It rained on the Brady-Belichick parade.
The much-hyped first visit by Tom Brady to New England since he left the Patriots was played in a rainstorm and it seemed to be a metaphor for the game.
Brady wasn’t at the top of his game and a questionable coaching decision by Bill Belichick decided the game.
Instead of going for it on fourth-and-3, he had Nick Folk try a 56-yard field goal. Even if he made it, Brady would have had a minute left to come back for a game-winning field goal, but it hit the left upright and the Patriots lost.
Brady and Belichick met after the game although the conversation was obviously very private. Now they go their separate ways.
Belichick is 1-3 in the midst of a rebuild and Brady is 3-1 and trying to repeat. And the Patriots have now lost their first three home games for the first time since 1993. Times are changing in Foxboro.
Meanwhile, Brady now finds himself in a conference with the Cardinals and Cowboys. Returning to the Super Bowl will be no easy task.
—Arizona, which is the only undefeated NFC team after beating the Rams, and Dallas, which went to 3-1 after taking down a 3-0 Carolina team, appear to be the two best teams in the NFC. Kyler Murray of the Cardinals and Dak Prescott of the Cowboys have their teams on the right track and both have good rushing games.
—Baltimore boosted its record to 3-1 by rushing for 102 yards. It was the 43rd game they rushed for over 100 yards, tying the record set by Pittsburgh in 1974-77. But the way they did it upset the Broncos. With the game in hand, they ran a play to go over 100 instead of taking a knee. That kind of tainted the record.
—Ben Roethlisberger appears to be nearing the end. The Steelers fell to 1-3 with their third consecutive loss, a 27-17 defeat at the hands of Green Bay as Aaron Rodgers threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. This could be his first.
—Two rookie quarterbacks, Justin Fields and Zach Wilson, posted their first victories to give the rookie QBs three wins this year. Mac Jones has the other one. Fields led the Bears to the win over the Lions after struggling in his debut a week ago. Wilson got his first win as the Jets upset the Titans. Still, Bears coach Matt Nagy said Andy Dalton will be the starter when he’s healthy.
—The two New York teams, after each started 0-3, both posted their first wins. While the Jets upset the Titans, the Giants beat the Saints. Both teams won in overtime.
—Jimmy Garoppolo got hurt again for the 49ers in their loss to their loss to the Seahawks as Russell Wilson became the fastest quarterback to get to 100 wins. Trey Lance struggled but with Garoppolo sidelined with a calf injury, Lance is likely to make his first start next week.
—The Buffalo Bills won their third consecutive game, crushing the hapless Houston Texans, 40-0, as rookie David Mills was ineffective in his second start. The Bills were expected to be contenders and they look like they are. During the Brady era, the Patriots rarely had to face a team as good as the Bills in their division.