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FOXBORO - It was a night of celebration at Gillette Stadium in more ways than one.

The Patriots rallied in the last five minutes of play Monday to beat the Buffalo Bills, 25-24 - a worthy outcome on a night when many of the great players of the team's past were honored.

Members of the Patriots' 50th Anniversary All-Time team were introduced to the sellout crowd at halftime, and the most rousing cheers were saved for players of the recent past.

Several of the players on the team chosen by a panel of media members, team officials and former players (and added to by team owner Robert Kraft) could not participate in the introduction because they were either in the locker room getting ready for the second half, or playing somewhere else (such as Richard Seymour, who was awaiting his debut as an Oakland Raider in the second game of the ESPN doubleheader).

The players, escorted to the center of the field by conservatively dressed Patriots' cheerleaders (reflecting the early-1960s theme of the "legacy game" of old AFL foes), were wearing current blue Patriots' jerseys, emblazoned with their numbers and names. The loudest cheers were reserved for recently retired favorites such as Troy Brown, Ty Law, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi.

Bruschi was recently added to the team by Kraft, who said the selection committee had committed a "glaring omission" by leaving the 13-year veteran (all with the Patriots) off the team. Bruschi and Gino Cappelletti were named honorary captains of the team.

Pro Football Hall of Fame member John Hannah was unable to attend the ceremony, and there were other missteps during the halftime walk-out, such as when punter Rich Camarillo and special teams selection Mosi Tatupu were introduced out of order and had to be re-introduced at the end of the ceremony as players began filtering out of the locker rooms.

But in a way, a little humanity seemed fitting for this one-time star-crossed franchise that can finally celebrate great moments

Quick kicks

Tom Brady's comeback victory was the 29th such rally of his career Benjamin Watson, who had two touchdown catches in the entire 2008 season, tied his career high with his third career regular-season game with two touchdown receptions as he led the Patriots' comeback Randy Moss caught 12 passes for 141 yards, tying his single-game career high for receptions. Moss also had 12 catches in a 204-yard effort while playing for Minnesota at Chicago on Nov. 14, 1999

Brady's 39 completions against Buffalo are the most in his career in a non-overtime game and tie his overall career high. He also had 39 completions against Kansas City on Sept. 22, 2002, in a 41-38 overtime win at Gillette Stadium. His 378 yards are his fifth-highest single-game career total Moss and Wes Welker each hauled in 12 catches for the Patriots, with each player tying the team's fifth-highest single-game reception total. Tonight's game is the first time in team history that two players have had at least 12 catches in the same game Moss had his 60th career 100-yard receiving game, moving him into sole possession of second place in NFL history in that category (Jerry Rice, 76) Moss also moved up two places to 13th on the NFL's all-time receptions list. He finished the night with 855 career catches, seven shy of 12th-place receiver Jimmy Smith (862). Moss passed Rod Smith (849) and Irving Fryar (851) on the all-time list

The Patriots are now 26-24 in season openers The Patriots have won all 18 regular-season games in which both Tom Brady and Randy Moss have started They also defeated the Bills for the 12th straight time, a streak that dates back to 2003, and now stands as the longest winning streak against a single opponent in team history.