Patriots pull away from Giants, 6-0 for season
>> FOXBOROUGH: Tom Brady ran for two touchdowns and notched another NFL passing milestone on Thursday as the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants 35-14 to remain unbeaten this season.
Brady threw for 334 yards, and while he didn’t connect with a touchdown pass he passed nowretired Peyton Manning for second place on the NFL’s all-time passing yards list.
Needing just 18 yards to overtake Manning’s career mark of 71,940, Brady passed his former rival on a 19-yard completion to running back Sony Michel.
Brady, with 72,257 passing yards, remains well behind New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who leads the all-time list with 74,845 — a total he will likely add to when he returns from a thumb injury this season.
The reigning Super Bowl champions Patriots returned a blocked punt for a touchdown and forced four turnovers, including a fumble they returned for a TD return for a score.
They are 6-0 for the first time since 2015.
“We grinded it out pretty good,” Brady said. “The defence played good, special teams played great.”
New York’s rookie quarterback Daniel Jones completed 15 of 31 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown with three interceptions.
Markus Golden returned a fumble by Brady for a 42-yard touchdown after Brady was sacked by Lorenzo Carter.
While the Pats offence continued to have its struggles, the defence came up with two scores, the first when a blocked punt was returned for a touchdown by rookie Chase Winovich for a 7-0 lead and the second when a Jon Hilliman fumble was corralled for a touchdown by Kyle Van Noy.
All of the Patriots’ touchdowns came on one-yard runs — one to Brandon Bolden and two to Brady.