Patriots Tie Mark With 18th Straight Win

Tom Brady’s arm and Richard Seymour’s legs. You can’t accuse the New England Patriots of running out of winning combinations.

The quarterback and the defensive end teamed up to secure the Patriots’ record-tying 18th straight victory, a 31-17 win Sunday over the Buffalo Bills.

Brady’s performance was no surprise, as he put New England ahead for good with a two-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Graham four minutes into the fourth quarter, breaking a 17-17 tie.

It marked the 16th time that Brady has led the Patriots to victory in the final 15 minutes or overtime.

Seymour’s effort was much more breathtaking -- or, perhaps, breath-exerting.

With the Bills (0-3) threatening to tie the game, the 310-pound lineman snapped up Drew Bledsoe’s fumble, which was forced by Tedy Bruschi, and ran it back 68 yards for a touchdown with 2:44 remaining.

“A lot of sucking air,” Seymour said, laughing. “I just kept running.”

And so do the Patriots (3-0), who have not lost in 53 weeks, going back to a 20-17 defeat at Washington on Sept. 28, 2003.

In between, they have won 15 consecutive regular-season games and three in the playoffs, including last February’s Super Bowl victory over Carolina.

The Patriots tied a record held by four other NFL teams -- Chicago did it twice -- and by the 1947-48 Cleveland Browns of the All-American Football Conference. They’re the first to win 18 straight since Denver in 1997-98.

New England gets an opportunity to break the record by hosting Miami next weekend.

As impressive as it seems, the Patriots continue to downplay the streak.

“We don’t really think about that,” Seymour said. “I know we need to play better than we played today. It’s not going to be good enough coming down the stretch.”

The Patriots’ performance was good enough to beat a bumbling Buffalo team that has lost three straight to open the season, lacks confidence and continues to find ways to lose.

The Bills -- coming off consecutive 13-10 losses to Jacksonville and Oakland -- lost while squandering their best offensive performance of the season.

Bledsoe finished 18 for 30 passing for 247 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown to Eric Moulds. And the Bills got a strong special teams effort as Terrence McGee ran back a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

“Same old thing the last three games,” Bill Coach Mike Mularkey said. “I’m not trying to make excuses, it’s unacceptable.”

Brady finished 17 for 30 for 298 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to David Patten. Corey Dillon rushed for 79 yards, including a 15-yard score.

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Top Win Streaks

Longest winning streaks in the NFL:

*--* Team Years Wins New England Patriots 2003-04 18 Chicago Bears 1933-34 18 Chicago Bears 1941-42 18 Miami Dolphins 1972-73 18 San Francisco 49ers 1989-90 18 Denver Broncos 1997-98 18 Oakland Raiders 1976-77 17

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