New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady drops back to pass during NFL action at Gillette Stadium on Thursday, October 4, 2018 against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots went on to a 38-24 win. Photo by Chris Lessner. (click to enlarge)
FOXBOROUGH, MA- Tom Brady passed for three touchdowns and ran for another and the New England Patriots built a 21 point halftime lead Thursday night, then held on late to defeat the Indianapolis Colts 38-24 at Gillette Stadium.
Brady hit Cordarrelle Patterson for a one yard score on the first drive of the game, that took 6:02 to cover 80 yards to make it 7-0. Adam Vinatieri missed a field goal that would of put visiting Indianapolis (1-4) on the board in the opening quarter, and Brady stretched out and snuck one over the goal line early in the second to make it 14-0. The Colts got a 54 yard field goal by Vinatieri to get on the board, only to see New England go up 21-3 on a Brady to James White six yard touchdown pass. Stephen Gostkowski extended the lead to 21 with a 45 yard field goal before the break.
Indianapolis got right back in the game as quarterback Andrew Luck threw a pair of third quarter scores of 14 and 13 yards to Eric Ebron and Erik Swoope to make it 24-17. Brady reached two milestones however in the fourth quarter, when he scrambled out of the pocket and hit wide receiver Josh Gordon in the endzone for a 34 yard pitch and catch, with Gordon making an adjustment on the ball through two defenders for his first touchdown with the Patriots. The TD pass made Brady just the third quarterback to throw 500 in a career, trailing now just Brett Favre (508) and Peyton Manning (539) on the all time touchdown passes list. It was also the 71st different player he has thrown a touchdown to, setting an NFL record breaking Vinnie Testeverdes record of 70. Sony Michel after a Colts turnover put the game on ice with a 34 yard touchdown run to extend the lead back to 21. Luck hit Ebron late for a one yard score to finish off the scoring.
Brady finished 34-44 passing, 341 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Michel rushed 18 times for 98 yards, and White caught 10 passes for 77 yards as New England improves to 3-2 with their second straight win. The Patriots also saw the return of wide receiver Julian Edelman, who was suspended the first four games of the season for violating the leagues susbstance abuse policy. Edelman had seven catches for 57 yards in his first game back. Luck was 38-59, 365 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions for the Colts. Ebron finished with nine catches for 105 yards.
New England now has some extra rest with the Thursday night game this week. The Patriots will next play on Sunday Night Football October 14th at 8:20 pm when the Kansas City Chiefs visit Gillette.
