ORCHARD PARK, N.Y.

So how did they do it, exactly?

It took until Tom Brady’s fourth game this season for the New England Patriots quarterback to throw a touchdown to a wide receiver. In Sunday afternoon’s 41- 25 crushing of the Buffalo Bills, he didn’t just do it once. He did it three times, with each one going to a different player.

Did they have to lobby? Did they plead? Did they make their case that they – not tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett or running back James White — deserved the touchdowns instead?

After the game, the receivers didn’t bite when asked, so surely the outspoken Bennett would reveal how to win Brady’s attention.

“You just work,” Bennett said after the game as he left New England’s locker room. “He never locks in on one guy. Every single player has a chance to get the ball. I think that’s one of the biggest things, just trying to make plays for Tom.

“Every week is different. The thing about our guys is we don’t care who scores. Tom sure doesn’t care who scores. He’s going to hit the open man. Everyone is fighting to score.”

On Sunday, Brady’s guys were the receivers.

New England converted nine of 13 attempts on third downs against the Bills. When targeting receivers on third downs, Brady completed all six passes he attempted to the unit for 108 yards. Two of them resulted in touchdowns, all others in first downs.

Overall, Brady completed 22 of 33 passes against the Bills for 315 yards and four touchdowns.

Brady’s 12 touchdowns this season have gone to six different targets. The newest member of New England that many may not know much about is Hogan, who previously played for the Bills in the last four seasons and has emerged as the Patriots’ top deep threat.

Hogan caught all four of his targets for 91 yards, including a 53-yard score in which he sprinted past Bills corner Stephon Gilmore in the first quarter and sunk the Bills into a 14-3 hole.

“It was a bomb,” Gronkowski said in a press conference after the game. “I was in the middle of the field so the ball got thrown over my head and I was watching it like, ‘Whoa.’ It looked like a bird just going – and then I saw Hogan. I looked at Hogan and I was like ‘Oh, man, he’s got his man beat.’ ”

The Patriots (7-1) now head into their bye week in command of the AFC East, and potentially the entire conference. The team’s defense has been good enough to prevent opposing offenses from keeping pace with New England’s. Gronkowski and the tight ends: reliable.