Brady Leads Patriots Over Bills In AFC East Clash
Sunday, October 12, 2014
The Patriots entered the game in Buffalo extremely banged up, missing multiple players on both offense and defense. That did not slow down their defense as the Patriots dominated the Bills offense early, with Darrelle Revis in tight man coverage against the Bills star rookie receiver Sammy Watkins. The crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium was extremely loud in the first game with the Bills new ownership group in the house, but Tom Brady and the New England Patriots ruined that feeling with a 37-22 win over the Bills.
The Patriots were the first team to get any momentum going as they charged down the field late in the 1st quarter behind a strong series from Stevan Ridley. The Patriots were stopped on 3rd down on the series, but a personal foul from Jerry Hughes kept the drive alive. The Patriots were lining up for a 31-yard field goal, but were pushed back due to a false start from long snapper Danny Aiken. With the Patriots moved back, Aiken then delivered a low snap, causing Gostkowski to miss the field goal.
The 1st quarter set the tone of a defensive battle, as neither team was able to get on the scoreboard. It was the third time in the past four game that the Patriots did not score in the opening quarter.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTTheir defense did get them the ball back on the first play of the second quarter as Jamie Collins collected his first career interception off an errant Kyle Orton pass. That interception led the Patriots on a 5-play 61-yard drive that took just under two minutes before Tom Brady found Tim Wright on a play-action pass in the end zone. The touchdown was set up by a blatant pass interference by Duke Williams on Julian Edelman. Williams shoved Edelman in the end zone without looking for the ball, giving the Patriots the ball on the 1 yard line.
The Bills finally got on the board late in the 2nd quarter when Orton found Robert Woods on a 7-yard touchdown. The touchdown drive was 10 plays for 67 yards and saw the Patriots lose Jerod Mayo to a serious looking injury. Mayo was carted off the field following the play, leaving the Patriots to play safety Tavon Wilson at linebacker.
After the Patriots offense stalled again, the defense got them the ball back for the second time in the 1st half. This time it was Chandler Jones who recorded a strip-sack and recovered the fumble on Orton. Although the Patriots were awarded great field position they only managed a 42-yard field goal to make the score 10-7. The Patriots offensive line was unable to protect Tom Brady on the drive, as they were forced to play a line of (left to right) Marcus Cannon, Jordan Devey, Ryan Wendell, Josh Kline and Sebastian Vollmer due to injury.
The Patriots defense was able to get the ball free again just before halftime, this time Devin McCourty forced CJ Spiller to fumble and Zach Moore recovered with :06 seconds left in the half. Tom Brady and then got the Patriots in field goal position with a smart play to the sidelines, connecting with Julian Edelman on a 7-yard pass. That allowed Stephen Gostkowski to connect on a 53-yard field goal as time expired in the half to make the score 13-7 Patriots at the half.
The Patriots got all of their points in the 1st half as a result of a Buffalo turnover. Tom Brady finished the half 12-20 with 87 yards and a touchdown. For Buffalo, Kyle Orton was 9-15 for 85 yards a touchdown an interception and a lost fumble. The key matchup of the game was Darrelle Revis on Sammy Watkins and was won by Revis in the 1st half as Watkins was not targeted in the half.
The Patriots got the ball on offense to start the 2nd half and drove the ball down the field in six plays for a touchdown from Tom Brady to Brian Tyms. The touchdown was a deep pass into triple coverage that Tyms came down with, despite very good coverage from Stephon Gilmore, for a 43-yard touchdown. Tyms celebrated his touchdown with a familiar touchdown celebration for Patriots fans, the Randy Moss touchdown celebration.
The Bills took the ball on the ensuing possession and responded in a big way with a 13-play 80-yard drive that ended in a Fred Jackson touchdown. The Patriots inability to cover tight end Scott Chandler on the series hurt them as he grabbed a huge 3rd down conversion to keep the Bills drive alive. The Bills also finally got Sammy Watkins involved in the game with a 20-yard reception. The score made it 20-14 Patriots.
The Patriots were able to convert their next drive into a 40-yard field goal by Gostkowski, but it was two potential injuries on the drive that dominated the talk. First, Rob Gronkowski was slow to get up after lying-out for a long pass over the middle from Brady. Gronkowski reached for the back of his leg following the play and was extremely slow to get back to his feet and to the sidelines. When he made it to the sidelines, he was tended to by the trainers on his arm brace. Just a few plays later, Stevan Ridley came down awkwardly and had to be helped off the field. He was announced as out shortly after the play with a knee injury, Gronkowski returned to the game.
After forcing the Bills to punt, the Patriots offense took the field and delivered a clock-killing 12-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:03 before Tom Brady found Brandon LaFell on a 3rd & 12 for an 18-yard touchdown. The drive was helped by a Bills penalty, a roughing the passer on Jerry Hughes, but it was Rob Gronkowski and Brandon Bolden that led the way on the drive. Gronkowski caught a would-be touchdown over Leodis McKelvin on an amazing play, but it was called back on a Jordan Devey holding call. Following the hold, the Patriots found Gronkowski on a screen pass for eight yards before Brady found Lafell on the touchdown. The score was the 4th straight possession the Patriots had scored on and gave them the 30-14 lead.
The Bills were able to answer on an 8-play, 80-yard drive that was capped on Chris Hogan's first career touchdown. The Bills also converted on the 2-point conversion to make the score 30-22, a one-score game.
That did not last long, however, as Brady led his offense 93 yards on seven plays for a game-sealing touchdown to Brandon LaFell. The Patriots were backed up on the drive following a Duron Harmon block in the back on the kickoff return, that did not stop the offense. Despite multiple false start penalties, Brady relied on Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski to move the ball on the drive, including a 3rd & 16 conversion to keep the drive alive. Brady then found an open LaFell who made a nice run after the catch to find the end zone and make it 37-22, Patriots. The touchdown gave the Patriots scores on all four of their 2nd half possessions, three touchdowns and a field goal.
The Patriots were able to shut down the Bills before kneeling on the ball and finishing the 37-22 win to move into 1st place in the AFC East at 4-2. Tom Brady finished 27-37 with 361 yards and four touchdowns on the game.
Brady's offensive numbers were even more impressive when the Patriots dismal running numbers are taken into account. The Patriots rushed for just 50 yards, led by 23 yards from Stevan Ridley.
Brady did a great job of distributing the ball against the Buffalo defense, completing passes to 10 targets on his 27 completions. This group was led by Julian Edelman's nine catches for 91 yards. Rob Gronkowski had seven catches for 94 yards and Brandon LaFell had four catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Brady also completed touchdowns to Brian Tyms and Tim Wright, their only receptions on the day.
The Patriots forced four turnovers on the game, two fumbles, one interception and a turnover on downs. The Patriots converted three of those turnovers into scores and the turnover on downs led to the end of the game.
The Patriots lost Jerod Mayo, Stevan Ridley and Dan Connolly in the game while also having injuries to Rob Gronkowski. They will have a short week before hosting the New York Jets on Thursday Night Football.
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