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The Latest: Brady sets NFL's career passing mark

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws during the first half of an NFL football game against the New England Patriots, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

The Latest on Week 4 in the NFL (all times EDT):

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8:45 p.m.

Tom Brady is the NFL’s new all-time passing leader.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback broke Drew Brees’ record on Sunday night with a 28-yard pass to Mike Evans in the first quarter. That gave Brady 80,359 regular-season yards passing in his career, 1 more than Brees.

Little notice was taken of the record in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Brady played the first 20 years of his career. But after the Buccaneers called a timeout, the stadium announcer acknowledged the accomplishment and the fans gave Brady a cheer. One play later, the ball was taken out of play.

Brady entered the game against his former team needing 68 yards passing for the record. The 44-year-old quarterback already holds the NFL record for most TD passes (591), most wins as a starting quarterback (232), most Super Bowl titles (seven), and most conference championships (10).

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7:35 p.m.

The Baltimore Ravens eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark on the final play against Denver, giving them 43 straight games with at least 100 yards on the ground. They tied the NFL record set by Pittsburgh from 1974-77.

The Ravens could’ve taken a knee in the final seconds with the game sewn up. But Lamar Jackson ran around the left side of the line and gained 5 yards before dropping to the turf. It gave the Ravens 102 yards on the ground and prolonged their string.

— Pat Graham reporting from Denver

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6:35 p.m.

Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers has thrown his 420th career touchdown pass to tie Dan Marino for sixth place on the NFL’s all-time list.

Rodgers reached the milestone with a 1-yard strike to Randall Cobb that extended the Packers’ lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers to 27-10 with 4:46 left in the third quarter. Rodgers is one behind Philip Rivers, who is fifth with 421 career TD passes.

Earlier in this game, Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger reached his own milestone by becoming just the eight player to reach 400 career touchdown passes.

Cobb has caught both of Rodgers’ TD passes in this one. These are Cobb’s first two scores since returning to Green Bay, where he previously played from 2011-18.

— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay

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6:30 p.m.

Kyler Murray, Kliff Kingsbury and the Arizona Cardinals are routing the Los Angeles Rams.

James Conner’s second short rushing TD put Arizona up 34-13 after three quarters at SoFi Stadium. Murray has passed for 268 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 42 yards.

Only a major collapse would prevent the Cardinals from beating Sean McVay for the first time. The Los Angeles coach is 8-0 in his career against the Cards.

Matthew Stafford finally looks like a quarterback playing with entirely new teammates in a new offense. The veteran is 18 of 30 for 205 yards, missing open receivers and throwing two balls that were intercepted, although one was erased by a roughing-the-passer penalty.

The Cards are cruising toward their first 4-0 start since 2012.

— Greg Beacham reporting from Inglewood, California

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6:20 p.m.

Green Bay’s Mason Crosby has made his 24th straight field-goal attempt to break his own franchise record.

Crosby had made 23 straight attempts for the Packers from 2010-11. His 29-yarder gave Green Bay a 20-10 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers with 9:31 left in the third quarter.

Green Bay’s opening drive of the second half stalled in the red zone, forcing the Packers to settle for Crosby’s record-breaking kick. Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt helped thwart the drive with a second-down sack of Aaron Rodgers.

Officials initially were going to call Watt for a tripping penalty before picking up the flag and determining no foul was committed on the play.

— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay

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6:10 p.m.

Drew Lock is in at quarterback for the Denver Broncos, replacing Teddy Bridgewater in the third quarter against Baltimore.

The team says Bridgewater is being evaluated for a concussion. Bridgewater was 7 of 16 passing for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Bridgewater beat out Lock for the starting job during the preseason.

— Pat Graham reporting from Denver

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6 p.m.

Justin Tucker hit another field goal as time expired.

This one wasn’t as dramatic. Tucker hit a 40-yard field goal just before halftime to give the Ravens a 17-7 lead over Denver.

Last week, Tucker hit a 66-yard, game-winning field goal in a 19-17 win at Detroit. It was the longest field goal in NFL history. Tucker has made good on 17 career game-winning field goals, including playoffs.

— Pat Graham reporting from Denver

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5:55 p.m.

Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals are taking a 24-13 lead over the Los Angeles Rams to halftime after an impressive start in the showdown of unbeaten NFC West rivals.

Murray passed for 186 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 34 yards for the Cardinals, who scored two TDs on drives that began with takeaways by their defense.

Arizona is looking for its first 4-0 start to a season since 2012.

