Favre hurt in Pats’ win
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Broken play. Quarterback scrambles away from the rush, spins to elude another defender and chucks it downfield.
Not Brett Favre. Tom Brady.
The Patriots quarterback showed he can sling it like the ol’ gunslinger, connecting with Brandon Tate for a 65-yard touchdown on a broken play as New England beat the Minnesota Vikings 28-18 on Sunday and knocked Favre out of the game in the process.
“I really can’t complain, although I probably should,” said Favre, who left in the fourth quarter with a cut on his chin that he said needed eight stitches. “I have a broken foot. I have eight stitches in my chin. I’ve had tendinitis in my elbow, but I threw it as well as I have all season.”
Backup Tarvaris Jackson threw for a touchdown on his first play and a 2-point conversion on his second, but he didn’t get the ball back until the two-minute warning had sounded and the Vikings trailed by 10.
Favre, who has started an NFL-record 292 consecutive game, said he expected to play next week.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored two touchdowns, getting his first on a 13-yard run to make it 21-10. Favre then drove Minnesota (2-5) to the New England 3 yard-line before he was flattened by Myron Pryor.
Jackson relieved him and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Naufahu Tahi on the first play, then hit Percy Harvin for the 2-point conversion that made it 21-18. But Brady engineered a 13-play, 80-yard drive, with Green-Ellis getting cartwheeled into the end zone to make it 28-18 with just 1:56 left.
Brady completed 16 of 27 passes for 240 yards, including an ad-libbed touchdown pass to Tate that gave New England (6-1) the lead for good with 8 minutes left in the third quarter.
Patriots 28, Vikings 18
| Minnesota | 0 | 7 | 3 | 8 | — | 18 |
| New England | 0 | 7 | 14 | 7 | — | 28 |
Min—Peterson 1 run (Longwell kick), 14:57.
NE—Woodhead 3 run (Gostkowski kick), 10:25.
Min—FG Longwell 24, 9:33.
NE—Tate 65 pass from Brady (Gostkowski kick), 7:59.
NE—Green-Ellis 13 run (Gostkowski kick), 2:25.
Min—Tahi 1 pass from Jackson (Harvin pass from Jackson), 7:26.
NE—Green-Ellis 2 run (Gostkowski kick), 1:56.
A—68,756.
| Min | NE | |
| First downs | 23 | 18 |
| Total Net Yards | 410 | 362 |
| Rushes-yards | 28-125 | 27-122 |
| Passing | 285 | 240 |
| Punt Returns | 1-7 | 1-4 |
| Kickoff Returns | 2-31 | 4-58 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 0-0 | 1-37 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 26-38-1 | 16-27-0 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 1-10 | 0-0 |
| Punts | 4-47.3 | 5-47.4 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 5-35 | 6-47 |
| Time of Possession | 35:08 | 24:52 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Minnesota, Peterson 25-92, Jackson 1-33, Gerhart 2-0. New England, Green-Ellis 17-112, Woodhead 6-13, Brady 4-(minus 3).
PASSING—Minnesota, Favre 22-32-1-259, Jackson 4-6-0-36. New England, Brady 16-27-0-240.
RECEIVING—Minnesota, Harvin 6-104, Gerhart 5-67, Peterson 5-50, Shiancoe 4-38, Berrian 2-15, Tahi 2-9, Moss 1-8, Lewis 1-4. New England, Woodhead 5-45, Tate 3-101, Welker 3-24, Hernandez 2-33, Branch 1-21, Green-Ellis 1-11, Gronkowski 1-5.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.