Starting Fast, DeBerg Dismantles Patriots : AFC: His first pass goes for 86 yards and a touchdown, his second gains 61 and Chiefs romp to a 37-7 victory.

It didn’t take Steve DeBerg long to put away the New England Patriots Sunday.

The 14-year veteran’s first pass produced an 86-yard touchdown, his second pass went for 61 yards and he had 212 passing yards in the first 10 minutes as the Kansas City Chiefs rolled to a 37-7 victory.

“In the first half,” DeBerg said, “that’s as well as I’ve ever seen an offense function for a full half.”

DeBerg threw for 312 yards in the first half. He finished 15 of 21 for 331 yards. The Chiefs had 471 yards in total offense.

The 86-yard touchdown pass play was to Stephone Paige, and later DeBerg had an 11-yarder to Robb Thomas. The Chiefs scored on their first five possessions and led at halftime, 23-0.

“We just wanted to back them off early in the game” with long passes, said DeBerg, who began the day as the AFC’s third-ranked passer. “We came into the game with the full intention to run the football. It just so happened that the pass plays we were calling ended up as big plays, so we stuck with it.”

The Chiefs (8-4), who remain tied with the Raiders atop the AFC West, are seeking their first division title in 19 years.

“The only team that can keep us from going to the championship is ourselves,” said Barry Word, who rushed for 112 yards in 19 carries.

The Patriots (1-11) set a team record with their 10th consecutive loss. Asked if his team had reached its low-water mark of the season, New England Coach Rod Rust said, “I hope it is. I thought we hit it a long time ago.”

Kansas City also was dominant on defense, adding six sacks to its league-leading total of 42 and intercepting two passes.

“It’s a lot easier when the quarterback has some more time, but you keep trying,” Patriot rookie quarterback Tommy Hodson said.

DeBerg had plenty of time. He was sacked only once and set a team record with his seventh consecutive game without an interception.

Of DeBerg’s first pass, Paige said: “I got a step on (cornerback Ronnie Lippett) and just ran away. I don’t believe I have ever scored on a first play of a game.”

After punting on their first series of the third quarter, the first time they had failed to score, the Chiefs got their league-record sixth blocked punt and made the score 30-0 two plays later on Christian Okoye’s one-yard run. Okoye scored on another one-yard run with 7:29 left.

The attendance of 26,280 was the smallest in the league this season. The previous low was 28,924 for Indianapolis’ game at New England Nov. 11.

Kansas City scored on drives of 86, 80, 70, 60 and 59 yards. Three drives ended in field goals of 45, 32 and 19 yards by Nick Lowery, who tied his previous best streak of 13 successful field goals.

Deron Cherry’s first interception of the year, in the end zone, sparked an 80-yard drive capped by Thomas’ touchdown 30 seconds before halftime. DeBerg completed four passes for 41 yards on the last four plays.

The Patriots avoided their second shutout in three weeks on Hodson’s two-yard scoring pass to Marv Cook with 25 seconds left in the third quarter.

The blocked punt with 10:34 left in the third quarter was the fourth of the year by Albert Lewis.

New England, which has failed to score on its first series in 11 of its 12 games, has given up points on nine of its opponents’ 12 opening possessions.

Lowery’s three field goals gave him 251 for his career. He broke a ninth-place tie on the NFL career list with Matt Bahr of the New York Giants. Bahr has 249.