Brady passes Grogan, sets TD mark

Tom Brady, shown celebrating his fifth touchdown pass, isn't about to apologize for his team's offensive approach. (Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Tom Brady had a record-breaking performance in last night's 56-10 win over the Bills, becoming the Patriots' all-time leader in touchdown passes.

When Brady connected with Randy Moss on a 6-yard touchdown strike in the second quarter, he passed Steve Grogan on the team's all-time list with his 183d career touchdown pass. Brady added two more touchdown strikes.

"I see him quite a bit, he's so supportive," Brady said of Grogan. "Every opportunity I've been around him, I think he's a great person and a great representative of the Patriots organization.

Brady finished last night's game 31 of 39 for 373 yards, with five touchdowns and no interceptions. Yet the fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium weren't in the cheering mood when Brady was on the field. When the Patriots advanced to the Bills' 10 and went for it on fourth and 1 late in the third quarter, the crowd serenaded the Patriots by chanting an expletive.

Brady acknowledged he heard the chant, but wasn't apologizing for the team's actions.

"It's not the worst word I've ever heard," Brady said. "Coach says he puts us out there to score every time we touch it. So that's what we're trying to do. I think that's the job description for any offense in the NFL - you score. He's not putting you out there to punt, I know that, or go three and out. He puts out you out there, you run your best plays and try to execute as well as you can. It's just the way it is when you're on the road."

Brady pointed out that coach Bill Belichick had been especially hard on the team in the days leading up to kickoff.

"He sets the tone for us, too, he's a great leader for us and he has high expectations, and when we don't play up to those expectations in practice or in the game, he lets us know," Brady said. "I think the team responded well."

Backs down
The Patriots' victory came at a price. The team lost both of its tailbacks to injury in the second quarter.

Kevin Faulk left the game with a head injury in the second quarter. On second and 10 from the Buffalo 21, Faulk caught a short pass from Brady, was rocked hard by Bills safety Donte Whitner at the end of a 10-yard gain, and fumbled (Moss recovered). Faulk was prone on a field for a few minutes before getting up and walking off under his own power, but he sat out the rest of the game. Laurence Maroney also left the game in the same quarter with a foot injury.

With Sammy Morris on injured reserve with a chest injury, fullbacks Heath Evans and Kyle Eckel were the remaining runners. Evans (10 rushes for 56 yards) was the lone back in the Patriots' two-minute offense before the half, which resulted in Brady and Moss hooking up on a 17-yard touchdown pass, their fourth TD hook-up of the half. Eckel (10 rushes for 40 yards) scored on a 1-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The defense also had a few injuries. Defensive end Jarvis Green received and X-ray after the game for an apparent leg injury. There was some good news. Linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who was shaken up when he collided with Junior Seau following Anthony Thomas's 11-yard reception in the second quarter, did return. After the game, Bruschi said he was fine and correctly recalled the play. He said it was just a little bit of "friendly fire."

Randy dandy
Moss tied an NFL record with his four first-half touchdown catches. The record was last tied by Roy Green of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983.

Everett inspires
Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who sustained a cervical spine fracture in the season-opener against the Broncos Sept. 9, has progressed enough in his rehabilitation that he has been released from the Houston facility he's been in since Sept. 21.

Everett delivered an inspirational message to his teammates and the fans at Ralph Wilson Stadium before last night's game, a 56-10 win that improved the Patriots to 10-0.

"How are you doing Buffalo? This is Kevin Everett. I'm out here in Houston, working hard out here rehabbing. Just thinking about you guys. Just want to say thank you to all my teammates and the city of Buffalo as well as the fans of America. You know with all the support and love you've been giving me out here, just letting you guys know, it's been special to me. And I just want to say, come on let's beat New England."

After suffering the serious injury tackling Denver's Domenik Hixon on kickoff coverage 10 weeks ago, Everett was paralyzed from the neck down. He underwent surgery in Buffalo and was transferred to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, where he has made significant progress.

The third-year tight end is now able to move his arms and legs and has the strength to hold himself up briefly on a walker. He can his use his feet to push himself around in a wheelchair.

Quick start for D
The Patriots defense has closed the door on the opposing teams' opening drives this year. The Patriots are the only team in the NFL that has not allowed the opposition to score any points on the opening drive.

They did it again last night. Randall Gay intercepted a pass from Buffalo quarterback J.P. Losman intended for Josh Reed on the opening possession of the game. Gay returned his third interception of the season from the Buffalo 48 to the 27 and the Patriots got 14 more yards when right tackle Langston Walker was called for unnecessary roughness for hitting Gay late.

That set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Maroney on the Patriots' first possession. Maroney's first touchdown of the season came in the 10th game. Last year Maroney had seven scores.

Hochstein draws start
With Stephen Neal out with a shoulder injury, Russ Hochstein got the start at right guard. It was Hochstein's fourth start of the season and 14th career regular-season start.

He filled in for Neal, who missed three games with the shoulder earlier in the season, in the Patriots' first meeting with the Bills, a 38-7 New England win on Sept. 23, and the following week against the Bengals. The seven-year veteran then replaced an injured Dan Koppen at center Oct. 7 in a 34-17 win over the Browns.

Lynch sits out
As expected the Bills were without running back Marshawn Lynch. The rookie was out with a left ankle injury. He was replaced in the starting lineup by veteran Anthony Thomas. The other Buffalo inactives were tight end Tim Massaquoi, linebacker Leon Joe, offensive lineman Christian Gaddis, tight end Ryan Neufeld, defensive end Copeland Bryan, and defensive tackle Jason Jefferson. Gibran Hamdan was designated the third quarterback.

In addition to Neal, the Patriots were without safety Eugene Wilson (ankle) for the third straight game and safety Mel Mitchell (groin), who practiced on Friday but missed his fifth game in a row. Mitchell's absence meant that cornerback Eddie Jackson, who was on the physically unable to perform list for the first nine games after tearing his ACL last season while a member of the Dolphins, made his Patriots' debut.

The other New England inactives were linebacker Eric Alexander (knee) and offensive lineman Wesley Britt and defensive linemen Le Kevin Smith and Kareem Brown. Matt Gutierrez was the third quarterback.

Chad Jackson gets in
Chad Jackson, who spent the first nine games of the season on the PUP list, made his 2007 debut last night. The second-year wide receiver last played in the AFC title game loss to the Colts in January, suffering a torn ACL playing on special teams in that game. With Jackson active for the first time, the Patriots had six wide receivers active last night. Jackson returned the opening kickoff of the second half for 15 yards . . . Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, who was nursing a shoulder injury and was questionable entering the game, played sparingly in the first half. However, he was credited with a sack on Buffalo's second possession. That sack tied his career-high for a season of 9 1/2 sacks.

hristopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.