The Rams are facing their biggest deficit of the season after turning it over on two of their first four drives: Matthew Stafford threw an interception and Sony Michel fumbled.

— Greg Beacham reporting from Inglewood, California

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5:50 p.m.

Green Bay’s Mason Crosby made a 26-yard kick just before halftime for his 23rd consecutive successful field-goal attempt, matching his own franchise record.

But that kick only came after Crosby’s streak nearly ended in dramatic fashion.

Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick blocked Crosby’s 31-yard attempt, got the football and raced 75 yards for an apparent touchdown that would have put the Steelers ahead. The play was nullified when officials ruled Pittsburgh’s Joe Haden had jumped offside.

Crosby capitalized on his second chance to give the Pacers a 17-10 halftime lead. Crosby also made 23 straight field-goal attempts for the Packers from 2010-11.

— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay

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5:45 p.m.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Diontae Spencer left the game late in the second quarter after taking a hit to the chest.

His return is questionable against Baltimore.

Spencer was attempting to haul in a short pass from Teddy Bridgewater when he was hit between his No. 11 jersey number by Ravens safety Chuck Clark. Spencer stayed on the ground for a moment before being helped to the locker room.

The Broncos entered the game thin at receiver. They’re missing Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler.

— Pat Graham reporting from Denver

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5:45 p.m.

Rookie quarterback Trey Lance is starting the second half for the San Francisco 49ers.

The third overall pick got the nod to begin the third quarter with Jimmy Garoppolo nursing a calf injury. His return is questionable. Garoppolo threw a TD on the opening drive but struggled after that for San Francisco.

Lance had played only seven offensive snaps the first three games in a situational role.

— Josh Dubow reporting from San Francisco

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5:15 p.m.

Kansas City and Philadelphia delivered the NFL’s fourth regular-season game without a punt. The league has had five games in all without a single punt, and the Chiefs were involved in the one postseason matchup (2004 versus Indianapolis).

Baltimore and Denver, meanwhile, had six punts in the first quarter of their afternoon game. It was a punt-fest between the two Sams — Martin of Denver and Koch of Baltimore.

Martin averaged 40.7 yards on three kicks, while Koch had a net average of 38.7 on three more.

The Broncos broke the punting string early in the second quarter, with Noah Fant’s 3-yard TD catch from Teddy Bridgewater making it 7-0.

— Pat Graham reporting from Denver

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5:10 p.m.

Aaron Rodgers connected with old friend Randall Cobb on three third-down completions, including two that led to Green Bay touchdowns.

Rodgers found Cobb for a 23-yard score in the second quarter to put the Packers up 14-7 over Pittsburgh.

On the previous drive, they connected on an 8-yard gain on third-and-6 from the Steelers 34. They hooked up again for an 8-yard completion on third-and-4 from the 20. The two Cobb catches set up Rodgers’ 4-yard touchdown run.

Cobb played for the Packers from 2011-18 before landing in Dallas in 2019 and Houston in 2020. The Packers reacquired Cobb at Rodgers’ suggestion shortly after the three-time MVP quarterback had reported to training camp. Rodgers had skipped the Packers’ organized team activities and mandatory minicamp, saying that he wanted more of a voice in the team’s decision-making process.

Cobb had caught just four passes for 58 yards in the Packers’ first three games this season.

— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay

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4:55 p.m.

The New York Jets, New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts have their first wins of the season.

The New York teams needed overtime to get theirs.

All three avoided joining Detroit and Jacksonville in the league’s 0-4 club after the first month of the season.

The Jets upset Tennessee 27-24 when Randy Bullock missed a 49-yard field goal wide left in OT. The Giants erased a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter and beat New Orleans 27-21 in OT. The Colts used two TD passes from Carson Wentz to knock off Miami 27-17.

The Giants rallied thanks to a 54-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to Saquon Barkley and got the 2-point conversion. They then forced punt and drove for Graham Gano’s tying field goal, from 48 yards out. The Giants won the coin toss in overtime and drove 75 yards for the winning score, Barkley’s TD run from 6 yards away.

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4:45 p.m.

The Rams are off to another productive offensive start, but an interception thrown by Matthew Stafford is keeping the Cardinals right in it in Inglewood.

Los Angeles leads Arizona 10-7 after racking up 139 yards in the first quarter. Van Jefferson caught a 14-yard TD pass from Stafford late in the period to put the Rams back ahead.

