The Latest: Brady Sets NFL’s Career Passing Mark
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback broke Drew Brees’ record on Sunday night with a 28-yard pass to Mike Evans in the first quarter. That gave Brady 80,359 regular-season yards passing in his career, 1 more than Brees.
Little notice was taken of the record in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Brady played the first 20 years of his career. But after the Buccaneers called a timeout, the stadium announcer acknowledged the accomplishment and the fans gave Brady a cheer. One play later, the ball was taken out of play.
Brady entered the game against his former team needing 68 yards passing for the record. The 44-year-old quarterback already holds the NFL record for most TD passes (591), most wins as a starting quarterback (232), most Super Bowl titles (seven), and most conference championships (10).
7:35 p.m.
The Baltimore Ravens eclipsed the 100-yard Skechers Womens Outlet rushing mark on the final play against Denver, giving them 43 straight games with at least 100 yards on the ground. They tied the NFL record set by Pittsburgh from 1974-77.
The Ravens could’ve taken a knee in the final seconds with the game sewn up. But Lamar Jackson ran around the left side of the line and gained 5 yards before dropping to the turf. It gave the Ravens 102 yards on the ground and prolonged their string.
— Pat Graham reporting from Denver
6:35 p.m.
Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers has thrown his 420th career touchdown pass to tie Dan Marino for sixth place on the NFL’s all-time list.
Rodgers reached the milestone with a 1-yard strike to Randall Cobb that extended the Packers’ lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers to 27-10 with 4:46 left in the third quarter. Rodgers is one behind Philip Rivers, who is fifth with 421 career TD passes.
Earlier in this game, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger reached his own milestone by becoming just the eight player to reach 400 career touchdown passes.
Cobb has caught both of Rodgers’ TD passes in this one. These are Cobb’s first two scores since returning to Green Bay, where he previously played from 2011-18.
— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay
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6:30 p.m.
Kyler Murray, Kliff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals are routing the Los Angeles Rams.
James Conner’s second short rushing TD Hey Dude Shoes put Arizona up 34-13 after three quarters at SoFi Stadium. Murray has passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 42 yards.
Only a major collapse would prevent the Cardinals from beating Sean McVay for the first time. The Los Angeles coach is 8-0 in his career against the Cards.
Matthew Stafford finally looks like a quarterback playing with entirely new teammates in a new offense. The veteran is 18 of 30 for 205 yards, missing open receivers and throwing two balls that were intercepted, although one was erased by a roughing-the-passer penalty.
The Cards are cruising toward their first 4-0 start since 2012.
— Greg Beacham reporting from Inglewood, California
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6:20 p.m.
Green Bay’s Mason Crosby has made his 24th straight field-goal attempt to break his own franchise record.
Crosby had made 23 straight attempts for the Packers from 2010-11. His 29-yarder gave Green Bay a 20-10 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers with 9:31 left in the third quarter.
Green Bay’s opening drive of the second half stalled in the red zone, forcing the Packers to settle for Crosby’s record-breaking kick. Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt helped thwart the drive with a second-down sack of Aaron Rodgers.
Officials initially were going to call Watt for a tripping penalty before picking up the flag and determining no foul was committed on the play.
— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay
6:10 p.m.
Drew Lock is in at quarterback for the Denver Broncos, replacing Teddy Bridgewater in the third quarter against Baltimore.
The team says Bridgewater is being evaluated for a concussion. Bridgewater was 7 of 16 passing for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Bridgewater beat out Lock for the starting job during the preseason.
— Pat Graham reporting from Denver
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6 p.m.
Justin Tucker hit another field goal as time expired.
This one wasn’t as dramatic. Tucker hit a 40-yard field goal just before halftime to give the Ravens a 17-7 lead over Denver.
Last week, Tucker hit a 66-yard, game-winning field Dr Marten Boots goal in a 19-17 win at Detroit. It was the longest field goal in NFL history. Tucker has made good on 17 career game-winning field goals, including playoffs.
— Pat Graham reporting from Denver
5:55 p.m.
Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals are taking a 24-13 lead over the Los Angeles Rams to halftime after an impressive start in the showdown of unbeaten NFC West rivals.
Murray passed for 186 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 34 yards for the Cardinals, who scored two TDs on drives that began with takeaways by their defense.
Arizona is looking for its first 4-0 start to a season since 2012.
The Rams are facing their biggest deficit of the season after turning it over on two of their first four drives: Matthew Stafford threw an interception and Sony Michel fumbled.
— Greg Beacham reporting from Inglewood, California
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5:50 p.m.
Green Bay’s Mason Crosby made a 26-yard kick just before halftime for his 23rd consecutive successful field-goal attempt, matching his own franchise record.
But that kick only came after Crosby’s streak nearly ended in dramatic fashion.
Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked Crosby’s 31-yard attempt, got the football and raced 75 yards for an apparent touchdown that would have put the Steelers ahead. The play was nullified when officials ruled Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden had jumped offside.
