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QUARTERBACK: Tom Brady fell short of his fourth game-winning touchdown drive in a Super Bowl. He overcame a ragged start to find his groove. He set a Super Bowl record with 16 straight completions, including 15 straight on two touchdown passes. His first touchdown pass, a 4-yarder to Danny Woodhead, showed his patience to wait for the running back to break free of the linebacker. Brady's second one, a 12-yarder, was quicker recognition to find tight end Aaron Hernandez against the middle linebacker. Brady did get hit on his interception (which turned out to be a long punt) and seemed to hurt his already banged-up left shoulder. He started off the scoring but not the way he intended. His intentional grounding penalty on the Patriots' first play led to a safety, a strange mistake for a quarterback known for such great awareness. Grade: B-plus.

OFFENSE: The Patriots' receivers let Brady down in the fourth quarter with drops from Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Hernandez. The passing game was limited with tight end Rob Gronkowski less than full strength with a high-ankle sprain. He didn't get a catch until three minutes left in the first half. Hernandez picked up the slack with a 12-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter. The offensive line held up quite well against a Giants pass rush that recorded five sacks of Brady in the last Super Bowl matchup. Welker was a hot target in the passing game, although he couldn't pull down a key reception late in the fourth quarter. Grade: C.

DEFENSE: The Patriots' much-maligned defense came up big in the biggest game of the season. Playing both safeties deep to defend against the deep pass, the Patriots made it tough for Eli Manning and forced him to throw into tight windows. The New England run defense got pushed around early (70 yards rushing allowed in the first half), but fared better in the second half. The Patriots played more physical after they were sparked by Patrick Chung's hit on Hakeem Nicks along the sideline. The Patriots then allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to score a 6-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left, so they could get the ball back into the hands of Brady. Grade: B-minus.

COACHING: Bill Belichick lost his second straight Super Bowl. The Patriots had a great game plan defensively and were running an efficient offense. But it was questionable to throw on second-and-11 in the fourth quarter — which resulted in an incompletion to Welker and stopped the clock with four minutes left in the game. Then, the challenge on the Mario Manningham catch on the Giants' final drive cost the Patriots a timeout. Belichick prides himself on precision and discipline, which is why having 12 men on the field for defense was so surprising. That penalty negated a recovered fumble for the New England defense and led to the Giants' first touchdown (a Victor Cruz 2-yard catch in the first quarter). Grade: B.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 29-yard field goal. The kickoff coverage team allowed a 34-yard return early in the third quarter. The Patriots' return game was virtually non-existent. Punter Zoltan Mesko was outplayed by Steve Weatherford, averaging 38 yards per punt. Grade: C.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady downplayed any concerns about him sitting out Wednesday’s practice with what the team classified as a left shoulder ailment and said he’ll be on the field for the team’s session on Thursday.

“I’ll be out there today, you don’t have to worry about that,” said Brady, who hinted that the coaching staff felt it was best for him to take an additional day of rest, but he still found ways to ready himself for Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens.

“It’s not the first practice I’ve missed over the years,” said Brady. “Coming off a game on Saturday or Sunday, you’re just doing everything you can to be prepared. When Coach [Bill Belichick] feels it’s best to do other things to get yourself ready, that’s what you do. You can still use all that time very wisely. You’re not lounging around taking naps or anything like that. You’re just putting in extra work, and make sure you’re getting prepared.”

Peppered on sitting out Wednesday’s session, Brady did his best to alleviate concerns.

“When I miss a practice, you know, you just try to do others thing to get yourself ready to go,” said Brady. “So, catch up on your film work, get some extra treatment and so forth. It’s just a matter of being as prepared as we can for Sunday. I’ll certainly be as prepared as I possibly can be.”

Brady appeared on the injury report with the left shoulder ailment during Week 17 (he missed Wednesday’s session that week and was limited in two others leading to him being listed as probable for a game against the Dolphins). It didn’t hinder his ability to be on the field for that regular-season finale.

Before the Divisional round battle with the Broncos, Brady was removed from the injury report after full participation in Wednesday’s first official session of the week.

