The Associated Press
Fred Goodall
TAMPA, Fla.–Tom Brady tied the NFL record for regular-season wins with some timely help from a porous New England defence showing signs of improvement.
Brady threw for 303 yards and one touchdown as the Patriots held off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19-14 to bounce back from a last-second loss that left them searching for answers to their defensive woes.
The Super Bowl champs rebounded from a 33-30 loss to Carolina despite Brady turning the ball over twice–on his first interception in eight regular-season games and a fumble on one of Tampa Bay’s three sacks.
On a night when the offence gained 402 yards but only got in the end zone once, Brady lauded the defence, which slowed the Bucs down just enough to get the victory.
“They kept us in it all night,” Brady said.
“I wish we could have scored more points offensively but defence really held their own.”
Neither of Brady’s turnovers led to points for the Bucs (2-2), who were was unable to do much offensively until the fourth quarter, when their comeback bid was hindered by two missed field goals.
“We responded,” Patriots’ coach Bill Belichick said after the defence, which yielded 456 yards and 32 points per game through the first four weeks of the season, contained the NFL’s third-ranked passing attack until Jameis Winston rallied his team in the final 15 minutes.
“[Giving up] a lot fewer points, you got a chance to win,” he reasoned.
Brady threw a five-yard TD pass to Chris Hogan in the second quarter while Stephen Gostkowski kicked field goals of 27, 23, 45, and 48 yards for the Patriots (3-2).
Winston rallied Tampa Bay late with an 18-yard TD pass to Cameron Brate that trimmed New England’s lead to 16-14 with 2:09 to go.
After Gostkowski’s fourth goal put the Patriots up by five, Winston marched the Bucs from his 25 to the Patriots’ 19 before throwing an incompletion on the final play.
It might not have come down to a last-minute drive if not for another poor performance by Tampa Bay’s Nick Folk.
The veteran kicker missed two field goals and an extra-point before beating the N.Y. Giants on a last-second kick last week.
He missed three more field goals last night, including a 31-yarder in the fourth quarter that would have cut a nine-point deficit to six with just under six minutes to go.
“I left points out there,” admitted Folk, who also misfired from 56 yards just before halftime and 49 yards on the second play of the fourth quarter.
“We should have won the game 20-19, so this one’s on me.”
With his 186th career regular-season win as a starter, Brady tied Brett Favre and Peyton Manning for the most by a quarterback in NFL history.
He also has 25 post-season victories, including five Super Bowls.
Playing without injured star tight end Rob Gronkowski (thigh), Brady was 30-of-40 passing with one interception.
Danny Amendola had eight catches for 77 yards while Hogan had eight for 74 yards.
