Promotion

Circle November 4th on your Calendar

That's the day when Tom Brady and the New England Patriots might actually have to break a sweat, it seems.

Brady threw a team-record six touchdown passes to lead the unbeaten Patriots past the hapless Miami Dolphins 49-28 on Sunday, leading New England to its first-ever 7-0 start.

The Patriots host Washington next Sunday, and given how they're playing should continue their winning ways against the Redskins.

The following week, though, New England is on the road in Indianapolis to face the defending Super Bowl-champion Colts on Nov. 4.

Like the Patriots, the Colts have mowed down all comers so far this season despite incurring some injuries to such offensive stalwarts as receiver Marvin Harrison and running back Joseph Addai. Then again, the offence hasn‘t skipped a beat, thanks in large part to receiver Reggie Wayne and former CFL running back Kenton Keith.

And, of course, leading the way is none other than All-Pro quarterback Peyton Manning.

But there's no hotter quarterback in the NFL right now than Brady.

He completed his first 11 passes for 220 yards and four touchdowns against Miami. Included in that were scoring strikes of 35 and 50 yards to receiver Randy Moss.

Moss was part of a major reclamation project the Pats undertook in the off-season with their receiving corps, going and signing the former Vikings first-round draft pick along with Donte' Stallworth and Wes Welker.

Brady now has thrown 27 TD passes in seven games, a pace that would give him 61 for the season. That would obliterate the NFL mark of 49 set by Manning just three years ago.

The scary part is, New England's offence has been without a sustainable running attack for much of this season, forcing the unit to rely a lot on the pass. Usually, that's a recipe for disaster. But when a star quarterback like Brady has the protection he has in a pass-happy offence _ Brady has been sacked just seven times all season _ with this quality at receiver, well, good things are bound to happen.

Brady has guided New England to an NFL record-tying average winning margin of 17 points per game.

Brady finished 21-of -25 passing for 354 yards and no interceptions and the Patriots' 42 first-half points set a new club mark for most points in a half.

He's the first NFL quarterback to throw five or more touchdown passes in consecutive games since Daunte Culpepper in 2004 and the first to have five first-half TD strikes since Donovan McNabb turned the trick three years ago.

Brady is the NFL's passing leader with 2,125 yards, and his favourite target _ Moss _ is leading the league in receiving with 732 yards. Brady has completed 169-of-229 passes (73.8 per cent) with just two interceptions. His quarterback rating is a gaudy 137.9.

Wow!

The closest quarterback to Brady is Brett Favre, the Green Bay Packers' venerable veteran. Favre has thrown for 1,719 yards, second-most in the NFL. He also has a decent completion average (64.8 per cent) but has just nine touchdown passes and six interceptions.

Manning's numbers aren't bad.

He was 23-of-37 passing for 259 yards, with a touchdown and an interception in leading the Colts past Jacksonville 29-7 on Monday night to improve to 6-0. Indianapolis has won the last four AFC South titles and joined d Green Bay (1929-31) and St. Louis (1999-2001) as the only NFL teams to start 6-0 for three straight years.<

Overall, the former Tennessee star is ranked seventh in the NFL in passing with 1,578 yards, having completed 138-of-202 passes (68.3 per cent) with 11 touchdowns against just two interceptions.

But neither Favre nor Manning can compare to what Brady has accomplished so far this season.

Here's hoping he at least faces some competition Nov. 4. If not, then let all the talk about a Patriots undefeated season gain steam.