Well, late in the fourth quarter, with the Bills down 20-10 to the New England Patriots and desperately needing a score, they threw the ball to Watkins and he made an incredible one-handed catch.
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On if he pays attention to what opponents say the week of games: “I would just say for me personally, most of the week, I really don’t care what anyone says, whether it is their team or the coach because you know, the only thing that really matter is what takes place for those three hours when you play”.
A season of high-profile officiating miscues reached new heights Monday night at Gillette Stadium, where referee Gene Steratore’s crew botched at least one obvious call and left questions about its judgment on multiple other occasions. Quarterback Tom Brady was rocked again and again by a Bills defense bound and determined to rough him up as much as possible.
The Patriots’ injury list on offense is getting ridiculous.
In back-to-back weeks, New England lost electric tailback Dion Lewis and Julian Edelman, a duo that accounted for roughly 40 percent of the team’s yards from scrimmage. The most memorable moment for the visiting team, was a spectacular one-handed reception made by wide receiver Sammy Watkins in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots were bailed out by a defensive pass interference call, but this is how Rex Ryan is able to get into Brady’s head. His cadence? “Rex Ryan”. But that would be it as the Patriots won 20-13. And then you try to cut it loose and see if what you’re doing is good enough for that particular week. Running back James White scored his first two touchdowns of the season and Stephen Gostkowski knocked home two field goals.
“I mean, guys are going to go down”, White said. He knew you can’t make mistakes against the Patriots.
However, as the ball was in the air, the line judge on that side of the field – Gary Arthur – blew his whistle for no reason whatsoever. “If you’re asking me Bill Belichick or Rex Ryan, I’m taking Rex Ryan all day”. Ryan is a great football coach. He and his coaching staff had come up with a list of a few things each player needed to focus on that week to succeed. In what was the first of many cold weather games for the New England Patriots, tempers flared and the offense looked sub-zero cold.
These things change every game for the Patriots, too. Dan Carpenter missed a field goal, yes, but that is also after LeSean McCoy dropped a pass in the end zone.
On a night when the Pats seemed very beatable, the Bills weren’t up to the task. In the end, it was a play that, in reality, should have been a touchdown that, by rule, should have been ruled a replay of down and instead was ruled a 14-yard completion. He finished with one yard rushing.
If Tom Brady was angry before that inexplicable play, he had to have been seeing red afterword. Ryan’s blitz packages were working, but it didn’t matter because Brady was releasing the ball so quickly.
Brady threw for 277 yards against the Bills. The National Football League will review whether that was, in fact, the case. Ultimately it comes down to how well the players perform when it matters most. If they are for real, now is the time to prove it. Expect a big game from Adrian Peterson this week.
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If the Bills can win those next two games, I see them making the playoffs with three straight NFC East opponents left on the schedule before the Jets.
