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FOXBOROUGH Joe Haeg Jersey , Mass. (AP) — Tom Brady isn’t worried about the shortcomings that the Patriots’ offense has displayed so far this season — whether it’s turnovers or lack of downfield passing.His measuring stick for progress is much more simplistic.“It’s really not about those things to me. It’s about points,” Brady said after New England’s 38-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night .It was the second straight game the Patriots have scored 38 points. It’s also the second consecutive week that it’s looked like Brady and the offense are turning a corner following a lackluster 1-2 start to the season that included a paltry 10-point effort in a loss to Detroit.“Ultimately we gotta score more points,” Brady said. “We scored 38, which is great. But we have more in us.”Buoyed by the return of receiver Julian Edelman from his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers, Brady looked like the reigning regular-season MVP for the first time this season.On a night in which he notched his 500th career regular-season touchdown pass, he spread the ball around to eight receivers and threw for a season-high 341 yards.He was spot-on from the start, completing his first nine passes on an opening drive that ended with a 1-yard TD pass to Cordarrelle Patterson. Brady didn’t complete more than two passes on an opening drive in any of the team’s first four games.And after an offseason that featured lots of player departures on the offensive side of the ball, Thursday’s victory also highlighted just how many weapons Brady still has at his disposal.Rookie running Sony Michel came up just two yards shy of his second straight 100-yard game. Tight end Rob Gronkowski broke out of a recent fog with six catches for 75 yards. And recent acquisition Josh Gordon notched his first touchdown — Brady’s 500th — showing off his ability as the big-play threat this offense has been missing.Edelman’s return might have simply been an extra cherry on top an already-decadent cake.“It was great. There’s some things that obviously we have to work on. But it was good to get out there and catch some rocks and go out there and make some plays and be with the fellas,” Edelman said. “I haven’t played football in like, 405 days or something like that. It was good to be out there with the crowd rocking. It was awesome. It was amazing. It’s great to be back.”DISAPPOINTING STARTWhile the Patriots are finding their footing, the Colts have lost three straight and slipped to 1-4.One of the recurring themes has been self-inflicted mistakes, particularly turnovers. Indianapolis had three more on Thursday.“We’re not going to win consistently until we learn how to get out of our own way,” Colts quarterback Andrew Luck said. “I think when we look at ourselves, we’re going to have to learn how not to lose before we want to give ourselves a chance to win. And so, it’s frustrating John Simon Color Rush Jersey , the stuff out there. We’re all frustrated but I don’t think anybody’s losing the belief.”INJURIES PILING UPLuck did his best to keep Indy in the game, even as injuries continue to pile up around him.Indianapolis entered the game with receiver T.Y. Hilton headlining a list of five starters that were sidelined. The Colts added four more key players to that list on Thursday.Linebacker Anthony Walker left in the first quarter with a concussion. Safety Clayton Geathers was initially evaluated for a concussion early in the second quarter, before clearing the protocol. But he remained out with a neck injury. Defensive tackle Margus Hunt (knee) and DT/DE Denico Autry (hamstring) also both had short nights.Coach Frank Reich said the injuries weren’t even discussed entering the game.“It’s the hand that is dealt you,” Reich said. “You can’t have penalties, turnovers, and drops against a good team, against any team, especially on the road. So, we just got to pick up the pieces and I still have a lot of confidence in our players.SLINGING IT AROUNDPerhaps because of all the injuries, Luck is having to carry a lot more of the offensive load for the Colts.Over the last two games, he has attempted 121 passes. According to Elias Sports Bureau that’s the second-most pass attempts in a two-game span in NFL history and the most ever in a five-day span. Philip Rivers holds the record with 123 pass attempts in Weeks 6 and 7 in 2015.MILESTONESColts K Adam Vinatieri missed a 38-yard field goal in first quarter. But it marked his 673rd attempt, passing Gary Anderson for second on the all-time list.Vinatieri made a 54-yarder in the second quarter on his 674th attempt. He now trails only Morten Andersen’s 709 career attempts.With his victory, Brady has now tied Vinatieri for most wins by player in NFL history (226). INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Three postseason losses taught Anthony Castonzo some valuable lessons about playoff football.The Indianapolis Colts left tackle hopes his teammates find an easier way to learn.