Reuters/Foxborough, MassachusettsThe New England Patriots overcame a sluggish start before roughing up the Kansas City Chiefs in a 34-3 blowout on Monday to earn some breathing space at the top of the AFC East Division. Tom Brady and the Patriots’ (7-3) offense were ineffective for a majority of the first half as they fell 3-0 behind, but the home team proved unstoppable once they started scoring and opened a two-game advantage in the division. “We couldn’t do anything in the first half, we had a hard time moving the ball,” Brady told reporters after finishing with 234 yards passing and two scores. “(In the second half) we executed better, our defense got turnovers and we had a big punt return.” Tight end Rob Gronkowski caught two touchdown passes for the second straight game and set New England on their way with a 52-yard score that put the home team 7-3 ahead with 4:25 remaining in the first half. The bruising second-year Gronkowski took a pass and broke a tackle down the sideline before flipping over a defender and into the endzone for the impressive score. “I’ve never had a touchdown where I ran by a guy like that. That was pretty cool to get one,” Gronkowski said. “When you’re in the open field and you see space your body naturally goes into another gear.” Up until Gronkowski’s touchdown, the Chiefs defense had sacked Brady three times to keep the Patriots quiet but they fell 10-3 behind by halftime before getting outclassed in the second half. Gronkowski caught a 19-yard pass in the third quarter and Julian Edelman returned a 72-yard punt for a score before New England added a field goal and another touchdown late on to pile on the misery for the visitors. Inexperienced quarterback Tyler Palko played in place of injured Chiefs starter Matt Cassel and coughed up three interceptions while Kansas City (4-6) slumped to their third straight loss. The Chiefs were tied for the AFC West lead before their run of poor form dropped them to the bottom of the division. Palko managed to throw for 236 yards and leading receiver Dwayne Bowe had seven catches for 87 yards but failed to score for the fifth straight game.Meanwhile, Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will undergo surgery on the broken right thumb he suffered in a victory on Sunday and try to return before the season ends, Bears coach Lovie Smith said Monday. Cutler suffered the injury to his throwing hand in a 31-20 triumph over San Diego when he was knocked to the ground while trying to tackle Antoine Cason on an interception return in the fourth quarter. “He’ll be out for an extended period of time,” Smith said. “The plan is for him to have surgery on the thumb soon. The plan is to get him back in the latter part of the regular season. “We are losing a great player. We will miss him.” The Bears, 7-3 and in playoff position in the National Conference, have only two teams with winning records among their final six games of the season, those coming next Sunday at Oakland and December 25 at Green Bay. But whether or not Cutler can return in time for the season finale on January 1 at Minnesota is still uncertain. “We’ve dealt with injuries,” Smith said. “This is a tough blow but we know how to deal with it. We’ll take care of Jay. We feel good about the surgery.