The New England Patriots led the San Francisco 49ers 13-10 at halftime. The second half was all about the Patriots dominating the 49ers in every facet of the game.
TE Rob Gronkowski (lung) and WR Chris Hogan (back) were inactive and that left the Patriots shorthanded on offense. It took some time, but the Patriots found their groove. QB Tom Brady finished the day 24/40 for 280 yards, 4 touchdowns, and no interceptions. He connected with rookie WR Malcolm Mitchell on 4 completions for 98 yards, including an amazing 56-yard catch-and-run touchdown to ice the game.
WR Julian Edelman saw a ridiculous 17 targets and 2 carries in his California homecoming and converted his opportunities into 89 yards and a touchdown. RB LeGarrette Blount added 87 rushing yards, RB James White caught 63 receiving yards and a touchdown, and RB Dion Lewis added 49 total yards on 8 touches.
The Patriots exchanged two punts apiece with the 49ers during the third quarter and it looked like Brady was unable to look at any receiver other than Edelman. But Brady connected on a 21-yard pass to Mitchell, a 14-yard pass to White, a 14-yard pass to TE Martellus Bennett, and another 8-yard pass to Mitchell to put the 49ers defense on their heels.
Edelman collected a 13-yard grab and Brady found WR Danny Amendola for an impressive 5-yard touchdown pass. Amendola has set a new career-high with 4 receiving touchdowns in a single season.
The Patriots and 49ers exchanged punts again before Brady found Mitchell on a fantastic 56-yard touchdown on 3rd and 8.
The 49ers finally responded with a touchdown drive thanks to a series of 3rd down breakdowns by the Patriots defense. 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick scrambled for 14 yards on 3rd and 5, and then found former Patriots WR Chris Harper on a cross-the-body throw for 16 yards on 3rd and 10. Kaepernick hit TE Garrett Celek for 11 yards on 3rd and 7 and threw a dart to RB Sean Draughn for a 13-yard touchdown score.
The Patriots tried to run down the clock and walked their way to the goal line on some great running by Blount. The 49ers kept calling their timeouts, so Blount kept running the ball down to the 49ers goal line before Brady kneeled the ball to run out the clock.
The Patriots won 30-17. Brady now has 199 career wins, one behind Peyton Manning for the most all time by an NFL quarterback.
The Patriots are 8-2 and will face the New York Jets in week 12.