It what was a battle of field goals for three quarters Monday night, the New England Patriots got their only offensive touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and then added a defensive touchdown as they pulled away from the Buffalo Bills for their fifth consecutive win 25-6 at New Era Field at Orchard Park, New York.
The two teams only could muster field goals in the first 45 minutes of action, as the defenses stiffened on both sides as the Patriots held just a 12-6 lead after three quarters. New England (6-2) finally found the endzone finishing a 10 play, 94 yard drive with a one yard touchdown run from James White with 10 minutes left. The two point try failed and the Patriots led 18-6. Buffalo (2-6) looked as if they had responded when quarterback Derek Anderson found Jason Croom behind the Patriots secondary in the endzone for a 25 yard score with still 6:14 left in the game. However the play was reviewed as with all scoring plays, and it was found that Croom never had full control and the ball also hit the turf as the play was correctly overturned to an incomplete pass. Two plays later Anderson try to find Charles Clay over the middle, but Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty jumped the route and intercepted the ball at his own 16 and returned it 84 yards down the sidlelines for a touchdown to ice the win. Anderson lost a fumble on a hit by Kyle Van Noy earlier that hurt the Bills, who also lost the turnover battle 2-0 that both times led to Patriots points.
Tom Brady finished 29-45 for 324 yards passing on the night. Julian Edelman made nine receptions for 104 yards, while White added 10 for 79 yards. New England only had 76 yards on the ground, but was led there by Cordarrelle Patterson who had 10 carries and 38 yards. Rookie running back Sony Michel did not travel with the team after suffering an inury at Chicago last week. Rob Gronkowski did return and had three catches for 43 yards. Stephen Gostkowski hit field goals of 25, 40, 38, and 25 and was 4-5 on attempts. Van Noy led the defense with eight total tackles and two sacks, while Trey Flowers added six tackles.
Anderson finished 22-39 passing, 290 yards, with one interception. LeShean McCoy was the biggest offensive weapon on the night for the Bills, rushing for 13 yards and adding six receptions for 82 yards. Steven Hauschka was 2-2 on field goals making kicks of 47 and 51 yards. Phillip Gaines made 10 total tackles on defense for Buffalo.
Brady is now 16-2 in his career versus Buffalo at Ralph Wilson Stadium/New Era Field, and also is 29-3 against the Bills overall, the most wins any quarterback has against any other team in NFL history.
New England returns home to Gillette Stadium next Sunday, where they host the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night football with kickoff slated for 8:20 pm.
