Brady powers Patriots in battle of unbeatens

China Daily | Updated: 2007-10-16 07:11

DALLAS: Tom Brady threw a career-high five touchdown passes to help the New England Patriots overpower the Dallas Cowboys 48-27 in a showdown of unbeaten teams on Sunday.

The Patriots (6-0) trailed 24-21 in the third quarter before Brady led them to 27 points in the fourth quarter, reducing the number of unbeaten NFL teams to two, New England and the Indianapolis Colts who had a bye week.

A 69-yard pass play from Brady to Donte' Stallworth put New England in command 38-24 early in the fourth quarter as their defense held Dallas to three points the remainder of the game.

Brady passed for 388 yards, completing 31 of 46 tosses, becoming the first NFL quarterback to throw for at least three touchdowns in each of the first six games of a season.

"Tom does a great job of getting the ball to the open guy," Patriots coach Bill Belechick told reporters.

New England led 21-10 late in the second quarter on Wes Welker's second touchdown reception before Dallas rallied.

Brady powers Patriots in battle of unbeatens

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo hit Terrell Owens with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 46 seconds left in the half to close the gap to 21-17.

Then Romo, who completed 18 of 29 passes, found Patrick Crayton for an eight-yard score and a 24-21 Dallas lead with 10:20 to go in the third quarter.

New England was soon back on top at 28-24 on a 1-yard Tom Brady-to-Kyle Brady pass play. Stephen Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal made it 31-24 before Stallworth sealed the win.

"They are an outstanding team with tremendous match-up problems for any defense," Cowboys coach Wade Phillips told reporters.

"We wanted to be one of the elite teams but obviously we are not."

Stallworth caught seven passes for 136 yards from Brady with Welker grabbing 11 for 124 yards.

Randy Moss finished with six catches for 59 yards and one touchdown. Owens made six receptions for 66 yards for Dallas.

*Rookie Adrian Peterson rushed for 224 yards and three touchdowns in the Minnesota Vikings' 34-31 road win over the Chicago Bears. Ryan Longwell kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired to clinch the win.

*LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for four touchdowns and 198 yards in the San Diego Chargers' 28-14 home win over the Oakland Raiders.

*David Garrard threw for two touchdowns and Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for two more as the Jacksonville Jaguars rolled to a 37-17 victory over the Houston Texans.

*The Green Bay Packers (5-1) rallied to beat the Washington Redskins 17-14 with Charles Woodson returning a fumble 57 yards in the third quarter for the go-ahead touchdown. Packers quarterback Brett Favre broke the NFL record for interceptions with his 278th as the Redskins picked off two of his passes.

*Tony Gonzalez set an NFL record for TD receptions by a tight end with 63 as he caught two scoring passes in the Kansas City Chiefs' 27-20 home win over the Cincinnati Bengals.

*Matt Bryant kicked a 43-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers edged the Tennessee Titans 13-10. Titans starting quarterback Vince Young was injured in the third quarter.

*The Miami Dolphins and St Louis Rams remained without a win. Miami lost their ninth straight game over two seasons, falling to the Cleveland Browns 41-31. St Louis dropped a 22-3 decision to the Baltimore Ravens.

Agencies

(China Daily 10/16/2007 page23)