Tom Brady Sets N.F.L. Career Passing Record as Buccaneers Beat Patriots

In this first and perhaps only showdown between Brady and Belichick in Foxborough, Brady’s play was good enough to prevail in a sloppy, penalty-filled game of field goals, dropped passes, missed tackles and costly penalties. The Buccaneers won, 19-17, to move to 3-1 as they try to defend their Super Bowl title, while the Patriots fell to 1-3, despite a standout performance from the rookie who has replaced Brady, Mac Jones.

Brady, 44, was lucky to leave with a win after what he called an “emotional week” preparing to play against his former teammates and in a region where he began his career and raised a family.

“These are guys I’ve shared my life with,” Brady said of the Patriots.

Overall, he was outplayed by Jones, 23, who is almost half Brady’s age and who showed why the Patriots drafted him in the first round this spring.

Brady looked unsteady for much of the game, overthrowing receivers and settling for field goals instead of touchdowns. Still, when he completed a 28-yard pass to receiver Mike Evans in the first quarter, Brady became the N.F.L.’s career passing leader, surpassing the record of 80,358 yards set last year by Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints quarterback who retired at the end of the season. Brady now has 80,560 career yards passing. He also has the most career touchdown passes, with 591, having thrown 20 more than Brees.

New England noted the passing yards record on the stadium’s video screens and there was a burst of cheers but it was otherwise business as usual as fans snapped back into form.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/03/sports/football/brady-bucs-patriots-belichick.html