Brady reaches 500 TD passes
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady reached 500 touchdown passes for his career and the New England Patriots put together their second straight win after a mediocre start to the season, beating Indianapolis 38-24 on Thursday night.
Brady’s 500th went to Josh Gordon, recently acquired from Cleveland, where he basically was unavailable through NFL suspensions for all but five games over the last three seasons. But, as he often does, Brady spread the wealth, hitting running back James White 10 times for 77 yards, and greeting the return of buddy Julian Edelman by completing seven for 57 yards to him.
Brady also tied Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, a former teammate, for most NFL victories with 226.
As everyone in Gillette Stadium knew, except, apparently, the Colts, Brady started off with a pass to Edelman, who was wide open for nine yards. That drew the first of many loud cheers for the 10th-year veteran receiver in his first game since the 2017 preseason, when he tore up a knee. Edelman was suspended for the first four games this year for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers.
Not much went right in the first half for the Colts (1-4). Under pressure, Andrew Luck threw a poor pass that Patrick Chung intercepted at midfield, and Stephen Gostkowski made a 45-yard field goal for a 24-3 New England lead.
Brady, who threw for 341 yards, had two passes intercepted, and Luck brought the Colts back to within 24-17 early in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Eric Swoope.
That’s when everyone saw vintage Brady as he hit the half-century mark for touchdown throws by connecting with Gordon, the 71st player to catch a touchdown pass from Brady, also an NFL mark.