Crosby capitalized on his second chance to give the Pacers a 17-10 halftime lead. Crosby also made 23 straight field-goal attempts for the Packers from 2010-11.
— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay
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5:45 p.m.
Denver Broncos wide receiver Diontae Spencer left the game late in the second quarter after taking a hit to the chest.
His return is questionable against Baltimore.
Spencer was attempting to haul in a short pass from Teddy Bridgewater when he was hit between his No. 11 jersey number by Ravens safety Chuck Clark. Ecco Women’s Shoes Spencer stayed on the ground for a moment before being helped to the locker room.
The Broncos entered the game thin at receiver. They’re missing Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler.
— Pat Graham reporting from Denver
5:45 p.m.
Rookie quarterback Trey Lance is starting the second half for the San Francisco 49ers.
The third overall pick got the nod to begin the third quarter with Jimmy Garoppolo nursing a calf injury. His return is questionable. Garoppolo threw a TD on the opening drive but struggled after that for San Francisco.
Lance had played only seven offensive snaps the first three games in a situational role.
— Josh Dubow reporting from San Francisco
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5:15 p.m.
Kansas City and Philadelphia delivered the NFL’s fourth regular-season game without a punt. The league has had five games in all without a single punt, and the Chiefs were involved in the one postseason matchup (2004 versus Indianapolis).
Baltimore and Denver, meanwhile, had six punts in the first quarter of their afternoon game. It was a punt-fest between the two Sams — Martin of Denver and Koch of Baltimore.
Martin averaged 40.7 yards on three kicks, while Koch had a net average of 38.7 on three more.
The Broncos broke the punting string early in the second quarter, with Noah Fant’s 3-yard TD catch from Teddy Bridgewater making it 7-0.
— Pat Graham reporting from Denver
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5:10 p.m.
Aaron Rodgers connected with old friend Randall Cobb on three third-down completions, including two that led to Green Bay touchdowns.
Rodgers found Cobb for a 23-yard score in the second quarter to put the Packers up 14-7 over Pittsburgh.
On the previous drive, they connected on an 8-yard gain on third-and-6 from the Steelers 34. They hooked up again for an 8-yard completion on third-and-4 from the 20. The two Cobb catches set up Rodgers’ 4-yard touchdown run.
Cobb played for the Packers from 2011-18 before landing in Dallas in 2019 and Houston in 2020. The Packers reacquired Cobb at Rodgers’ suggestion shortly after the three-time MVP quarterback had reported to training camp. Rodgers had skipped the Packers’ organized team activities and mandatory minicamp, saying that he wanted more of a voice in the team’s decision-making process.
Cobb had caught just four passes for 58 yards in the Packers’ first three games this season.
— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay
4:55 p.m.
The New York Jets, New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts have their first wins of the season.
The New York teams needed overtime to get theirs.
All three avoided joining Detroit and Jacksonville in the league’s 0-4 club after the first month of the season.
The Jets upset Tennessee 27-24 when Randy Bullock missed a 49-yard field goal wide left in OT. The Giants erased a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter and beat New Orleans 27-21 in OT. The Colts used two TD passes from Carson Wentz to knock off Miami 27-17.
The Giants rallied thanks to a 54-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to Saquon Barkley and got the 2-point conversion. They then forced punt and drove for Graham Gano’s tying field goal, from 48 yards out. The Giants won the coin toss in overtime and drove 75 yards for the winning score, Barkley’s TD run from 6 yards away.
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4:45 p.m.
The Rams are off to another productive offensive start, but an interception thrown by Matthew Stafford is keeping the Cardinals right in it in Inglewood.
Los Angeles leads Arizona 10-7 after racking up 139 yards in the first quarter. Van Jefferson caught a 14-yard TD pass from Stafford late in the period to put the Rams back ahead.
But Kyler Murray appears ready to challenge Stafford in a shootout after throwing for 90 yards in the quarter, highlighted by a 41-yard TD pass to AJ Green.
Stafford was 7 for 10, but he overthrew Tyler Higbee on a potential TD pass, and he later underthrew DeSean Jackson on a long pass that was picked off by Byron Murphy Jr.
— Greg Beacham reporting from Inglewood, California
4:40 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t waste much time starting a new sack streak.
Devin Bush sacked Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers on a third-and-3 play to knock the Packers out of field-goal range and thwart their first series.
The Steelers failed to post a sack last week in a 24-10 loss to Cincinnati, ending their NFL-record streak of 75 consecutive games with at least one sack.
Pittsburgh leads Green Bay 7-0 in the first quarter.
— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay
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4:35 p.m.
Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger has thrown his 400th career touchdown pass, becoming just the eighth NFL player to reach that milestone.
Roethlisberger capped the game’s opening drive with a 45-yard TD pass down the right sideline to Diontae Johnson.
Both starting quarterbacks in today’s Steelers-Packers game have reached the 400-touchdown club. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers ranks seventh in NFL history with 418 touchdown passes.
— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay