Record win for Pats’ Brady
Newton benched for start of Panthers-Seattle game for dress code violation
Tom Brady became the winningest quarterback in NFL history Sunday, recording No. 201 with a 26-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
No. 202 won’t come as easily.
Next up for New England is Baltimore, the AFC North leaders, and then a trip to Denver.
And the Patriots, who lost star tight end Rob Gronkowski to season-ending back surgery last week, might have lost another receiver Sunday. Danny Amendola left in the third quarter with an ankle injury and was walking on crutches after the game. Amendola also serves as New England’s primary punt returner.
“Any time you lose a guy like Danny who’s another big piece of this team, it’s terrible,” receiver Julian Edelman said. “He’s a good leader on this team. He comes in and he makes plays. He catches first downs like it’s nothing. He makes big plays in the special-teams game. So it’s going to be tough.”
In routing the Rams, Brady completed 33 of 46 passes to move past Peyton Manning on the all-time wins list. Brady not surprisingly said nothing quotable, but his teammate LeGarrette Blount did.
“That’s a record that I don’t think will ever be broken,” Blount said.
Tough times: Less than a year after Cam Newton led Carolina to the Super Bowl, the star quarterback was benched for the start of their 40-7 loss to Seattle for a dress code violation — reportedly for failing to wear a tie to the game.
It was the first time in Newton’s six-year career he didn’t start a game for a reason other than for injury. Newton went out for the coin toss and had his helmet on as he warmed up on the sideline. But it was Derek Anderson who ran on the field for the first series.
It couldn’t have started any worse for the Panthers. On the first offensive play of the game, Anderson was intercepted by linebacker Mike Morgan on a pass that bounced off the hands of fullback Mike Tolbert. The Seahawks took over at the Panthers’ 8, Steven Hauschka kicked a short field goal four plays later and the Seahawks had a 3-0 lead before the game was 90 seconds old.
Happy return: Eric Berry returned an interception for a touchdown, and then brought back another pick for a 2-point conversion that gave Kansas City an improbable 29-28 victory over Atlanta.
Berry grew up in suburban Atlanta and was playing in the city for the first time as a professional. Also, it’s where he was treated after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma near the end of the 2014 season.
“I shed a few tears before the game, I shed a few tears during the game and I shed a few after,” Berry said.
With less than a minute left in the first half, Berry intercepted a Matt Ryan pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown. After reaching the end zone, he handed the ball to his mother sitting in the stands.
“I just handed it to her and told her I’d be back.” Berry said.
He kept his promise. After the Falcons scored a touchdown to take the lead at 28-27, they decided to go for a two-point conversion. That’s when Berry stepped in front of another Ryan pass and ran 99 yards the other way to put the Chiefs back ahead.
Tough break: In his first game back after missing his first game since high school last week, Seattle’s perennial All-Pro free safety Earl Thomas suffered what was reported to be a broken bone in his left leg after colliding with teammate Kam Chancellor early in the second quarter.
Thomas tweeted before the second quarter was over what sounded like an acknowledgment that the injury was potentially season-ending.
“This game has been so good to me no regrets,” Thomas’ tweet read. “A lot is running through my mind including retirement thanks for all the prayers.”
Thomas then followed up with a tweet reading “Kam you owe me a steak. Haha“
Good news, bad news: The Rams announced contract extensions for coach Jeff Fisher and general manager Les Snead, then watched their No. 1 draft pick, Jared Goff, have another rough day. The former Cal star from Marin, making his third NFL start, completed only 14 of 32 passes for 161 yards — 66 of them coming on a fourth-down throw in garbage time. Goff also had two passes intercepted.
Fisher said not to blame Goff.
“When you hit someone in the chest with the football, you’ve got to hang on it, even though there is contact involved,” Fisher said. “He extended plays with his legs; he moved around. ... Jared Goff wasn’t the reason we lost this football game today.”
On a roll: The Detroit Lions are moving toward their first division title since 1993. They’re 8-4, they’ve got a two-game lead in the NFC North, and they have the woeful Chicago Bears coming to town next.
Sunday they beat Drew Brees in New Orleans. In fact, they kept Brees from throwing a touchdown pass in New Orleans, something he had done 60 consecutive games. And they intercepted him three times.
“Our defense played unbelievable,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said.
Stafford wasn’t too shabby, passing for 341 and two touchdowns.
“We’re rolling right now,” said Golden Tate.
They’re in: Dallas (11-1) became the first team in the league to clinch a postseason berth, due to Washington’s 3123 loss at Arizona. The Cowboys beat Minnesota 17-15 on Thursday night.
Quite a catch: Arizona’s Larry Fitzgerald had 10 catches for 78 yards in the Cardinals’ 31-23 win over Washington, giving him 1,106 for his career. Fitzgerald, the youngest player in NFL history — at 33 years, 95 days — to reach 1,100 career catches, passed Hall of Famers Cris Carter (1,101) and Marvin Harrison (1,102) for the thirdmost receptions in NFL history. Fitzgerald has also recorded a catch in 191 consecutive games, surpassing Harrison (190) for the third-longest streak in NFL history.