When things don’t seem to be going well, how are you going to find that rhythm? The game ended with a Patriots victory. Rex Ryan said he was ready to put EJ Manual in if needed, but Tyrod powered through it and finished the game, even though he was clearly in pain. Like always, we came up short, despite being here and having them on the ropes. “When that occurs and we deem that the runner, which he would have been after he maintained possession after his reception, he was now a runner, had given himself up in the field of play”. Running back James White has emerged in the third-down role where Lewis had excelled and Brandon LaFell, after dropping six passes in his first game of the season, is picking it up, too.
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“That’s one of the craziest I’ve ever seen”, said Bills running back LeSean McCoy, who ran 20 times for 82 yards and a 27-yard touchdown.
New England stuck firm on the defensive side, not allowing the Bills to make much of their second half chances, as they hung on to try and at least make overtime with the only thing standing between them being a touchdown and the New England defense.
The Patriots made it a 10-point game on another Gostkowski field goal following a Bills fumble and it would be enough as they held on despite a Dan Carpenter field goal in the fourth.
Leodis McKelvin fielded a punt at his own but coughed up the ball 2 yards later. New England’s Jonathan Freeny picked up the ball and rumbled 5 yards before he lost the ball and it bounced out of bounds. They pressured the Patriots’ quarterback on 20 of his 40 dropbacks, the highest percentage against Brady in the last seven years.
Even the referees were sloppy. But because of the inadvertent whistle, play was halted and Bills cornerback Ronald Darby did not attempt to tackle Amendola.
Ryan, coach of the Bills, was also flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the play.
On the first drive of the second half, Brady and company got flat-out jobbed. But he did throw one at the Buffalo goal line in the fourth that stuck.
The Bills looked as if they might take control of the game on a lucky break early in the third quarter, when an “inadvertent whistle” was blown by line judge Gary Arthur while a Tom Brady pass to Danny Amendola looked as if it would go for a 69-yard TD and a commanding 17-3 New England lead.
Coach Bill Belichick has shown he is willing to go away from the pass if it isn’t working.
It began when Brady scrambled right and connected with Amendola down the sideline.
The 20 points were a season-low for the offense, and their NFL-record streak of scoring in consecutive quarters was snapped at 38.
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However, with just one safety to beat, and a downfield blocker, Patriots fans will feel aggrieved that they were denied a potential touchdown, especially as Stephen Gostkowski missed a 54-yard field goal at the end of the drive.