But Kyler Murray appears ready to challenge Stafford in a shootout after throwing for 90 yards in the quarter, highlighted by a 41-yard TD pass to AJ Green.

Stafford was 7 for 10, but he overthrew Tyler Higbee on a potential TD pass, and he later underthrew DeSean Jackson on a long pass that was picked off by Byron Murphy Jr.

-- Greg Beacham reporting from Inglewood, California

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4:40 p.m.

The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t waste much time starting a new sack streak.

Devin Bush sacked Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers on a third-and-3 play to knock the Packers out of field-goal range and thwart their first series.

The Steelers failed to post a sack last week in a 24-10 loss to Cincinnati, ending their NFL-record streak of 75 consecutive games with at least one sack.

Pittsburgh leads Green Bay 7-0 in the first quarter.

— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay

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4:35 p.m.

Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger has thrown his 400th career touchdown pass, becoming just the eighth NFL player to reach that milestone.

Roethlisberger capped the game’s opening drive with a 45-yard TD pass down the right sideline to Diontae Johnson.

Both starting quarterbacks in today’s Steelers-Packers game have reached the 400-touchdown club. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers ranks seventh in NFL history with 418 touchdown passes.

— Steve Megargee reporting from Green Bay

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4:20 p.m.

Punter Mitch Wishnowsky is doing double duty for the San Francisco 49ers.

Wishnowsky kicked his first career extra point after San Francisco scored on the opening drive against the Seattle Seahawks. Regular kicker Robbie Gould is dealing with a groin injury and his status for the rest of the game is questionable.

— Josh Dubow reporting from San Francisco

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4:15 p.m.

The Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants have their first wins of the season, both coming on the road.

They avoided remaining with Detroit (0-4) and Jacksonville (0-4) in the winless club after the first month of the season.

The Giants (1-3) erased a 21-10 deficit in the fourth quarter and beat New Orleans 27-21 in overtime. The Colts (1-3) used two TD passes from Carson Wentz to knock off Miami 27-17.

The Giants rallied thanks to a 54-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Jones to Saquon Barkley and got the 2-point conversion. They then forced punt and drove for Graham Gano’s tying field goal, from 48 yards out. The Giants won the coin toss in overtime and drove 75 yards for the winning score, Barkley's TD run from 6 yards away.

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3:50 p.m.

Chicago Bears running back David Montgomery has left their game against Detroit with a knee injury. He was later ruled out.

Montgomery got hurt on a fourth-quarter carry. He finished with 106 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

The Bears led the Lions 24-14 late in the fourth quarter.

— Jay Cohen reporting from Chicago

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3:45 p.m.

Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins had his team-record streak of 224 consecutive pass attempts without an interception end at an inopportune time.

Cousins was picked off by Cleveland’s Greedy Williams on a deep throw to Adam Thielen at the 21-yard line with 6:08 remaining in the game and the Browns leading 14-7. That was the first career interception by Williams.

Early in the game, Cousins broke his own record of 201 straight interception-less passes that was set in 2019.

— Dave Campbell reporting from Minneapolis

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3:30 p.m.

Trevon Diggs is the first Dallas player with at least one interception in each of the first four games, and he has two off Carolina’s Sam Darnold for an NFL-high five this season.

The first pick of the day from Diggs set up Dak Prescott’s fourth touchdown pass, a 23-yarder to Cedrick Wilson that gave the Cowboys a 33-14 lead late in the third quarter.

Three Carolina plays after his first interception, Diggs won a tug-of-war with DJ Moore for possession and was awarded in the interception.

The pair of picks gave Dallas eight straight games with at least two takeaways going back to last season. It’s the longest active streak in the NFL.

— Schuyler Dixon reporting from Dallas

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3:15 p.m.

The New York Jets took their first lead of the season — 10-9 over the Tennessee Titans — on Matt Ammendola’s 27-yard field goal with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Jets had been the only team in the NFL to not hold a lead at any point in any game this season.

Rookie Zach Wilson marched New York down the field, keyed by a 54-yard pass to Keelan Cole to put the ball at Tennessee’s 14. Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick, rolled to his right away from heavy pressure and tossed the ball down to the speedy Cole.

The Jets got the ball to 9 on a 5-yard catch by Jamison Crowder, but couldn’t get closer - settling on the field goal that was good enough to give them their first advantage.

— Dennis Waszak reporting from East Rutherford, New Jersey

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3:00 p.m.

Cordarelle Patterson is having quite a game in Atlanta.

