FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Rob Gronkowski should be used to catching touchdown passes by now.

He already has 20 of them in less time than any tight end in NFL history, needing just 26 games. But there are moments when he has to remind himself how good he became so quickly.

“It’s still a dream come true being in the NFL,” Gronkowski said. “Some days I’ll wake up, I talk to Dane (Fletcher), my roommate, and we’re like, `Dude, we’re in the NFL.’ It’s crazy still. We still can’t kind of believe it.”

His production in just two NFL seasons is hard to believe. He added to it Monday night, catching two touchdown passes from Tom Brady as the New England Patriots overcame a sluggish start and beat the Kansas City Chiefs 34-3.

Gronkowski surpassed 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.

“Everyone’s doing their job and I just happen to be an open guy and Tom hits me in the end zone,” Gronkowski said.

That’s not all the 6-foot-6, 265-pound powerhouse does.

“He catches the ball great,” Brady said. “He’s tough. He runs well. He blocks. He really does everything you ask a tight end to do. He’s dangerous out there.”

Kansas City struggled offensively, not a big surprise with Tyler Palko making his first pro start after throwing just 13 passes in two seasons. He replaced Matt Cassel, who is out for the season with an injured right throwing hand. Palko completed 25 of 38 passes for 236 yards and three interceptions, two of which were tipped.

“All in all, I felt pretty confident,” Palko said. “Obviously, there’s a few things I’d like to have back.”

Kyle Arrington got two of the interceptions, increasing his NFL-leading total to seven.

“Turnovers and points off turnovers, that decides a game a lot in most cases,” he said.

The Patriots also got a big play on special teams as Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for another score, putting New England ahead 24-3 with 9:24 left in the third quarter.

The Patriots (7-3) increased their AFC East lead to two games.

The Chiefs (4-6) lost their third straight and didn’t score after Ryan Succop’s 26-yard field goal gave them a 3-0 lead with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

“He did a fairly good job in the huddle,” wide receiver Steve Breaston said of Palko. “He did a great job executing the plays. We just have to help him out.”