Quarterback Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throws against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half of their game at Allegiant Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders 45-20. Ethan Miller/Getty Images/AFP
Tom Brady surpassed Drew Brees as the all-time NFL leader in touchdown passes on Sunday as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routed the Las Vegas Raiders 45-20.
The six-time Super Bowl champion Brady threw four touchdown passes and ran for another as he completed 33 of 45 passes for 369 yards and no interceptions.
Brady now has thrown 559 touchdown passes in his career to eclipse Brees, who has 558. Brady reached the mark with a one-yard pass to rookie Tyler Johnson with just over three minutes remaining to seal the victory.
“We’re 5-2, in a decent place, not quite at the halfway point in the year,” Brady said. “We’ve got a lot of football left. We’re going to need everybody, and we’re going to need everybody’s best. And we’re going to try to meet the challenge every week.”
Chris Godwin caught nine passes for 88 yards, including a four-yard touchdown pass in the fourth to make it 31-20, and Scotty Miller caught six passes for a career-high 109 yards and a touchdown for the Buccaneers. Rob Gronkowski caught five passes for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Leonard Fournette returned from a foot injury to run for a game-high 50 yards on 11 carries in the win.
Quarterback Derek Carr completed 24-of-36 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns. Carr was making his 100th career start.
In Nashville, Ben Roethlisberger threw for two touchdown passes to Diontae Johnson as the Pittsburgh Steelers won the battle of the unbeaten teams on Sunday with a 27-24 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Roethlisberger was 32 of 49 passes for 268 total yards as the Steelers had a productive first half, led by 20 points in the third quarter then held on for the win.
Titans kicker Stephen Gostkowski had a chance to tie the game with a field goal with 19 seconds left on the clock but missed the 45-yard attempt as Tennessee dropped to 5-1 on the season.
Benny Snell also had a touchdown run for the Steelers, who are now a perfect 6-0 and are the only undefeated team in the league.
Ryan Tannehill completed 18 of 30 passes for 220 yards for the Titans, with scoring passes to Corey Davis and A.J. Brown, who had 153 receiving yards.
Elsewhere, Baker Mayfield threw a career-high five touchdowns and a franchise-record 21 consecutive passes to power the Cleveland Browns to a 37-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow also had a big night completing 35 of 47 for 406 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
Mayfield had to overcome a poor start which saw him fail to complete a pass in the first quarter. But the third-year quarterback finished 22 of 28 for 297 yards.
Mayfield’s only incompletion after the string of 21 came on a spike to stop the clock with 16 seconds left and the Bengals leading 34-31.
Mayfield shines
On the next snap, Mayfield connected with rookie Donovan Peoples-Jones down the right sideline for a 24-yard game-winning touchdown with 11 seconds left.
Myles Garrett had two sacks and set a franchise record with a sack in a sixth straight game.
In Phoenix, Zane Gonzalez kicked a 48-yard field goal with 15 seconds left in overtime to lift the Arizona Cardinals a 37-34 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
It marked the first time in the contest the Cardinals had the lead as they handed the Seahawks their first loss of the season.
The Seahawks defeat means the Steelers are the only remaining unbeaten team in the league.
The Dallas Cowboys’ injury-plagued season got a whole lot worse as second-string quarterback Andy Dalton was forced out of their 25-3 loss to the Washington Football Team in the third quarter with concussion.
Dalton — making his second start in place of starter Dak Prescott who is out for the season after needing surgery on a compound fracture of his right ankle — took a vicious hit to the head from linebacker Jon Bostic as he slid to the turf with 6:22 to play in the third quarter. Bostic was ejected from the game.