6) weren't expected to do much on offense behind untested quarterback Tyler Palko, making his first career start with Matt Cassel injured. And they didn't, managing just a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Succop with 1:30 left in the first quarter for their only lead.
With Gronkowski collecting his ninth and 10th TD receptions of the year, the Patriots had their second straight dominant game after beating the New York Jets 37-16. The Chiefs lost their third straight.
The Patriots didn't generate much of an attack during their first four series. There were with three punts and a fumble by Brady that was recovered by Kansas City's Allen Bailey on the first play of the second quarter. And on his next series, Brady was sacked twice.
Then the protection improved and Brady, who had thrown for just 19 yards in the first quarter, took advantage, leading three consecutive scoring drives.
He connected with Gronkowski for a 52-yard score when which the tight end caught the ball over the middle and scampered the last 35 yards, barely managing to remain inbounds on the right side as he neared the end zone.
Arrington, who leads the NFL with seven interceptions, got his first of the game on Kansas City's next series and Stephen Gostkowski made it 10-3 at halftime with a 21-yard field goal.
The Patriots got the ball to start the third quarter and marched 85 yards on nine plays, scoring on Brady's 19-yard pass to Gronkowski, who somersaulted into the right corner of the end zone after being hit by Derrick Johnson.
Gronkowski has 20 touchdowns in 26 games, surpassing Mike Ditka's mark of 31 for the fewest games needed by a tight end to reach 20 touchdowns. He also pulled within three of the single-season, tight-end record of 13 touchdown receptions held by Antonio Gates of San Diego and Vernon Davis of San Francisco.
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