Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes to tight end Benjamin Watson to rescue New England Patriots in a 25-24 victory over Buffalo.
Star quarterback leads New England to victory on comeback
Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes to tight end Benjamin Watson to rescue New England Patriots in a 25-24 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
The three-time Super Bowl winner, making his first appearance since a knee injury cut his season short 12 months ago, hit Watson with an 18-yard TD pass with 2:06 left to start the fightback with the Pats 11 points in arrears.
Buffalo's Leodis McKelvin fumbled the subsequent kickoff at the 31 and Brady threw three completions culminating in a near-identical 16-yarder to Watson to seal the win.
Brady finished with 39-for-53, 378 yards in addition to the touchdowns as he warmed to his task after a sticky start, throwing eight straight completions in one third-quarter drive that came up dry.
Receiver Randy Moss tied his career high 12 catches which was matched by fellow receiver Wes Welker.
Rival quarterback Trent Edwards threw for two touchdowns and played a strong game as defensive end Aaron Schobel touched down in the first half and a 10-yard screen pass TD to Fred Jackson put Buffalo ahead 24-13 with 5:32 to go.
Wide receiver Terrell Owens caught two passes for 46 yards on his Bills debut.
San Diego Chargers 24-20 Oakland Raiders
San Diego earned a 12th straight win over their rivals but it required a Darren Sproles 5-yard run with 18 seconds left to collect the spoils.
JaMarcus Russell had given Oakland a 20-17 lead with a 57-yard touchdown pass to rookie Louis Murphy with 2:34 left, but despite having two backup linemen in the game, Philip Rivers calmly led the Chargers down the field for the winning score.
Rivers was six for seven for 79 yards on the winning drive before Sproles silenced the crowd with his run up the middle.
Rivers, who led the NFL in quarterback rating last season, finished 24-for-36 passing with 252 yards. His 15-yard scoring strike to Vincent Jackson put San Diego up 17-13 with 7:22 remaining.
However, the Raiders had controlled much of the game with strong defense and a steady running game.
Newly acquired defensive lineman Richard Seymour recorded two sacks on his debut, while QB Russell battled through a brief injury and finished with 208 passing yards and two interceptions.
