Tom Brady reaches 400-touchdown pass milestone

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady became just the fourth player in NFL history to throw 400 touchdowns in his career, connecting with receiver Danny Amendola on a 1-yard strike with 18 seconds remaining in the second quarter of Sunday's 51-17 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

"It was a good day," Brady said. "I think everyone enjoyed it. It was a good performance by our offense, a good team win. It was a good week of practice, and a lot of guys made plays. It was a great day out there."

The crowd broke into a chant of: "Brady! Brady! Brady!" after the scoring strike, with the team acknowledging the accomplishment on the video board with a message that read, "400 touchdown passes."

"We've had such great support here over the years," Brady said. "Like I say, I hope we can give them something to cheer about out there. We have great fans, and it was great. It was special.

"I've been a part of so many great teams and played with so many great players. I've always said, 'I don't care whether we run it in or throw it in, as long as we score points and are winning, it makes it fun for me.' I was happy. It's still early, there's a lot to improve on. We have a break here, and we come back to work and see if we can make some improvements and try to get to 4-0."

Brady added a 13-yard touchdown toKeshawn Martinin the third quarter. He finished the game 33-of-42 passing for 358 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Brady remains behind Peyton Manning (533), Brett Favre (508) and Dan Marino (420). Drew Brees, who didn't play Sunday for the Saints because of a shoulder injury, is fifth with 398.

The statistics account for just the regular season. Brady also has 53 career postseason touchdown passes.

On the milestone touchdown pass, Amendola, unaware it was Brady's 400th, gave the ball away to a fan. Brady chuckled when asked about it after the game, saying: "I don't care. I've had a lot of fun ones, so Danny can do whatever he wants with it. Danny made a great catch."

Amendola later said the team got the ball back from the fan.

Meanwhile, Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski reached a milestone of his own Sunday, converting his 423rd straight point-after attempt to break Matt Stover's NFL record of 422. Gostkowski's only career miss came in Week 17 of the 2006 season, his rookie year.

After the game, head coach Bill Belichick praised Brady and Gostkowski on their milestones.

"That takes a lot of games, a lot of snaps to do that, and it's certainly a tribute to both of them, the durability, longevity and obviously consistent production that both of them have had," he said. "So, I feel really fortunate to have coached and had guys like that on our team, and those two guys in particular, they had a good day as they've had for many, many days in their career. I'm really fortunate to have those guys on this team."

Brady's first career touchdown pass came Oct. 14, 2001, on a 21-yard strike to Terry Glenn in a 29-26 overtime victory over the San Diego Chargers. He hit 100 on Sept. 18, 2005, on a 1-yard toss to tight end Daniel Graham; 200 on Sept. 27, 2009, on a 36-yard throw to tight endChris Baker; and 300 on Jan. 1, 2012, on a 7-yard pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski.

"For me personally, he's the best quarterback to ever play this game," running back LeGarrette Blount said. "It's an honor to be out there and play with him. There aren't a lot of guys who can say that, but it's crazy to be playing with the best quarterback to ever play the game, and he's not done."

Brady was understated when asked about his standing among the NFL's greatest quarterbacks, stating simply, "I'm happy we're 3-0."