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In-game notes

In-game notes from the first half, courtesy of the Patriots' media relations department:

MOSS TIES SINGLE-SEASON FRANCHISE RECEIVING TD RECORD
Randy Moss hauled in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 7-3 lead. The touchdown was Moss’s 12th receiving touchdown of the season, tying the Patriots’ single-season franchise record also achieved by Stanley Morgan in 1979. Moss’s 12 touchdown catches are the fifth highest total of his 10-year career, trailing his career-best 17 scoring grabs in 1998 and 2003, his 15 touchdown catches in 2000 and his 13 scoring receptions in 2004. On the same touchdown pass where Moss tied the franchise touchdown reception record, Tom Brady tied Babe Parilli’s 1964 mark with his 31st touchdown toss of the year.

BRADY TIES SINGLE-SEASON FRANCHISE TOUCHDOWN PASS MARK
Tom Brady’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss in the second quarter was his 31st of the season and tied Vito “Babe” Parilli’s franchise record set in 1964. Parilli threw his 31 touchdown passes for the Boston Patriots during the 14-game American Football League season. Brady achieved his 31 passes in the ninth game of the season.

SEYMOUR TIPS FIELD GOAL
Richard Seymour tipped Adam Vinatieri’s 50-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter, getting his fingertips on the ball and forcing Vinatieri’s first career miss in the RCA Dome. In his seven-year career, Seymour has blocked five career field goals in the regular season and one in the playoffs. Heading into today’s game, Vinatieri was 55-for-57 on indoor field goal attempts in the regular season, with his only two misses coming at Houston’s Reliant Stadium on Nov. 23, 2003 while playing for the Patriots against the Houston Texans.

DEFENSE BEARS DOWN
The Patriots defense clamped down and held the Colts to a field goal on two occasions in the first half after long pass interference penalties gave the Colts a first-and-goal from inside the 10-yard line. In the first quarter, a 37-yard penalty gave Indianapolis a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line, but Asante Samuel’s pass deflection in the end zone on third down kept Indianapolis out of the end zone and forced a 21-yard field goal by the Colts. In the second quarter, a 40-yard penalty gave the Colts a first-and-goal from the six-yard line, but Randall Gay stuffed Dallas Clark on third down for a 2-yard loss on a pass play that once again kept the Colts out of the end zone and forced a 25-yard field goal.

INTERCEPTION-FREE STREAK BROKEN
Tom Brady threw an interception to Indianapolis’ Antoine Bethea in the second quarter, ending a streak of 175 pass attempts without an interception. His 175 passes without a pick are the longest streak of Brady’s career and are four shy of the franchise record of 179 passes without an interception, achieved by Drew Bledsoe in 1995. During Brady’s 175-pass streak without an interception, he threw 20 touchdown passes. Prior to Bethea’s interception, the last time Brady had thrown a pick was on Oct. 1, when Cincinnati’s Leon Hall picked off one of his passes in the second quarter.

SCORING STREAK BROKEN
The Patriots were held to a punt on their first offensive possession of the game, marking the first time this season they were held off of the scoreboard on their opening drive. Entering today’s game, the Patriots had scored on their opening drive in each of the season’s first eight games, totaling five touchdowns and three field goals.