“I just missed practice, that’s all,” said Brady. “Not much more than that, really. I’m just trying to find ways to get myself prepared to play. We’re facing a great team, great challenges -- certainly the best team we’ve faced all year. Everyone needs to be at full strength though. It’s going to be a very physical, tough, hard-nosed game. We need everyone at full strength.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t care to engage in chatter about Brady. Asked about him missing the session, Belichick offered, “He wasn’t out there [Wednesday]; Hopefully he’ll be out there today.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Tom Brady crashed the 5,000-yard passing-yardage barrier in style Sunday against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium.

Brady hooked up with tight end Aaron Hernadez down the right sideline for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 9:18 remaining in the second quarter, boosting his season total to 5,004 yards.

That made Brady the third player in NFL history to throw for at least 5,000 yards in a season.

Miami’s Dan Marino was the first, accumulating 5,084 yards in 1984. New Orleans’ Drew Brees threw for 5,069 yards in 2008, and last week Brees slipped past Marino for the NFL record. Heading into Sunday’s game against Carolina, Brees had racked up an NFL record 5,087 yards.

The day got off to a slow start for Brady. He passed for exactly zero yards on the Pats’ first two possessions, misfiring on his only pass attempt and getting sack in his other drop-back on a pair of three-and-outs.

He heated up a bit the third time New England had the ball, with the Pats already trailing by 21-0.

A pair of short tosses to tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski accounted for 11 yards. After a running play, Brady hooked up with Hernandez for a 27-yard gain, and then an eight-yarder to Wes Welker, giving him 46 yards on a TD drive that culminated in BenJarvus Green-Ellis’ one-yard drive with 11:58 remaining in the second quarter as the Pats cut their deficit to 21-7.

That left Brady 57 yards shy of the magic 5,000.

It didn’t take long for the 12-year veteran to achieve the milestone.

On New England’s fourth possession, Brady completed passes of five- and eight yards to Welker, and then a nine-yarder to Hernandez. The next connection with Hernandez, uncovered and behind the defense on the right sideline, boosted Brady’s total yardage for the game to 107 for the game and 5,004 for the season.

The touchdown toss marked the 32nd consecutive game in which Brady has thrown for a score, extending his club record. The scoring strike pulled the Patriots to within one touchdown of the Bills, at 21-14.

DENVER -- The Patriots already boasted an 18-point cushion and were searching for a knockout blow in the fourth quarter when Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil came free off the edge and nearly delivered a knockout blow of his own on quarterback Tom Brady.

Brady showed a lot of toughness by rushing back to his feet. He admitted after the game that Dumervil laid a solid shot on him.

"I was looking to throw the ball up in the slot and didn't see Elvis coming," Brady said. "He got me pretty good, but we really answered the next time we got the ball, which is important. He's a very good player -- Elvis and [linebacker] Von Miller. We talked about them all week. I thought our guys really hung in there."

So, too, did Brady. Dumervil admitted after the game he was surprised Brady hung onto the ball.

"When one of the best pass rushers in the league gets a clean shot, it's going to hurt," Brady said. "He got me pretty good. I'm sure I'll be feeling that one in the morning."

Brady finished 23-of-34 passing for 320 yards with two touchdowns. He also rushed the ball six times -- almost exclusively quarterback sneaks -- and scored once (delivering an emphatic spike after the score) and thought he got in a second time (but settled for a BenJarvus Green-Ellis touchdown run on the series after the Dumervil sack).

"I don't get in the end zone very often -- maybe once or twice per season -- so when I do, I get pretty excited," Brady said. "It's nice to score. It's usually once a year for me."

Brady seemed most pleased with the fourth-quarter score that helped put the game away, given New England's difficulties closing out games this season.

"It was a good day for us," Brady said. "It was a very emotional game. The place was really rocking early. We showed some mental toughness, playing hard for 60 minutes. We really played good football. It's what we needed."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady might not have the running prowess of Denver's Tim Tebow, but he showed Wednesday he can throw a good stiff-arm.

Blitzed with questions about Tebow during his weekly news conference, Brady instead tried to steer the conversation towards the Broncos team as a whole, preferring to focus on their blitz-happy defense or even his terrible career record against Denver.

