Foxboro, Mass. ? The Patriots won’t dominate every opponent. That’s when they turn to Adam Vinatieri.

The Super Bowl hero kicked a 35-yard field goal 4:40 into overtime Sunday, giving unbeaten New England a 41-38 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in its first close game of the season.

New England kicker Adam Vinatieri (4) puts his fist up as he is hugged by holder Ken Walter after Vinatieri kicked the game-winning field goal. The Patriots knocked off Kansas City, 41-38 in overtime, Sunday in Foxboro, Mass.

“I go out there with the same mindset,” Vinatieri said, “if it is the first quarter of the game or if it is the last minute of the game.”

And he usually succeeds. He is 8-for-8 this season and has converted his last 11 field-goal attempts, including a 48-yarder that beat St. Louis in the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady was MVP of that title game, and he and Troy Brown were the MVPs Sunday before Vinatieri connected. Brady completed 39-of-54 passes for 410 yards and four touchdowns, all matching or establishing career highs.

Brown set a club record with 16 catches, totaling 176 yards. But he watched the winning drive from the sideline with a sore knee after he hit it on a helmet. He didn’t think he was seriously hurt.

“It wasn’t good for your heart, but I think it’s good because it builds your team,” he said of the wild finish. “It gets you ready for later in the season. We’ve got to learn how to win these games, how to close them out.”

The Patriots, playing without injured linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Roman Phifer, let Priest Holmes run for two touchdowns in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter. The Chiefs (1-2) tied the game as time expired on Holmes’ 1-yard run and Morten Andersen’s extra point. Holmes finished with 180 yards rushing and a 3-yard scoring catch.

“You can’t make it much closer,” Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil said. “We did enough things to win. We did enough bad things to lose.”

The Patriots (3-0) won the coin toss in overtime and started at their 30-yard line.

Brady completed 3-of-4 passes as a 22-yarder to David Patten gave New England a first down at the Chiefs’ 22. Three more plays gained five yards, then Vinatieri connected for his third last-play field goal in six games.

His 23-yarder in the snow gave New England a 16-13 win over Oakland in last season’s first playoff game before he connected against St. Louis.

“That kid’s got ice in his veins. He’s done it for us forever,” Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson said.

Kansas City coach Dick Vermeil reacts on the sidelines during the Chiefs' overtime loss Sunday in Foxboro, Mass.

The Patriots didn’t need dramatic finishes in their first two games, beating Pittsburgh 30-14 and the New York Jets 44-7. And it seemed they wouldn’t need one as Brady and Brown picked on the NFL’s second-worst pass defense.

Kansas City’s offense also was outstanding, particularly late in the game. Holmes caught one of Trent Green’s three TD passes. The others went to Eddie Kennison.

Trailing 38-24 after Antowain Smith’s 42-yard touchdown run with 6:20 left in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs tied the game on runs by Holmes of 6 yards with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter and his 1-yarder.

“We proved something to ourselves and to the NFL,” Holmes said. “Other teams can see how we were able to expose” the Patriots’ weaknesses.

Brady continually found open receivers over the middle.

“Tom, for the most part, did a decent job of putting the ball to the right spot,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

Chiefs running back Priest Holmes (31) cuts through the New England defense. Holmes ran for 180 yards, but KC fell to the Patriots, 41-38 in overtime, on Sunday in Foxboro, Mass.

New England, favored for the first time in six games, improved to 3-0 for the fifth time in its history and is averaging 38.3 points per game. It won a team-record ninth straight regular-season game and 12th straight, including the playoffs.

The Patriots trailed 10-9 at halftime, the first time they’ve been behind at intermission in seven regular-season games. They trailed 17-9 after Holmes’ 3-yard touchdown catch.

Then Brady needed just 9:22 to throw three scoring passes 9 yards to Brown, 18 to rookie Daniel Graham and 38 to Patten, making it 31-17.

On the drive that tied the game 17-17, Brown caught passes on seven of the 11 plays.

The Chiefs led 10-0 on Andersen’s 39-yard field goal and Green’s 14-yard pass to Kennison. Then Brady threw a 23-yard scoring pass to Kevin Faulk, but a 2-point conversion attempt failed. Vinatieri kicked a 37-yard field goal five seconds before halftime.

Brown’s 16 catches broke Terry Glenn’s team record of 13 set Oct. 3, 1999, at Cleveland.

Notes: Eight different Patriots have caught TD passes in three games. … Chiefs linebacker Marvcus Patton played in his 195th straight game. … Holmes has seven TDs in three games. … The Patriots had nine penalties in the first half after totaling just 10 in their first two games.