Bills WR benched for 'Happy New Year' T-shirt

After Tashard Choice gave Buffalo a 7-0 lead with a 4-yard touchdown run, Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Johnson for an 18-yard score and then connected with C.J. Spiller for a 15-yard TD. At that point, Fitzpatrick was 13 for 16 for 156 yards and two touchdowns and Brady was 0 for 2.

But Brady finished with 23 completions in 35 attempts for three touchdowns — two to Rob Gronkowski — and one interception. Fitzpatrick completed 29 of 46 for 307 yards in all, with two TDs and four interceptions.

Gronkowski set the single-season record for tight ends with 1,327 yards receiving after gaining 108 on eight catches. That broke the mark of 1,310 set earlier Sunday by Jimmy Graham of the Saints. The previous mark of 1,290 was set in 1980 by Kellen Winslow of the San Diego Chargers.

A 1-yard run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis and a 39-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez, which put Brady over the 5,000-yard mark, cut the lead to 21-14. Stephen Gostkowski had a pair of field goals to bring the Patriots within one point, and they went ahead to stay on a 17-yard pass to Gronkowski with 1:32 left in the third quarter; Danny Woodhead ran it in for the 2-point conversion.

Green-Ellis scored another touchdown and Gronkowski added another TD catch before Sterling Moore picked Fitzpatrick off and ran it 21 yards to make it 49-21 just seven seconds later.

Notes: Tight end Chandler didn't play after the second quarter. ... Rookie Stevan Ridley led the Patriots with a career-high 81 yards rushing. ... Welker had six catches for 51 yards and led the NFL with 122 receptions and 1,569 yards receiving.