The hybrid player, who lines up at both running back and receiver, has caught three touchdown passes from Matt Ryan to give the Falcons a 23-19 lead over Washington.

Patterson has scoring catches of 42, 12 and 14 yards. He is the first Atlanta player since Calvin Ridley in 2018 to score three TDs in a game.

Patterson has five catches for 82 yards overall. He also leads the Falcons in rushing with 16 yards on four carries.

— Paul Newberry reporting from Atlanta

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2:55 p.m.

Dallas receiver Amari Cooper’s hamstring injury from early in the game is apparently a thing of the past.

Cooper’s 35-yard touchdown catch from Dak Prescott has given the Cowboys a 20-14 lead early in the third quarter against Carolina.

Cooper has been playing with cracked ribs. He says that injury happened in the opener. The hamstring issue sidelined Cooper for a series early against the Panthers before he returned. The TD left him with a team-high 69 yards on three catches.

— Schuyler Dixon reporting from Dallas

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2:50 p.m.

Patrick Mahomes threw touchdown passes three different ways to give the Kansas City Chiefs a 21-13 lead at halftime in Philadelphia.

Mahomes tossed one underhand, one overhand and another with a shovel pass. The underhanded pass went to Clyde Edwards-Helaire from a yard out. He added a more traditional overhand throw to Tyreek Hill for a 6-yard score and then a shovel pass to Jody Fortson for a 2-yard TD.

Mahomes threw a touchdown on all three Kansas City's drives in the half.

— Dan Gelston reporting from Philadelphia

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2:45 p.m.

DeAndre Carter has pushed Washington back to the lead over the Atlanta Falcons with a 101-yard kickoff return to the start the second half.

Carter caught the kickoff 1 yard deep in the end zone, found a seam up the middle and was barely touched on his way to the Falcons end zone.

It was Washington’s first kickoff return for a TD since Steven Sims had a 91-yarder during the 2019 season.

Carter’s big play gave Washington a 19-17 lead, which stayed that way when Dustin Hopkins missed his second extra point of the game.

— Paul Newberry reporting from Atlanta

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2:40 p.m.

Houston Texans rookie Davis Mills has been limited to completing one of seven attempts for 3 yards and has thrown two interceptions in the first half against the Buffalo Bills.

The Texans have managed a combined 8 yards of net offense with one first down, while going 0 for 6 on third down and trailing 16-0. Mills is making his second start, and first on the road, in place of injured Tyrod Taylor (hamstring).

The Texans’ record for fewest yards generated in a game is 47, coming in a 24-6 loss at Pittsburgh on Dec. 8, 2002, in the franchise’s inaugural season.

— John Wawrow reporting from Buffalo

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2:30 p.m.

Sam Darnold is the first quarterback in NFL history with at least five rushing touchdowns in the first four games of any season.

Darnold’s second TD run came on an 11-yard draw and gave Carolina a 14-13 lead over Dallas in the second quarter.

After rushing for five touchdowns in 38 career games with the New York Jets, Darnold matched the number in less than 3½ games with the Panthers. The first score was on a 1-yard option keeper in the first quarter.

— Schuyler Dixon reporting from Dallas

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2:25 p.m.

Detroit Lions linebacker Romeo Okwara has been ruled out for the rest of the team’s game at Chicago.

Okwara left in the first half. It was originally called an ankle injury, but then it was changed to a foot injury when it was announced that he would miss the rest of the game.

The Lions trailed the Bears 14-0 at halftime.

— Jay Cohen reporting from Chicago

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2:10 p.m.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones connected with newly activated receiver John Ross for a strange touchdown. The deep connection was initially ruled a 52-yard score, but the NFL changed it to a 51-yard connection and said Ross fumbled at the 1 and then recovered in the end zone for a TD. It was an unlikely way to open scoring in what had been more of a defensive struggle well into the second quarter.

Ross was activated from injured reserve this week and is making his Giants debut. His timing couldn’t be better with New York missing receivers Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton with hamstring injuries.

Before the Giants broke through, both teams had missed field goals. New York’s Graham Gano saw his streak of 37 straight made field goals dating to last season snapped when he missed a 35-yarder late in the first quarter.

The Saints’ Aldrick Rosas missed from 58 in the second quarter.

— Brett Martel reporting from New Orleans

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2 p.m.

The Atlanta Falcons have pulled off their longest play of the season.

Matt Ryan found Cordarelle Patterson breaking free behind the Washington secondary and connected with him on a 42-yard touchdown pass that gave the Falcons a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.

