TEAM NOTES
- Brady becomes all-time leader in touchdown passes (regular season and postseason)
- Brady has fifth 300-yard game of the season
- Gronkowski ties Wes Welker for second-most 100-yard games
PATRIOTS DEFENSE PRODUCES FIVE SACKS
The Patriots defense produced five sacks and four were on third down plays.
PATRIOTS BLOCK TWO PUNTS;
TIES TEM MARK WITH THREE BLOCKED PUNTS IN A SEASON
LB Albert McClellan blocked a punt in the first quarter and defelected another in the second quarter. The Patriots tied the team record for most blocked punts in a season. LB Dont'a Hightower blocked a punt at Chicago on Oct. 21. The Patriots also blocked three punts in a season in 1961 and 1986. The Los Angeles Rams are the only other team in 2018 with at least two blocked punts.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
BRADY SETS MARK FOR MOST OVERALL TOUCHDOWNS
Brady's 2-yard touchdown pass to WR Julian Edelman in the second quarter was his 580th career touchdown, setting the mark for the most overall touchdowns in NFL history. It was his 509th regular-season touchdown, moving out of a tie with Brett Favre for sole possession of third place all-time. Brady finished the game with three touchdowns.
Player Touchdowns Overall (including postseason)
Tom Brady 582
Peyton Manning 579
Brett Favre 552
Drew Brees 548
Player Touchdowns Overall (regular season)
Peyton Manning 539
Drew Brees 519
Tom Brady 511
Brett Favre 508
Dan Marino 420
BRADY STARTS THE GAME WITH 10 STRAIGHT COMPLETIONS
Brady started the game by completing his first 10 passes for the seventh time in his career in the regular season. His career best to start a game is was he completed his first 12 passes at Indianapolis on Nov. 20, 2003, and Nov. 19, 2017, at Oakland. He also completed his first 16 passes in the 2017 Divisional playoff game vs. Jacksonville.
BRADY FINISHES FIRST HALF WITH THREE TDS
For the second time in 2018 and for the 19th time in his career, Brady had at least three touchdown passes in the first half. He also had three touchdowns in the 2018 season-opener vs. Houston.
BRADY GOES OVER 300 YARDS
Tom Brady threw for over 300 yards for the fifth time this season and the second straight week after finishing with 358 yards. He is third all-time with 87 career 300-yard games. The Patriots are 72-15 when he goes over 300 yards.
Most 300-yard Games in NFL History
Drew Brees 114
Peyton Manning 93
Tom Brady 87
Dan Marino 63
GRONKOWSKI GOES OVER 100 YARDS
TE Rob Gronkowski finished with eight receptions for 107 yards for his 28th 100-yard game of his career. The only tight end with more 100-yard games than Gronkowski is Tony Gonzalez with 31. It is Gronkowski's second 100-yard game of 2018 after he had 123 in the season-opener vs. Houston. He tied Wes Welker for the second-most 100-yard games in team history.
BRADY AND GRONK CONNECTIONS
Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady connected on a 16-yard touchdown in the second quarter for their 78th touchdown connection, the second-most touchdown connections between a quarterback and a tight end.
LB BRANDO KING SETS CAREER HIGH IN SPECIAL TEAMS TACKLES
LB Brandon King was credited with one special teams tackle and now has 12 for the season, tying his career high of 12 he had as a rookie in 2015.
LB ALBERT MCCLELLAN BLOCKS FIRST NFL PUNT
LB Albert McClellan blocked punt in the first quarter was the first of his NFL career. He also deflected a punt in the second quarter. The last Patriots player with two blocked kicks in the same game was S Patrick Chung, who blocked a field goal and a punt at Miami on Oct. 4, 2010.
FB JAMES DEVELIN SCORES AGAIN
FB James Develin scored on a 2-yard rushing touchdown to finish the opening drive. He had his first NFL two-touchdown game the week before vs. Minnesota. It marks the first time that he has had back-to-back games with a touchdown. He now has four touchdowns in his last four games. He had one in his first 74 games.
WR CORDARRELLE PATTERSON SCORES ON A 37-YARD STRIKE
WR Cordarrelle Patterson scored on a 37-yard touchdown pass from QB Tom Brady in the second quarter. He had a 55-yard touchdown pass from Brady in the first meeting of the 2018 season against Miami. He has three touchdowns receptions of 30 or more yards and three of them have been in 2018 with New England. He had a career-best 79-yard touchdown reception on Dec. 8, 2013, at Baltimore while with Minnesota.
