Even without Rob Gronkowski on the field, Tom Brady had little trouble entering the record books yesterday to become the winningest NFL quarterback of all time.
Victory number 201 came at the expense of the L.A. Rams, a 26-10 rout at Foxboro that wasn't even as close as the score might indicate. Brady secured the win that put him one ahead of the retired Peyton Manning by throwing for 269 yards and a 14-yard touchdown to Chris Hogan. LaGarette Blount rumbled for 88 yards including a 43-yard touchdown burst in the first quarter, and the Patriots cruised to their tenth victory of the season while making history for the greatest quarterback of all time in the process.
You can argue the designation of greatest ever until you're blue in the face, but consider that the two quarterbacks who had 200 and 199 wins respectively, Manning and Brett Favre, are both retired, with no chance of catching Brady. Two more retired greats are next on the list in John Elway and Dan Marino, and the closest active player on the ladder is the Saint's Drew Brees, with 129 total career victories. Brees is a great quarterback but he won't be around long enough to notch 201 wins, and then there's that matter of the four Superbowls Brady has won, with a chance for a record-breaking fifth, although that will be a lot tougher to achieve this year with Gronk done for the season. The Pats still have some weapons, however, and you bet against Brady at your own peril.
Elsewhere, the Steel is back in Pittsburgh's steel curtain defense, and with a healthy Ben Roethlisberger back at quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers are suddenly a force to be reckoned with. Big Ben threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns and the defense picked off Eli Manning twice in a 24-14 home win over the NY Giants yesterday. The win was Pittsburgh's third in a row and snapped the Giants winning streak at six games. Le'Veon Bell had 118 yards rushing the ball and the Giants could get little going, amassing just 234 total yards against the Pittsburgh D. The Giants are still in good shape in the standings at 8-4, though, and the Steelers can now look ahead to a likely playoff bid after a slow start, now at 7-5 on the season.
One other fun NFL note if you like stats about futility. In yesterday's tilt between the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears the two teams combined to tie a dubious 28-year old record: Neither squad completed a single pass in the first quarter in a game the Bears eventually won 26-6, sending the Niners to their 11th straight loss. It's not exactly a season the Bears want to write home about either, as they stand at just 3-9 after the win.
To the NHL, and the Montreal Canadiens have not enjoyed their current west coast road trip a whole lot, a swing that included losses against San Jose and Anaheim, but they got right against the L.A. Kings at the Staples Center yesterday afternoon with a wild 5-4 overtime shootout win. Both teams had been starved for offense recently but combined for six goals in the second period. Max Pacioretty had two for the Habs, and Paul Byron came through with the winning goal in the shooutout round to secure the victory on a rare off game for Carey Price, who made 27 saves but let in four in regulation.
In womens' college hockey a dramatic victory for UVM, with freshman Ève-Audrey Picrad scoring at the 1:46 mark of overtime to lead the Catamounts to a 3-2 upset victory over 10th ranked Northeastern yesterday, completing a weekend sweep and season series win over the Huskies.
The UVM women were not as successful in basketball, falling to Temple 53-39, and in mens' college hoops at the At Ed Hockenbury Classic, RPI beat Norwich 65-58.