"I think they are a very good team," Brady said when the first question centered on Tebow. "I think they obviously have a bunch of guys that play hard and play well together, I think they complement each other very well -- offense, defense, and special teams. Honestly, I’ve been focussing on their defense; I haven’t watched a lot of Broncos offense this week. I’ve seen all their games. They have a lot of good players -- D.J. Williams, Champ Bailey, obviously I’ve played against him a bunch -- I really have a lot of respect for the guys on the defensive side of the ball. That’s really our challenge this week. We’ll let the the defensive guys handle their offense."

Four more questions on Tebow followed and got similar responses before Brady was asked about simply appreciating what another quarterback was doing.

"I appreciate good quarterbacks, I’ve always watched them around the league, whether it’s Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees, who are having phenomenal years," he said. "Obviously, Tim's having a great year. You watch guys and they way they perform under pressure and it says a lot about the person they are and the way their teammates feel about them."

Brady seemed relieved when the conversation finally shifted to the Broncos defense.

"Obviously, Von Miller, he’s a phenomenal player; watching him play is pretty awesome," said Brady. "Then Elvis [Dumervil] on the other side, they’ve really got two guys that can rush the passer. And I know I sit up here every week and talk about how good a pass rush we’re going to face, but we seem to continue to face them. They really get after the quarterback. They have great linebackers, it's obviously a very physical front. The linebackers are very good and cover well. That’s what make them a pretty good defense, guys that can rush the quarterback and keep it up in coverage. But they blitz well, they blitz a lot. It’s a matter of making sure we’re protecting and getting the ball out on the time, and getting the ball to our guys so they can do something with it.”

One week after picking up his first win at FedEx Field, it was noted to Brady that he's a mere 1-5 against the Broncos during his career.

"Oh man, that's pretty bad," he said. "Hopefully we get to 2-5 this week. Maybe it’s that Mile High air. Maybe there is something to that. I don’t know. I haven't played very well [against Denver], I don’t think. We had some very close games, we just didn't pull it out. They’re a good team, and have been a good team for a long time since [former Broncos] coach [Mike] Shanahan was there and we've played a bunch of very tight games. Hopefully we can start working our way towards getting even."

Brady, who was spotted taking a game ball off the field in Washington, maybe in celebration of his first regular-season win there, was asked if that losing record against one team bothered him, especially considering it's the only team in the NFL he has a losing record against.

"Losing sucks and you hate losing, but there's nothing I can do about those games in the past now," said Brady. "I'll try to win this one, that would make me feel pretty good."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wouldn't take the bait when asked if he would have preferred that his friend Peyton Manning was playing this week (Brady simply said he hopes Manning makes the trip so he can say hello). But Brady sprinkled in some humor when the topic shifted to the players the Colts will have available.

"I wish [defensive end Dwight Freeney] was out this week," joked Brady. "He’s in there again. He’s a phenomenal player. If I could be a defensive end, I'd be like him. And Robert Mathis on the other side, both of those guys can really wreak havoc [especially with] strip sacks. Coach [Bill Belichick] said this morning that I think Freeney's got like [99.5] career sacks and [42] forced fumbles. So almost half the time he sacks you, he strips the ball from you. He’s a great player."

Freeney owns three sacks against Brady in seven career regular-season games against the Patriots and got him once last November. Brady said it's players like Freeney that make this week a dangerous game, regardless of the fact that the Colts are winless.

"Sometimes we take for granted winning here because we’ve done that," said Brady. "It’s hard to win an NFL game. Every team has talent. Every team can only spend to the cap, you can’t spend over it. The draft and the way that’s built. It’s hard to win games, it really is. You never want to see a team have that kind of a season, because you know how miserable [the Patriots] are when we lose two in a row. At the same time, it's our job is to go out there and perform as well as we can against them this week. That’s what we plan to do. We don’t take anything for granted. The record? When the ball kicks off, it doesn’t matter what their record is. It doesn't matter what our record is. The team that’s going to win is the team that plays the best that day."

Pressed on why it's so hard for observers to buy into that "records don't matter" philosophy that Belichick is adamant about instilling in his players this week, Brady again laughed.

"Because you guys don’t play," he said. "You don’t have to drop back and try to find the open guy with two guys breathing down your throat. You don’t have to cover Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon and Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark. Or tackle those guys. They’re damn good football players. And they’ve proven that year after year against us. So I've got a ton of respect for the Colts and the way they play. Someone said it earlier, we've had some great games against them. So we go out and expect to get their best. Their best has been very, very close at times this year. They played Pittsburgh very well, so when you see them play a team like Pittsburgh well -- and actually play them better than we played them -- you understand that they can certainly beat us if we don’t go out and play well."

PHILADELPHIA -- Quick hits from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady following New England's 38-20 triumph over the Eagles Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field:

On the team's performance Sunday: "I thought it was OK -- I just thought our execution was a little better. It's good to come on the road and get a win. It's a team that has obviously a lot of very good players and I thought getting down 10-0 and then rallying and coming back like we did, it showed a bit of mental toughness, which we've shown consistently throughout the year."

On a 63-yard connection with Deion Branch: "He had a comeback route, he ran it, and I scrambled up. [Branch] kind of stepped up, wheeled inside and the [defensive back] lost him. I just tried to jam it in there to him. He caught it and he did the rest. I thought he had a great cutback there at about the 15- or 20-yard line to get us down to the 1. That was a huge play in the game. I thought, really, it stopped the momentum that they had established and for us to make plays like that really softens up the defense."

On the 41-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker: "He said before the play that if I get this certain look, then I'm going to fake like I'm running the in-cut and then run the post. He did it and came to the sideline and said, 'I told you, I told you!' So that was pretty funny. It's nice when they work out kind of like you talk about it. Wes [Welker] is so consistent and reliable, he's a phenomenal player."

On rushing for 28 yards on five carries: "Yeah, that's a rarity. There's just a few times where I felt it opened up in the middle and I just took off. I'm not moving very fast, they're converging pretty quickly, so I just got down there as fast as I could."

On Aaron Hernandez helping him with his knee brace after one scramble: "I thought the brace was bent, but it just ended up having a lot of turf jammed up in there and Aaron was trying to tug it out of there, which fortunately he did. And we were in the no-huddle, so we were able to get on the ball and get it snapped with some time left on the clock."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Asked about his physical health on Wednesday, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady offered no hints about potential ailments he's battling through this season.

"No, I feel great," said Brady. "I feel great. I’m excited about this week and I’ll be out there on Sunday, as I am all week, unless they tell me I can’t be. I’l be out there, I feel great, and I’m going to try to go play my best football."

Brady offered high praise for the Eagles, whom the Patriots visit on Sunday, and said to look past their 4-6 record.

"They are very talented, there’s no question about that," he said. "You look at their defensive stats, and their offensive stats, they are as good as any team in the league -- they can play with anybody. They have two pretty significant blowout wins, then the rest of the games have been very close, so it’s not like teams are running away from these guys. They are in every single game and they are a tough team, in all phases."

None of New England's final six opponents currently have a winning record, but Brady said the Patriots need to be focused on each game with a goal of building toward the postseason.

"I think that we need to play very well [Sunday], certainly better than we’ve played the last few weeks," he said. "There’s a lot of people on our team and our offense that have taken the challenge that our coach has given us -- to go out there and try to play our best. I think we need to do that. This is the time of the year when it’s most important. There’s not a lot of games left, so when you play a tough team on the road, one that’s coming off one of their biggest wins of their season, we’ve got everything we could ask for. So we’re going to try to go out there and play our best."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady doesn't need a reminder about how frustrating a season-ending injury can be. With the Chiefs coming to town on Monday night, he'll only naturally be reminded of the ACL injury that ended his 2008 campaign just minutes into the season-opener. With that in mind, Brady can relate to what former backup Matt Cassel is going through this week with his season potentially over due to a hand injury.

Cassel, who guided the Patriots to an 11-5 mark in Brady's absence, was injured last week and will not play against his former team.

"It sucks to be injured," said Brady. "There’s nobody that goes through a football season that doesn’t get injured, you just really hope it’s not really a permanent injury. [Cassel is] a tough guy, he’s tough as anybody I’ve been around. So it’s disappointing for him that he won’t be able to be out there."

But Brady wasn't much in the mood for reflecting on an old friend -- at least not one that won't be calling the defensive plays for this week's opponent. Brady did talk at length about the challenge of going up against former Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.

"I obviously have plenty of things that I need to worry about with our offense," said Brady. "[Kansas City is] a very good team. Defensively, they're very well coached. We’ve been around Romeo for a long time, so we have a decent understanding of what he does, but we haven’t played these guys in a while. They have some very good players, defensively, and we need a good week, so that we can go out there and be very well prepared and play with a lot of confidence, play with anticipation, and try to go out there and execute well.”

Brady was asked if he sees Crennel's trademarks on this Chiefs defense.

"It's what we do on defense," quipped Brady. "There's a lot of familiarity, through training camp and every day in practice. It's really a 3-4 defense, and they're very fundamentally sound. You can see the things that they are coaching every single week. They line up, they're very physical. They make it hard to run it. They have some very good corners, very experienced corners, athletic linebackers, so it's a very good group. And because they are very well coached, they are rarely in a bad position. In order to make plays, you have to run good routes, make good throws -- you gotta pass protect against one of the best pass-rushers that we've faced in [defensive end Tamba] Hali. They have a very good group."

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On Wednesday, we wrote that something just isn't quite right with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. After throwing a mere four interceptions last season, Brady has been picked off 10 times at the midway point of the 2011 campaign and seems to be committing uncharacteristic errors.

Now we are putting Brady's 10 interceptions under the microscope and examining the damage they've caused:


Opponents turned Brady's 10 interceptions into a staggering eight scores -- four touchdowns and four field goals -- for a total of 40 points. Four of Brady's first five picks were parlayed into touchdowns by the opposition, highlighted by Buffalo cashing in four interceptions for 24 points to aid a rally from a three-score hole. What's more, Brady threw six interceptions on early downs on the opponents' side of the field -- five of which were inside the opponents' 33-yard line, suggesting the Patriots should have come away with at least five field goals. Combined with the 40 points allowed off the turnovers is a huge swing of points considering the Patriots have lost three games by a combined 15 points (or exactly five field goals).

Let's take a closer look at each interception:



Interception 1 vs. Dolphins: A screen pass for receiver Julian Edelman is blown up and the ball slams off the pads off a defensive player before caroming all the way back to defensive end Chad Odrick as he attempted to pressure Brady. It's just the first of numerous bad bounces Brady will incur.

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady clearly wasn't in the mood for too much chatter about the team's offensive struggles, engaging in one of his briefest midweek press conferences of the season Wednesday. Brady did pin much of the blame for a sputtering offense on his own lack of execution and expressed excitement in the opportunity to start fixing those mistakes Sunday against the rival Jets.

"It's just decision-making," Brady said when asked about his 10 interceptions on the season, this after throwing just four all of the 2010 campaign. "Just gotta make better decisions."

Pressed on what he's seen from the offensive lately in film review, Brady noted, "I don’t feel like we can’t figure it out. We’ve shown we can produce. We make plenty of good plays, there's no doubt about that. We gotta eliminate some of the ones that are holding us back, mainly the turnovers."

Brady was intercepted twice and fumbled away another possession in Sunday's loss to the Giants. Turning his attention to the Jets, Brady said players are eager for this week's matchup.

"We're excited, we have a great challenge, playing a division team on the road," said Brady. "I think everyone's very excited about the challenge. Guys came in ready to work. Hopefully we get off to a good start today."

It wouldn't be a Brady press conference if wide receiver Chad Ochocinco's name wasn't evoked and Brady offered his typical praise despite the pair's inability to connect on five targets in Sunday's loss.

"He's continued to do a great job in practice in his role that's he really carved out for himself," said Brady. "And he’s going to continue to be out there, and hopefully make a bunch of plays for us. I mean, one of these days, it really is going to click for all of us. You always go back to the foundation that we’ve built, which is based on hard work, and getting out there and working your tail off."

Pressed if he gives Ochocinco more rope because of how hard he appears to be working, Brady said that goes for the offense as a whole.

"Everybody is working hard," said Brady. "You just realize at some point it’s going to pay off for all of us. You keep working hard, you keep staying late, you keep communicating, you’re working at it, you’re competitive, you're trying to do the right thing, it’s going to pay off. We got a long way to go."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Heinz Field can be a tough place for visitors to play, those yellow Terrible Towels whipping when the Steelers' offense is clicking. But Patriots quarterback Tom Brady kind of likes the idea of 65,050 vs. 53.

"I think we always talk about it the night before a game; You look around your meeting room and you go, ‘Look guys, this is all we got and this is all we need,'" said Brady. "If we make good plays, the crowd’s not going to be a factor. If we don’t, you better believe they’re going to be there all day long.