“Basically, my advice is not to take it any differently,” Castonzo said Wednesday as the Colts prepare for Saturday’s wild-card game in Houston. “Practice the same way https://www.coltsfanshop.com/Chester-Rogers-Jersey , work the same way, play the same way. You have to not make it more than it is.”It’s a mantra coaches and players in Indy have stuck to since the Tony Dungy era.The Hall of Fame coach, who brought Indy its first football title, often talked about how most playoff games were lost rather than won because of the natural temptation to try and do too much — and the ensuing mistakes.Young players, the Colts know, tend to be the most vulnerable and Indianapolis (10-6) has one of the league’s least-experienced teams.Twenty-four of the 53 players on the active roster are in their first or second NFL seasons and only 15 have participated in a playoff game.Castonzo, T.Y. Hilton, Andrew Luck and Adam Vinatieri are the only remaining active players from Indy’s previous playoff team, which lost in the AFC championship game at New England in the 2014 season.Of the seven who own Super Bowl rings only three — linebacker Najee Goode, defensive end Jabaal Sheard and Vinatieri — have actually been on the field for those title runs.The other 47 players on Indy’s roster have won a total of six postseason games, with midseason acquisition Mike Mitchell accounting for half.So first-year coach Frank Reich recruited some help this week.“I was sitting around thinking, ‘OK, how many playoff games has (Vinatieri) played?'” Reich said, noting the answer was 30. “So I said, ‘All right Antonio Morrison Jersey , tell me Vinny what have you learned?’ The (text) message he sent me, I thought, was vintage and we shared that with the team (Tuesday) morning and we had Vinny share a few extra thoughts on that. A lot of wisdom in what he was saying.”Vinatieri didn’t need a handful of Super Bowl rings to provide credibility for his message.The league’s oldest active player, at age 46, became the NFL’s career scoring leader earlier this season and heads into his 31st playoff game already holding the title of career postseason scoring leader.“I told them it’s a playoff game but it’s the Houston Texans we’re playing,” Vinatieri said. “There are a lot of ebbs and flows and you’ve got to stay focused on your job.”His words appear to have resonated.Rookie linebacker Darius Leonard, the league’s top tackler with a franchise-record 163, said he’s sticking to his regular routine and Pro Bowl guard Quenton Nelson, another rookie, isn’t making any changes either. Both are eager to get started.Reich acknowledges there is one significant difference between the regular season and postseason: Mistakes are magnified.So the Colts will spend the rest of this week on cleanup duty after having two turnovers and 12 penalties in Sunday’s 33-17 playoff-clinching victory at Tennessee.“I would say the needles adjust slightly. For instance, the importance of running and stopping the run, the importance of the turnover battle, the importance of penalties or lack thereof,” said Reich, who played on all four of Buffalo’s AFC championship teams in the 1990s.“I think we have proven we can win a game throwing it 50 times Kenny Moore Color Rush Jersey , but in my experience that gets harder to do in playoff football. You can do it if you have to, but you want to establish dominance.”Being young also has an advantage.“They have no idea how big a moment it is and if they go on a run they’ll have no idea how special it is,” former punter Pat McAfee said after doing his first NFL broadcast for Fox Sports last weekend. “My rookie year we didn’t lose until we chose to lose in the Super Bowl and I thought, we’d be back the next year.”Instead, McAfee never made it back and Castonzo missed out on the playoffs each of the past three years.But this time feels different to Castonzo, who believes the young guys such as Leonard and Nelson have changed this team. They didn’t crack under the pressure all season and none of the Colts expect them to start now.“They bring a lot of energy and are playing at a high level,” he said. “That’s one of the big reasons we’re here.”Notes: Center Ryan Kelly (stinger), safety Clayton Geathers (knee), linebacker Anthony Walker (shoulder) and running back Jordan Wilkins (knee and ankle) were full participants at practice Wednesday. Geathers and Kelly were inactive last week, but Kelly said Wednesday he expects to start Saturday. … Pro Bowl tight end Eric Ebron took the day off while four-time Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton missed another workout because of his injured ankle.