FOXBOROUGH, Mass. Fake Curry 4 . -- Tom Brady looked into the end zone and found his favourite receiver. Rob Gronkowski caught the ball then slammed it to the ground. The familiar spike was back after the star tight ends first touchdown of an injury-delayed season. So was the Patriots offence. Brady shook off the inconsistency of his first eight games, threw for season-highs of 432 yards and four touchdowns and led New England to a 55-31 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. "You throw it, they catch it, they run with it," he said. "It makes a good day for a quarterback." The Patriots (7-2) go into their bye week with a two-game lead in the AFC East despite playing mediocre football for most of the first half of the season. The 55 points were the most scored in an NFL game this season and the most ever against the Steelers (2-6). The Patriots 610 yards were the third most in team history and the most ever allowed by Pittsburgh. "We are going to comb through this with a fine tooth comb," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said, "and those people who are lacking effort wont be playing. Its just that simple." Brady had 252 yards passing in the first half, more than in five of his other eight games. And 119 of those came on seven catches by Gronkowski in his third game since missing the first six recovering from surgeries on his left forearm and back. He finished with a career-high nine catches for 143 yards. He caught his 19-yard touchdown pass with 4:30 gone in the second quarter as the Patriots took a 14-0 lead. "It felt great out there," Gronkowski said. "It was important for us to play this way. Until now, we hadnt been clicking for all four quarters." The Steelers wasted a solid performance by Ben Roethlisberger, who completed 28 of 48 passes for 400 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. The excitement began before the game when Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester, accompanied by several teammates, carried the World Series trophy onto the field. "Im not sure exactly how it all happened today," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "Maybe we got inspiration from the Red Sox." The Patriots gained the most yards in the NFL last season but were just 18th in that category going into Sundays game. And Brady threw for just 116 yards a week earlier in a 27-17 win over the Miami Dolphins. But he was sharp all day Sunday, completing 23 of 33 passes against a defence that let receivers run free for several long receptions, including a 57-yarder to Danny Amendola that set up Stephen Gostkowskis 20-yard field goal that made it 17-3. Brady threw scoring passes of 34 yards to Amendola, and 17 and 81 yards to Aaron Dobson, while Stevan Ridley rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns as part of a 197-yard ground game. The Patriots led 24-10 at halftime before the Steelers tied it on their first two series of the third quarter on Roethlisbergers touchdown passes to Jerricho Cotchery of 20 and 8 yards. He added a 6-yarder to Cotchery midway through the fourth quarter that made it 41-31. But two plays after the kickoff, Brady launched a pass down the left sideline that Dobson caught at the Steelers 40 and carried into the end zone. LeGarrette Blount got the final touchdown on a 5-yard run with 2:41 left. Three Patriots had more than 100 yards receiving, Gronkowskis 143, Dobson with 130 and Amendola with 122. "Its embarrassing for our organization to give up points like that," Steelers safety Ryan Clark said. Brady "is the most accomplished quarterback of our era. Tom Brady played like Tom Brady." Roethlisberger turned the ball over twice on his first two series when he fumbled then threw an interception. "Were all angry and disappointed," Roethlisberger said, Brady "is good, so you know that your mistakes have to be limited." After Gronkowskis touchdown, Pittsburghs Shaun Suisham and Gostkowski traded field goals before Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for a 27-yard touchdown. It was the 200th touchdown pass of Roethlisbergers career, second in Steelers history to Terry Bradshaws 212. The Patriots got the ball back with 1:50 left in the half and went 77 yards on nine plays to a 1-yard scoring run by Ridley. After Cotchery tied it at 24, the Patriots took the lead for good on Gostkowskis 32-yard field goal. "When (Gronkowskis) healthy and on the field, hes tough to stop," Brady said, "Its been a process for us, but at the bye week, 7-2 is not bad and, hopefully, our best footballs ahead of us." NOTES: The Patriots scored at least 50 points for the sixth time with Brady as their starting quarterback. ... New England has 36 straight games with at least one takeaway, the current longest streak in the NFL. ... The Steelers fell to 2-6 for the first time since 2006, the season after they won the Super Bowl. Under Armour Cheap Online . