The New England Patriots spoiled a banner day for the Buffalo Bills. As the Bills celebrated a new owner following Ralph Wilson's passing, Tom Brady turned in a stellar performance, throwing for 361 yards and four touchdown passes to help the Patriots pull away late for a 37-22 win.
Patriots vs. Bills final score: 3 things we learned in New England’s 37-22 win
The Patriots pulled out a tough win against the Bills to take an outright lead in the AFC East.
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The game was a slugfest early. Neither offense was able to gain much momentum in the first half due to the strength of both defensive fronts. The Bills committed three bad turnovers, and took a 13-7 deficit into halftime as a result.
Behind Brady, the Patriots were able to work up a 30-14 lead in the fourth quarter. A mixup in coverage left Brandon LaFell wide open for an 18-yard score midway through the final stanza. The Pats were seemingly on their way to a comfortable win, until the Bills responded.
Kyle Orton went to work, shaking off a slow start to turn in a nice outing -- 24-for-38 passing, 299 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He found Chris Hogan for a score to cap an eight-play, 80-yard drive, then hit Robert Woods for the two-point conversion, pulling the Bills within one score, 30-22.
The Pats' offense was too good in the second half, however. The Patriots responded with a 93-yard touchdown drive. They converted a third-and-16 to Rob Gronkowski, then Brady found LaFell for a second touchdown to ice the game.
The game had several noticeable performances, but perhaps the biggest kudos should go to Scott Chandler, who finally recorded a 100-yard receiving game after eight seasons in the NFL and ended an odd streak for the Bills:
Scott Chandler is the first Bills tight end to surpass 100 yards receiving since Pete Metzelaars in 1992.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) October 12, 2014 Here’s what we learned:
1) The Bills’ offense let the team down in the first half, the secondary in the second
Buffalo was down 13-7 at halftime, but it should have been much worse. The Bills committed three turnovers to the Patriots' zero, all of them avoidable. Kyle Orton and C.J. Spiller lost fumbles that were the result of poor ball grip. Orton's interception came inside Patriots' territory, and led to a New England touchdown.
And yet the Bills' defense kept Buffalo in the game. Marcell Dareus remains a force and he regularly collapsed the pocket from the inside and made Tom Brady hesitant to step up and throw. The Pats managed just 50 yards on the ground, which speaks to the ferocity of Buffalo's defensive front.
Then the secondary collapsed as the Bills’ offense found its groove. Breakdowns ran rampant in the second half, as the Patriots racked up 290 yards of offense after intermission.
2) Sammy Watkins is all flash
And not much else at this point. He made a nice move to lose Darrelle Revis for a 20-yard catch that was downed near the goal line, but otherwise he didn't make much of a dent in the box score. The outing was pretty typical from what we've seen from the wideout so far. He is playing with the inconsistency of a rookie, and that's fine, but because of what the Bills gave up for him in the NFL Draft it can feel like he's falling a little short of expectations.
That 20-yard catch showed what Watkins CAN be, however, and for now there is still all the hope in the world that he’ll become a superstar.
3) Tom Brady may have heard all those things you were saying about him
After the Patriots were blown out by the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago, Brady absorbed perhaps the harshest criticisms of his career, and many argued for his benching. Since, he has thrown six touchdowns to zero interceptions, and completed 69 percent of his passes at 9.1 yards per attempt against two excellent defenses.
Brady stared down a strong Bills defense in front of a hyper crowd, and looked like his vintage self. As long as that continues, New England can be a contender.
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