Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will enter Monday night’s game with the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field with 575 career touchdown passes (504 regular season; 71 postseason), four shy of the NFL-record 579 (539 regular season; 40 postseason) Manning threw for Indianapolis and Denver during his career.
FOXBORO – Passing Peyton.
Tom Brady should soon be doing that.
The Patriots’ 19-year veteran will enter Monday night’s game with the Buffalo Bills at New Era Field with 575 career touchdown passes (504 regular season; 71 postseason), four shy of the NFL-record 579 (539 regular season; 40 postseason) Peyton Manning threw for Indianapolis and Denver over an 18-year career from 1998-2015.
Brady ranks third in league history in regular-season touchdown passes with his 504, trailing only Manning’s 539 and Brett Favre’s 508 with Atlanta, Green Bay, the New York Jets and Minnesota over his 20-year Hall of Fame career from 1991-2010. With 501 and counting over his 18-year career with San Diego and New Orleans, Drew Brees (530 including the playoffs) is only three behind Brady in that department entering Week 8 of this season.
Brady also enters Monday night’s game closing in on 1,000 yards rushing – over his career, that is.
Brady’s 6-yard jaunt in the second quarter of last Sunday’s 38-31 win at Chicago put him at 569 carries for 989 yards (1.7 per carry) in 260 games (3.8 per game) for 195 first downs and 19 touchdowns. The longest run of his career occurred on Oct. 1, 2006, at Cincinnati when he scrambled for 22 yards in the third quarter of a 38-13 win over the Bengals.
Brady heads into Monday night’s game with 28 wins in 31 starts against the Bills, the most ever by a quarterback against one team in league history.
Brady has completed 652 of 1,013 passes (64.4 percent) for 7,798 yards and 68 touchdowns with 22 interceptions for a passer rating of 101.1 versus the Bills. He’s rushed 71 times for 125 yards (a 1.7-yard average) and two TDs against Buffalo.
While Brady enters Monday night’s game ranked 11th in passer rating in the NFL, 10th in completion percentage, 19th in yards per attempt and has thrown seven interceptions in seven games, Bills head coach Sean McDermott says he’s seen no dropoff in the quarterback’s play at the age of 41.
“He’s probably better, in fact,” said McDermott. “I’ve got a lot of respect, we have a lot of respect for Tom Brady and love the fact the way that he’s driven to win and prepared to win, probably most importantly. He’s as good as there is out there and I’m sure that he’ll be in the Hall of Fame someday.”
McCourty twins honored: Patriots Devin and Jason McCourty have been named the Week 7 NFLPA Community MVPs for their work in raising more than $200,000 at their Tackle Sickle Cell Casino Night this past Monday in Boston.
In honor of the McCourtys, the NFLPA will make a $10,000 contribution to their foundation or charity of choice along with an in-kind donation on behalf of the players association’s supporting partner Delta Private Jets.
No changes to injury report: The Patriots’ practice participation and injury report didn’t change from Thursday to Friday.
Once again, running back Sony Michel (knee), cornerback Eric Rowe (groin) and offensive lineman Brian Schwenke (foot) did not practice.
Offensive tackle Trent Brown (ankle), offensive tackle Marcus Cannon (concussion), wide receiver Josh Gordon (hamstring), defensive end Geneo Grissom (ankle), tight end Rob Gronkowski (ankle/back), linebacker Dont’a Hightower (knee), tight end Jacob Hollister (hamstring), defensive end John Simon (shoulder) and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. (ankle/knee) were all limited.
Gronkowski's potential availability on Monday night looms large.
In the 13 games he's played against Buffalo (11 of them Patriots wins) in his career, Gronkowski, who grew up in nearby Amherst, N.Y., has caught 66 passes for 1,027 yards and 12 TDs, although last year's stop in Orchard Park saw him ejected and subsequently suspended by the league for one game for delivering a blatant cheap shot to Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White.