FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A year after being sidelined with torn knee ligaments, Tom Brady resembled a rusty game manager more than the invincible record-setting quarterback who guided the Patriots to a perfect 2007 regular season. Yet, he threw two touchdown passes Monday night in the final 2:06 as New England rallied to beat the Buffalo Bills 25-24.
“I felt good all night, we were just off,” Brady said. “The plays we needed to make — fourth downs we missed, third downs we missed, two chances in the red area, the interception — those things really get you behind the eight ball.
“We recovered with just a few seconds left. Sometimes it happens like that. It’s a pretty special victory.”
Brady needed help in the form of Leodis McKelvin’s fumble on a kickoff return after the Patriots pulled within five points. Place-kicker Ste-phen Gostkowski, of all people, recovered at Buffalo’s 31-yard line. Brady needed three plays before hitting Benjamin Watson over the middle for the decisive 16-yard touchdown with 50 seconds to play.
Just 1:16 earlier, Brady found Watson on a similar play for an 18-yard score. It was vintage Brady, who threw for a record 50 TDs two years ago in leading New England to a perfect record.
Trent Edwards outplayed Brady for much of the game and threw for two scores. A 10-yard screen pass TD to Fred Jackson put Buffalo ahead 24-13 with 5:32 left — even though its new spotlight-grabber, receiver Terrell Owens, barely caused a ripple. Owens had two catches for 46 yards, then refused to speak about it after the game.
When the offense wasn’t doing the damage, defensive end Aaron Schobel was rambling 26 yards with an interception for a first-half touchdown.
“The interception was a really bad play,” Brady said. “You can’t do that. You learn from them, get focused and concentrate on what you have to do.”
But these are the Patriots, who have not lost a regular-season game with Brady at QB since Dec. 10, 2006. And they still have the threats in the passing game, from Randy Moss (12 catches, 141 yards) to Wes Welker (12, 93) to tight end Watson (six, 77, two TDs).
