Brady, Pats prevail
Brady-Manning XVI was over before halftime.
While Peyton Manning, by his own estimate, was stinking up the joint, Tom Brady was throwing for four touchdown passes, leading the New England Patriots to a 43-21 romp over the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
New England (7-2) won its fifth straight, halting the four-game winning streak for Denver (6-2) in emphatic fashion. Brady has 18 TD passes and one interception in those five victories.
“At the end of the day one person can’t do it alone,” said Brady, who made his 200th start; he has won 155 of those, an NFL record. “I’ve been a part of so many great teams ... I’ve been very privileged to play with great players and teammates that really work their butts off for each other. That’s why you string together five wins in a row like we’ve done.
“It’s a lot of guys working hard who believe in each other, have confidence in each other and then when you get your one day a week to go out there, you go out there and you let it rip. I thought the guys try to do a great job of that.”
Manning thought it was an awful performance by the Broncos (6-2), starting with their quarterback.
“The quarterback stinks, usually you’re not going to win many games,” Manning said,
Manning fell to 2-7 at Gillette Stadium and 5-11 overall against Brady, even though he threw for 438 yards and two touchdowns. He has at least two TD passes in 14 consecutive games, an NFL record.
Julian Edelman returned a punt 84 yards for a score and also had a 5-yard TD catch as New England took a 27-3 halftime lead and coasted.
Cardinals 28, Cowboys 17The Cardinals (7-1), who have sole possession of the best record in the NFC for the first time since 1974, won their fourth straight. They have beaten all five conference opponents.NFL rushing leader DeMarco Murray’s record streak of eight 100-yard games to start the season for Dallas (6-3) ended against a defense that didn’t allow a back over the century mark for the 18th consecutive time. He had 79 yards on 19 carries.
Eagles 31, Texans 21At Houston, Mark Sanchez threw for 202 yards and two touchdowns.After starter Nick Foles injured his left shoulder late in the first quarter, Sanchez saw his first action since 2012 with the Jets. He also threw two interceptions.The Eagles (6-2) led by three when Jeremy Maclin grabbed a low throw from Sanchez for an 8-yard touchdown catch to clinch it. Maclin finished with two touchdowns and 158 yards receiving and LeSean McCoy had 117 yards rushing.
Rams 13, 49ers 10With 2 seconds remaining, Colin Kaepernick fumbled at the goal line. James Laurinaitis recovered for the visiting Rams (3-5), who sacked the San Francisco quarterback eight times.“I just went to kind of meet him head to head down there and as I’m going down, I just see the ball sitting there,” Laurinaitis Laurinaitis.
Seahawks 30, Raiders 24At Seattle, the Seahawks (5-3) rode Marshawn Lynch’s for two first-half touchdowns. Bruce Irvin tipped and intercepted Derek Carr’s pass and returned it 35 yards for another score as Oakland (0-8) remained the league’s only winless team. The Raiders have lost 14 straight dating to last season.After a tumultuous previous month, the Seahawks won their second straight.
Dolphins 37, Chargers 0Ryan Tannehill threw for 288 yards and three scores, and Miami forced four turnovers.Tannehill went 24 for 34 and threw touchdown passes to Charles Clay, Rishard Matthews and Jarvis Landry. San Diego’s Philip Rivers threw three interceptions, two to Brent Grimes, and was sacked three times.
Bengals 33, Jaguars 23At Cincinnati, rookie Jeremy Hill ran for a career-high 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns, including a 60-yarder in the fourth quarter.Andy Dalton threw two touchdown passes, one to A.J. Green in the star receiver’s return from a toe injury, but also had a pair of interceptions that kept it close.The Jaguars (1-8) turned Dalton’s second interception into Denard Robinson’s 5-yard touchdown run, cutting it to 26-23. Hill broke his 60-yard touchdown run on Cincinnati’s next play from scrimmage.
Chiefs 24, Jets 10At Kansas City, Alex Smith threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns, Jamaal Charles ran for another score and the Chiefs sent New York (1-8) to its eighth straight loss.Tight ends Travis Kelce and Anthony Fasano each caught touchdown passes, and the Chiefs (5-3) won their third straight and fifth in six games.
Vikings 29, Redskins 26At Minneapolis, rookie Teddy Bridgewater outplayed Robert Griffin III down the stretch after a rough start, and Matt Asiata ran for three scores.
Browns 22, Bucs 17At Cleveland, Brian Hoyer threw a 34-yard TD pass to Taylor Gabriel with 8:59 remaining.Cleveland was trailing 17-16 when Hoyer completed his second TD pass.