Atlanta’s longest play coming into Week 4 was a 28-yard pass from Ryan to Patterson, a hybrid player who has emerged as a surprising weapon in the Falcons offense.

— Paul Newberry reporting from Atlanta

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1:55 p.m.

A couple of early injuries have cost both teams in the early going of the Washington-Falcons game in Atlanta.

Washington lost tight end Logan Thomas to a hamstring injury in the first quarter. He was initially listed as doubtful to return, then downgraded to out for the game.

A short time later, Falcons cornerback Isaiah Oliver had to be helped off the field with a knee injury. He was taken to the locker room on a cart and listed as doubtful to return.

— Paul Newberry reporting from Atlanta.

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1:50 p.m.

The Detroit Lions lost two starters to injuries in the early part of their game against the Chicago Bears.

Linebacker Romeo Okwara has an ankle injury, and center Frank Ragnow is dealing with a toe issue. Each player is questionable to return.

The winless Lions trailed the Bears 14-0 in the second quarter.

— Jay Cohen reporting from Chicago

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1:45 PM

The Kansas City Chiefs took a 7-3 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles when Patrick Mahomes flipped a 1-yard shovel pass underhanded to Clyde Edwards-Helaire after Tyreek Hill’s catch-and-run gained 36 yards to the 1.

Earlier in the drive, Mahomes lined up wide and took a flip on a reverse but threw incomplete.

— Rob Maaddi reporting from Philadelphia

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1:35 p.m.

Sam Darnold now has more rushing touchdowns than passing TDs for Carolina this season.

Darnold scored on a 1-yard option keeper to get the Panthers even with the Dallas Cowboys at 7-all. It was the quarterback’s fourth rushing score of the year to go with three TD passes.

Chuba Hubbard is having a solid first quarter is his first career start for injured star running back Christian McCaffrey. Hubbard played collegiately not too far away at Oklahoma State. Hubbard has four carries for 29 yards, the longest a 14-yarder on the 75-yard scoring drive that ended with Darnold’s TD. McCaffrey is out with a hamstring injury.

— Schuyler Dixon reporting from Dallas

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1:25 p.m.

Dallas star receiver Amari Cooper exited early against Carolina with a right hamstring injury. Cooper has been playing with cracked ribs since the opener.

The Cowboys’ leader in catches coming in was on the sideline without his helmet before the team’s second offensive possession started. The team said his return was questionable.

— Schuyler Dixon reporting from Dallas

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12:45 p.m.

The Superdome in New Orleans is filling up without restrictions on crowd size for the first time since Jan. 5, 2020, when the Saints played their final home game before the COVID-19 pandemic — a playoff loss to Minnesota.

New Orleans is hosting the New York Giants in its first game in New Orleans this season. The Saints were supposed to open the season at home on Sept. 12 against Green Bay, but widespread damage to southeast Louisiana caused by Hurricane Ida two weeks earlier led the NFL and the Saints to move that game to Jacksonville, Florida.

Now the Saints are finally back in the dome, which has also undergone some new renovations since last season, adding premium areas for fans to mix and socialize in the corners of the second and third decks, as well as field-level suites behind the north end zone.

Alvin Kamara promised this week to jump over the wall and into one of those suites if he scores a touchdown.

Injuries are a subplot to this matchup. Receivers Sterling Shepard (hamstring) and Darius Slayton (hamstring) are out for the winless Giants, while starting center Erik McCoy (calf) and starting left tackle Terron Armstead (elbow) are out for the Saints.

— Brett Martel reporting from New Orleans

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12:30 p.m.

Long before Tom Brady takes the field to face his former team, the New England Patriots, the NFL gets started with four winless teams in action.

The early Sunday schedule also includes Carolina (3-0) trying to stay unbeaten at high-scoring Dallas (2-1). The four winless teams — Detroit, Indianapolis, the New York Giants and the New York Jets — are trying to avoid joining Jacksonville at 0-4. The Jaguars lost 24-21 at Cincinnati on Thursday night.

The Lions play at Chicago. The Colts are at Miami. The Giants are at New Orleans. And the Jets host Tennessee. All of those winless teams are underdogs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

The only game featuring two undefeated teams comes Sunday afternoon when the Los Angeles Rams host Kyler Murray and Arizona.

The Sunday night game, though, is the most anticipated and the one that's been circled since the NFL schedule was released in May. Brady and defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay visit New England, where Brady spent the first two decades of his storied NFL career and won six Super Bowl titles.

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