Brady throws 3 TDs in New England’s rout

MEXICO CITY — Tom Brady felt right at home in his first appearance in Mexico by throwing for 339 yards and three touchdowns, to the delight of an adoring crowd, in the New England Patriots’ 33-8 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

Brady (30 for 37) com- pleted his first 12 passes and picked apart Oakland’s suspect defense to chants of “Brady! Brady!” from an amped-up crowd at Azteca Stadium. The large contin- gent of Patriots fans in the well-divided crowd for a Raiders “home” game had plenty to cheer about as New England (8-2) dominated.

After winning their debut trip to Mexico City last year against Houston, the Raid- ers (4-6) were completely overmatched in their return. The offense failed to score until Derek Carr threw a TD pass to Amari Cooper in the fourth quarter with Oakland trailing by 30 points.

The defense got victimized by short passes by Brady and then beaten on a 64-yard TD to Brandin Cooks on the third play of the second half that gave New England a 24-0 lead.

There was a festive environment at the famed stadium, with loud cheers for both teams from the crowd of 77,357 fans and a notable buzz throughout the early portions. Much was made heading to the game about the differing approaches to playing in an elevation of 7,200 feet above sea level. The Patriots spent the week at the Air Force Academy practicing at an elevation of 6,621 feet, while the Raiders stayed home and opted to limit their time at high altitude.

The thin air might have helped Stephen Gostkowski set a New England record with a 62-yard field goal at the end of the first half that tied for the sixth-longest field goal in NFL history. Two of the five longer kicks, including Matt Prater’s record 64-yarder in 2014, were also done at high elevation in Denver. Gostkowski added three field goals in the second half.