It wasn't much of a contest.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady amassed 333 passing yards and four touchdowns scores, riding his team's hot start in the first half to a 43-21 rout of the Denver Broncos.
With the win, Brady improved 11-5 against rival signal-caller Peyton Manning, who said after the game that he "stunk."
Manning gained 438 yards through the air with a pair of scores, though he was picked off twice. Most of those yards were in what could be amounted to garbage time, with the Broncos well out of the game.
While the spotlight was on the quarterbacks, however, Patriots receiver Julian Edelman garnered much of the attention. A little more than three minutes after hauling in his only touchdown reception of the game, Edelman returned a 84 yards for a touchdown to give the Patriots a 20-7 lead in the second quarter.
Brady hit Shane Vereen late in the first half to give New England 24 unanswered points, and the Patriots rolled from there. Brady also connected with Rob Gronkowski and Brandon LaFell for touchdowns.
Manning threw scores to Ronnie Hillman and Julius Thomas.
Defensively, the Patriots were stout. New England held Denver to 3-for-11 on third down, and Brandon Browner and Rob Ninkovich snagged timely interceptions. The Broncos were 0-for-4 on fourth down.
At 7-2, the Patriots now hold the AFC's best record, thanks to five straight wins.
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