Another 15 yards were tacked on for a sideline interference penalty called on Bills coach Rex Ryan, who was standing on the white chalk near Arthur. “I think we can play better”, quarterback Tom Brady said after his 25th win in 28 starts against the Bills.
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For the coming weeks, New England Patriots will have to see how the team goes without Edelman; this might be a good news for Buffalo Bills.
Shortly after that, the Bills LeSean McCoy had a 27-yard run for a touchdown, tying the game at 10.
Following a 41-yard pass to Amendola, who finished with nine catches for 117 yards, the Patriots went back up by a touchdown on a 6-yard White run.
Of Brady’s 19 incompletions on Monday, several of those were plays when he didn’t even attempt to complete the pass. Whether it was because he was trying to avoid a sack, or whether he was looking to avoid a deflection, a turnover or a negative play, he simply threw it into the turf. But 29 yards is nothing when the play could have led to six points. “Any way you can get these wins, I think it’s a positive”. The Bills ran the ball 30 times for 94 yards (3.1 yards per carry). But New England showed it may also have one of the better defenses in the league this year, and it showed in the second half when Buffalo’s offense could manage just a field goal in its final six possessions. The Patriots had a possible touchdown called back because of an inadvertant whistle, while the game ended when Sammy Watkins rolled out of bounds, but the refs allowed the clock to keep running. “It wasn’t necessarily what we wanted it to be, but it was good enough”.
-CB Leodis McKelvin really didn’t feel much like talking about his fumbled punt that turned out to be key in the loss. Unable to produce a touchdown to finish out the drive, the Patriots were forced to kick a field goal which… you guessed it… went for 0 points in a rare Stephen Gostkowski miss. It worked, but with a catch: per former National Football League referee Mike Carey, the Bills should have been given an opportunity to match New England’s quick substitutions, and the snap should have been delayed to account for Jerry Hughes being in the Patriots’ backfield, which is technically an unabated to the quarterback situation.
“I’m not sure what happened there, ” Ryan said.
James White scored two touchdowns, including just before half-time as the Patriots took a 10-3 lead.
An inexplicable inadvertent whistle by an official almost cost the Patriots their undefeated season Monday night.
The game was a Rex Ryan special, too.
Bills head coach Rex Ryan walks onto the field before the game.
You’ll see five defenders on the line, plus a sixth that looks like he’s in tight coverage of Danny Amendola. A lot of stories about the game seemed to buy into that idea, that the Bills made a couple of costly mistakes and the Patriots were able to squeak it out. Once again, the Patriots overcame adversity to get that win.
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“Guys are going to go down, so people have to be ready, whatever the situation is”, he said. Brady finished 20 of 39 for 277 yards and is 26-3 lifetime against Buffalo, including 2-0 this season. Brady said it was “tricky” to deal with players in spots they aren’t accustomed to playing, but that the Patriots have to figure it out in the next few days. We know right now we’ve got to find a way to get better – as players get better, as coaches get better.
