On October 15, 2017, Tom Brady became the NFL’s all-time leader in regular-season wins by a starting quarterback. His New England Patriots beat the New York Jets 24-17 at MetLife Stadium, and the win was Brady’s 187th, moving him past Brett Favre and Peyton Manning, who had shared the mark at 186.
Brady already owned the record for most postseason wins by a starting quarterback. That afternoon he also stood alone in regular-season wins, and in combined wins including the playoffs.
How the record fell into place
Favre finished his career with 186 regular-season wins as a starter. Manning matched that total in his final season with Denver. Brady entered the Jets game tied with both of them at 186, so the Patriots’ result would either keep the three-way share or put one name alone at the top.
New England (4-2) had not played in 10 days after a win over Tampa Bay on October 5. The Jets (3-3) came in on a three-game winning streak. Early on, New York looked like the sharper team.
A 14-0 hole, then the record
Josh McCown led an 88-yard opening drive and found Austin Seferian-Jenkins for a one-yard touchdown. After Mike Gillislee fumbled and Buster Skrine recovered, McCown hit Jeremy Kerley for a touchdown that made it 14-0 in the second quarter — the first time New England had trailed by 14 or more in the first half since a 2014 loss at Kansas City.
Brady answered with a 93-yard drive capped by Dion Lewis’s one-yard run. Just before halftime he tied the game at 14 with a touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski with nine seconds left in the second quarter. On the opening drive of the second half, Brady marched 75 yards in eight plays and hit Gronkowski again, this time for 33 yards, for a 21-14 lead.
Stephen Gostkowski’s 28-yard field goal early in the fourth made it 24-14. The Jets cut it to 24-17 on a Chandler Catanzaro field goal, but McCown’s desperation heave on fourth-and-17 from midfield fell incomplete with under two minutes left.
| Detail | Stat / result |
|---|---|
| Final score | Patriots 24, Jets 17 |
| Site | MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J. |
| Brady passing | 20 of 38, 257 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT |
| Brady TD targets | Both to Rob Gronkowski |
| McCown passing | 31 of 47, 354 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT |
| Brady regular-season wins after game | 187 (new NFL record) |
| Previous shared mark | 186 (Favre, Manning, Brady) |
| Brady wins including playoffs after game | 212 |
What the win meant then — and later
Brady was 40 years old that afternoon and still in the middle of a stretch that would add more Super Bowl trips. The Patriots claimed first place in the AFC East with the win. Brady finished that season with another Super Bowl appearance (a loss to Philadelphia in Super Bowl LII) and kept adding wins for years afterward.
When he retired after the 2022 season, his regular-season starting record stood at 243-73. Favre and Manning remain tied for second all-time at 186 regular-season wins. Brady also finished with 35 postseason wins as a starter, still the most in league history.
The October 15, 2017 afternoon was the day the regular-season wins column stopped being a three-way tie and became Brady’s alone — on the road, against a division rival, after trailing by two touchdowns.
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