Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Sunday powered past the Indianapolis Colts 34-27 to improve their perfect record this season in a “Deflategate” grudge match.
Superstar quarterback Brady, stung by charges he played a role in New England’s use of underinflated footballs in their AFC Championship win over Indianapolis in January, insisted all week that the clash was not about revenge.
However, Brady was dialed in, throwing two of his three touchdown passes in the second half as the Patriots broke open a tight game with help from a failed trick play attempted by the Colts and their own unflappable calm.
Photo: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY
Trailing 21-20 at halftime, Brady piloted a seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to open the third quarter, capping it with a 25-yard scoring pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Late in the third, the Colts tried to trick the Patriots with an unusual formation on a fourth-and-three punt, but New England adjusted and regained the ball on the Colts’ 35-yard line — promptly marching to a quick touchdown for a 34-21 lead.
It was the second special teams’ mistake by the Colts to set up a Patriots touchdown — after New England capitalized on a failed onside kick in the first half.
The errors overshadowed a solid performance from Colts quarterback Andrew Luck in his first start since hurting his shoulder in a win at Tennessee on Sept. 27.
Luck completed 30 of 50 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions, trimming the final margin with a late touchdown before the Patriots ran out the clock. Patriots linebacker Jamie Collins blocked the extra-point attempt after leaping over players on the line of scrimmage.
Brady completed 23 of 37 passes for 312 yards. His first interception of the season was returned for a touchdown, but the Patriots improved to 5-0 — their 183 points scored this season breaking the club record for most through the first five games, 182 set in 2007.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but