Wes Welker caught nine passes for 128 yards, Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes and the New England Patriots beat the San Francisco 49ers 38-24 on NBC's "Sunday Night Football."
Brady threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Hernandez just three minutes into the first quarter and the Patriots carried the momentum for the rest of the game. On the following Patriots' possession, Brady found Brandon Lloyd down the middle of the field for a 79-yard touchdown to give New England a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Lloyd finished with four catches for 94 yards. Brady completed 28 of 35 passes for 375 yards with an interception, and Steven Ridley ran for a score and 75 yards for New England.
The 49ers finally got on the scoreboard on the very first play of the second quarter, as Frank Gore capped off an 11-play drive and took the ball 8 yard into the end zone to cut the lead in half.
Devin McCourty returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards and the Patriots scored their third touchdown of the half on Ridley's 13-yard run that extended the lead to 21-7 with 11:40 left in the first half.
Colin Kaepernick led the 49ers down the field on two consecutive drives, but New England's defense tightened up and kept San Francisco out of the endzone and forced the Niners to settle for two David Akers' field goals. The Patriots went into the locker room up by eight points with a 21-13 advantage.
Kaepernick passed for 231 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown bomb to his tight end Vernon Davis to start the second-half. He also ran for a 12-yard score. But Kaepernick also threw two interceptions early in the game's final quarter
The Patriots were able to capitalize off the Kaepernick turnovers and ultimately put the game away. New England improves to 11-3 on the season, while the 49ers dropped to 9-4-1 on the year.
Do you think Madden NFL '13 got tonight's game right? So far the record of the simulations in Madden NFL 13 is 26-13. Read about the inclusion of real referees in Madden NFL '14 here.
Here is a list of Madden NFL 13's simulations for prime time games so far this season...
Week 1
Cowboys Vs. Giants
Week 2
Packers Vs. Bears
49ers Vs. Lions
Broncos Vs. Falcons
Week 3
Giants Vs. Panthers
Patriots Vs. Ravens
Packers Vs. Seahawks
Week 4
Browns Vs. Ravens
Giants Vs. Eagles
Bears Vs. Cowboys
Week 5
Cardinal Vs. Rams
Chargers Vs. Saints
Texans Vs. Jets
Week 6
Steelers Vs. Titans
Packers Vs. Texans
Broncos Vs. Chargers
Week 7
Seahawks Vs. 49ers
Steelers Vs. Bengals
Week 8
Buccaneers Vs. Vikings
49ers Vs. Cardinals
Week 9
Chiefs Vs. Chargers
Cowboys Vs. Falcons
Eagles Vs. Saints
Week 10
Colts Vs. Jaguars
Texans Vs Bears
Chiefs Vs Steelers
Week 11
Miami Vs. Buffalo
49ers Vs. Bears
Week 12
Redskins Vs. Cowboys
Patriots Vs. Jets
Packers Vs. Giants
Panthers Vs. Eagles
Week 13
Saints Vs. Falcons
Eagles Vs. Cowboys
Giants Vs. Redskins
Week 14
Broncos Vs. Raiders
Texans Vs. Patriots
Week 15
Bengals Vs. Eagles
49ers Vs. Patriots
