New England Patriots' perfect season up in smoke as Kansas City Chiefs stun Super Bowl champs in opener

A limp second-half performance and an unusually brittle defensive unit saw the hosts fall to a shock defeat

Tom Brady’s Super Bowl defence got off to the worst possible start (Getty)

The question had not been when the New England Patriots would lose but if they would lose.

Talk was not just of a 16-0 season but a 19-0 one, running the playoffs and lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy for a third successive year.

But talk is cheap and for all the bravado of their endless pre-game banner ceremony it was the Patriots who struggled to find the pay dirt in a fourth quarter from hell - four drives, just two first downs, zero points scored and 21 conceded - in a record-breaking 42-27 loss.

The major storyline hanging over the Chiefs coming into the season was Patrick Mahomes, their first-round draft pick and backup quarterback. There is an understandable urge from fans to see the promising young buck and he is undoubtedly a more exciting player than incumbent Alex Smith.

But Smith sliced and diced an unusually fragile Pats D, throwing for four touchdowns in a second-half massacre in Foxborough. Smith found big-play joy with pocket rocket Tyreek Hill racing away from big-money free agent signing Stephon Gilmore for a 75-yard touchdown that changed the momentum of an opening-night game the Patriots looked set to run away with in the opening exchanges.

Kareem Hunt scored three touchdowns on his NFL debut (Getty 2017)

Even with Smith coming up big, the star for the Chiefs was Kareem Hunt, who broke the record for all-purpose yards gained in an NFL debut. The third-round pick stepped in as starter with Spencer Ware injured for the season and his first professional carry resulted in a fumble and Patriots ball. From then on, however, the night turned back in his favour with quite dramatic results and the Chiefs hung 42 points on the reigning champs, the most in Bill Belichick's 17-year reign as head coach.

Three touchdowns and 246 total yards from scrimmage (148 rushing, 98 receiving) consigned that fumble to history and propelled the Chiefs to victory, handing them the inside rail to the AFC.

Fortunately for the Patriots, they have one of the finest coaches in any sport in the shape of Belichick. Much stock had been put in the Pats improving on their Super Bowl-winning lineup from February but it was clear on Thursday night that some of the new additions are not quite up to speed with the complexities of Bill's playbook.

Andy Reid, the Chiefs' head coach, had hatched a brilliant scheme to contain the Pats' offense and it strangled them as the evening went on. Dropping three into coverage and rushing three, the Chiefs relied on Brady struggling without his usual prime target Julian Edelman and the absence of No. 11 was noted.

Belichick will find a way to get Brady and his weapons firing and there is no reason for worry in New England quite yet. In Kansas City, though, there is reason for great optimism after two young playmakers stole the show.