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November 19, 2007

Squib kicks: Another week, another record

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – For Tom Brady, making history has become a near-weekly event this season, and he went into last night’s AFC East matchup with the Bills with a chance to make even more.

With five touchdowns against the Bills, Brady now has 185 in his career, passing New England Hall of Famer Steve Grogan for the franchise career record.

In 16 seasons, Grogan threw 182 touchdowns. Brady is playing his eighth season and seventh as a starter.

Brady also extended his NFL record for consecutive games with three or more passing touchdowns to 10 games; against the Colts, he broke the record of eight games that he was sharing with Indy’s Peyton Manning.

More Brady numbers:
* He is on pace to throw a league-record 61 touchdowns against just six interceptions;
* He is now 32-2 on artificial turf;
* 45-16 on the road;
* 21-2 when the game-time temperature is 40 degrees or below;
* 20-3 when throwing for more than 300 yards;
* 71-3 when leading at halftime and 75-2 when leading after three quarters;
* 47-1 when is passer rating is 100 or better.
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One other team record went down last night, as Randy Moss scored four touchdowns, breaking the tie he had with Stanley Morgan after the Colts’ game for the single-season record for receiving touchdowns.

Moss now has 16, passing the record of 12 Morgan set in 1979. With six games to go, he is one away from tying his personal best of 17 scores, which he did in his rookie year, 1998, and in his final season with the Vikings, 2003.

The 30-year old also has a chance to break the single-season league record of 22 TDs, set by Jerry Rice in 1987. Moss is now on pace for 26 touchdowns.

Moss also topped 1,000 receiving yards for the season last night, making him the first Pats’ receiver to do so since Troy Brown in 2001 (1,199 yards on a franchise-record 101 grabs). Moss finished the night with 10 catches for 128 yards, giving him 66 catches for 1,052 yards (15.9 yards per catch).

It is the eighth 1,000-yard season in Moss’ 10-year career.
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New England established a new franchise record for total touchdowns in a single season last night, pushing its total to 54 with the eight-TD performance against the Bills.

The previous record was 52, set in 1961 and 1980. The NFL record for most touchdowns by a team is 70, set by the 1984 Miami Dolphins. The Patriots are currently on pace to shatter that record, with 86.
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Laurence Maroney's first quarter touchdown was his first of the season, but he is the 19th different player to get into the end zone for New England this season; the league record is 21, set by the 2000 Denver Broncos and 1987 Los Angeles Rams.
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The Patriots have now won nine straight games against Buffalo, the team’s third-longest regular-season win streak against an opponent.

Their longest win streak against the same opponent is 11 games, also over the Bills, from Jan. 2, 1983-Dec. 20, 1987. New England beat San Diego in 10 straight meetings from 1973-2001.
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Before last night, Buffalo’s record on Sunday Night Football was a league-best 5-0; Green Bay and Philadelphia are both 5-1 under the Sunday night lights.
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New England is now 33-9 against the AFC East since 2001, the best intra-divisional record in the NFL over that time – the Steelers are second, at 32-12.

The next best record in the AFC East belongs to the Jets, who are 20-22 in division play over the last six-plus years.
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Last night’s game inactives for the Patriots: Matt Gutierrez, third quarterback; safeties Eugene Wilson and Mel Mitchell; linebacker Eric Alexander; offensive linemen Stephen Neal and Wesley Britt; and defensive linemen LeKevin Smith and Kareem Brown.

For the Bills: Gibran Hamdan, third quarterback; running back Marshawn Lynch; tight ends Tim Massaquoi and Ryan Neufeld; linebacker Leon Joe; offensive lineman Christian Gaddis; and defensive linemen Copeland Bryan and Jason Jefferson.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:42 AM | Permalink