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. Curry 1 Outlet Store .com) - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called Joe Flacco the NFLs best quarterback last week. http://www.outletunderarmourstore.com/cheap-ua-threadborne-online.html . Sociedad remained in sixth place with Villarreal a point behind in seventh, both in Europa League spots and in striking distance of fourth place and the final Champions League berth. Sociedad forward Carlos Vela chipped goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez after receiving an equally exquisite lobbed pass from Ruben Pardo to set him up in the 23rd minute at Anoeta Stadium.BRANDON, Man. -- Hockey fans in Brandon only needed to show up for one period, and the Wheat Kings made it count. Brandon scored all four of its goals during a seven-goal second period en route to a 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings in Western Hockey League play Wednesday. Ryan Pulock scored twice and had two assists for the Wheat Kings (3-2-0), while Jayce Hawryluk and Tim McGauley also scored and Curtis Honey made 33 saves. Mitchell Moroz scored three consecutive goals for Edmonton (2-3-0) in the span of two minutes 32 seconds. Tyler Santos was yanked after allowing three goals on 11 shots, and Tristan Jarry made 11 saves in relief. --- RAIDERS 4 REBELS 1 PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. -- Reid Gardner scored twice to keep the Raiders undefeated in the early season. Jayden Hart and Craig Leverton also scored for Prince Albert (5-0-0), while Cole Cheveldave made 24 saves. Matt Bellerive had Red Deers (2-3-0) lone goal, and Patrik Bartosak kept the team in the game with 27 saves. The Raiders power play outworked the opposition, scoring twice on five opportunities compared to the three scoreless chances for the Rebels. --- HITMEN 5 HURRICANES 3 LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -- Calgarys offence was too much for the Hurricanes to handle. The Hitmen scored three goals during a second period where they outshot Lethbridge 21-6. Jaynen Rissling, Pavel Padakin, Greg Chase, Zane Jones and Ben Thomas scored for Calgary (2-1-0) while Chris Driedger stopped 25 shots. Corbin Boes allowed five goals on 44 shots in net for Lethbridge (1-3-1). Jamal Watson scored twice and Brady Ramsay had the games lone power-play goal. --- BRONCOS 5 BLADES 3 SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. -- The Broncos opened a twwo-goal lead in the first period and never looked back against Saskatoon. Under Armour Micro g Outlet. Brett Lernout, Colby Cave, Jay Merkley, Bobby Zinkan and Coda Gordon each scored for Swift Current (3-1-1). Ryan Coghlan scored twice for the winless Blades (0-5-0), and Nikita Scherbak added a single. Landon Bow stopped 22 shots for Swift Current for a far easier game than Alex Moodies 44-save performance for Saskatoon. --- WINTERHAWKS 6 CHIEFS 4 PORTLAND, Ore. -- The defending WHL champion Winterhawks stormed to a 4-1 lead in the first period against rival Spokane. Nicolas Petan, Alex Schoenborn and Oliver Bjorkstrand each scored twice for Portland (3-1-1). Jason Fram, Blair Oneschuk, Connor Chartier and Riley Whittingham replied for the Chiefs (4-1-0). Portland goaltender Brendan Burke made 27 saves, while at the other end Garret Hughson stopped 33 shots. --- ROYALS 1 COUGARS 0 PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. -- A mistake during a power play cost the Cougars at home. Ben Walkers short-handed goal at 7:40 in the second period was all the offence Victoria (3-4-0) needed. Royals goaltender Patrik Polivka earned the shutout with 28 saves. Ty Edmonds stopped 23-of-24 shots for Prince George (3-4-0). --- ROCKETS 6 SILVERTIPS 3 EVERETT, Wash. -- Kelowna took a 3-0 lead after the first period and held on against the Silvertips. Madison Bowey and Nick Merkley each scored twice for the Rockets (3-0-1), who also had singles from Damon Severson and Zach Franko. Matt Pufahl, Jujhar Khaira and Ivan Nikolishan scored for the Silvertips (2-1-0). Jackson Whistle was steady in net for Kelowna with 29 saves, while Daniel Cotton and Austin Lotz combined for 20 saves for Everett. ' ' '