"The better we play, the less of a factor it’s going be. And there’s less margin for error because you’re playing in a place where you’re very unfamiliar and they’re playing in a place where they have the crowd noise and a lot of the energy is focused on the home team. We get that same thing [at Gillette Stadium]. We’re pretty tough to beat here at home. The Steelers are pretty tough to beat at home. We’ve been fortunate to do it a few times, but I tell you that the times we’ve beaten them, we’ve had to play very, very, very good games, and we have.

"I think that’s probably what I am most proud of: Some of our greatest games that we’ve ever played have been against them and that’s just the level of execution."

That said, the Patriots are no stranger to the Heinz crowd whopping it up, like in a particularly frightful Halloween visit there in 2004 that handed the Patriots their first loss of the year (and ended New England's 21-game winning streak overall).

"It was a tough day for us," said Brady. "That was a rough day. They were going crazy, the towels were waving and the fans were really into it. It’s a great stadium. It’s very loud. It’s a very imposing stadium. What makes it the most imposing is the way that they play and their physical style. I think they’ve always had that hallmark there of what they try to accomplish on defense, which really sets the tone for their offense. They’re a tough team that’s always run the ball well that’s always played good defense. Then when they get ahead of you, they can rush the passer. They’ve got a lot tough blitz combinations that they bring to force the ball out quickly. Quarterbacks don’t typically have a lot of time and the crowd going crazy obviously doesn’t help the communication with the offense very much."

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quarterback Tom Brady and punter Zoltan Mesko were forced to sport Michigan State apparel inside the Patriots' locker room Tuesday after losing what's become an annual bet with backup quarterback -- and former Spartan -- Brian Hoyer.

Michigan State upset previously undefeated Michigan, 28-14, on Saturday, forcing Brady and Mesko, former Wolverines, to don green and white for the day. Brady, wearing a black Spartans T-shirt as he walked through the locker room, simply shook his head when asked about the attire. He actually got off pretty easy. Typically the first access of the week sends Brady to the interview podium, but the bye week spared him of that obligation.

Brady quickly pulled on a blue long-sleeved hoodie before returning to his locker.

Mesko didn't seem to mind fulfilling the bet. He even stopped for a couple shots from cameras, including one that got sent out by the team's official Twitter feed.

This isn't the first time Brady's been forced to don green and white. Michigan State has owned the Paul Bunyan Trophy game the past four seasons, making Hoyer undefeated in the rivalry since joining the Patriots in 2009.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The way Tom Brady saw it, there was no option.

The Patriots had to score. Simple as that. A touchdown, maybe, but at least a field goal to take Sunday’s game into overtime. And Brady’s preference, of course, was a touchdown.

That was the Hall-of-Fame-bound quarterback’s mindset as he and the Patriots took over the ball at their 20-yard line with 2:31 to go, facing a three-point deficit against the Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium.

“You can’t not get the ball in the end zone. The plays and the throws need to be more accurate. The routes need to be better. The protection needs to be better and the entire offense (needs to be better). It’s something we work on quite a bit,” Brady said of the Pats’ two-minute offense with the game on the line.

So although the offense had been held scoreless the entire second half, Brady calmly moved the Patriots 80 yards for a touchdown, completing eight of nine passes, including the game-winner, an eight-yard strike to tight end Aaron Hernandez with 22 seconds left.

The result of the clutch drive was a 20-16 victory over the Cowboys, giving the Patriots a 5-1 record and the division lead heading into their bye week.

“We haven’t had really a true two-minute situation at the end of the game where we needed a touchdown in a long time,” said Brady, who completed 27-of-41 passes for 289 yards. He threw for two touchdowns, but also had a pair of interceptions.

“We practice it quite a bit. We prepare hard for that situation every week. When it came up this week, it’s good to get the ball in the end zone,” said Brady, who moved into eighth on the all-time touchdown list, throwing for at least one score in his 22nd straight regular-season game, extending his franchise record.

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Early in the second quarter, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady sported a large wrap over his right elbow/arm while talking with offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien on the sideline. Brady remained in the game, but it's something to monitor moving forward. Here's a screenshot from the Fox broadcast: