Tom Brady threw a pair of touchdown passes to Rob Gronkowski and the New England Patriots pulled away in the second half for a 34-3 victory over the visiting Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night.

Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown and the Patriots (7-3) scored twice in a 63-second span of the third quarter to build a two-game lead over the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills atop the AFC East.

Gronkowski hauled in scoring passes of 52 and 19 yards, setting an NFL record by becoming the first tight end in league history to reach 20 TDs in only 26 games. Hall of Famer Mike Ditka held the previous mark with 20 TDs in 31 games.

It was the 184th career win for Patriots coach Bill Belichick, moving him past Bill Parcells for ninth place on the all-time coaching list.

Kyle Arrington had a pair of interceptions as New England sent Kansas City (4-6) to its third consecutive defeat and won for the 10th time in its last 11 games on Monday Night Football.

Brady overcame a rocky start and finished 15 of 27 for 234 yards to move past Boomer Esiason into 15th place on the career list with 38,010 yards.

Chiefs quarterback Tyler Palko threw for 236 yards and was intercepted three times in his first career start. Earlier in the day, Kansas City placed starter Matt Cassel on season-ending injured reserve with a hand injury.

New England's Wes Welker, the league leader in receptions and yards, was shut out for 3 ½ quarters before extending his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 88.

The Patriots pulled away from a 10-3 halftime lead, scoring on their first possession when Brady capped a nine-play 85-yard drive with a 19-yard pass to second-year tight end Gronkowski.

It was the fourth two-TD game of the season for Gronkowski, who became the sixth tight end with at least two seasons of 10 scoring passes.

After the Chiefs went three-and-out, Edelman broke the game open with his second career punt return for a TD to give the Patriots a 24-3 lead with 9:24 left in the third period.

Kansas City started well, outgaining the Patriots 133-33 at one point in the first half, but led only 3-0 on Ryan Succop's 26-yard field goal with 90 seconds left in the opening quarter.

New England went in front to stay when Brady found Gronkowski on a crossing route and he lumbered down the right sideline 52 yards to pay dirt for his longest career touchdown.

Stephen Gostkowski tacked on a 21-yard field goal with 10 seconds left in the half.