The New England Patriots had three defensive takeaways and rushed for a total of 273 yards on Sunday, en route to their 10th consecutive AFC East title with a 24-12 win over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Sony Michel and James White had rushing touchdowns, and Tom Brady threw for another of 32 yards to Julian Edelman as New England (10-5) also moved into the #2 seed in the AFC with the win and a Houston Texans loss to Philadelphia. The Patriots are 7-0 at home this season, and just 3-5 on the road.
The Patriots defense held Buffalo to 289 total yards, and just 72 rushing yards in building a 14-0 halftime lead, and then scoring 10 unanswered points after the Bills had cut it to 14-6 with a pair of Stephen Hauschka field goals. Buffalo (5-10) got a late 31 yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Zay Jones with 1:17 left. The win ends a two game losing streak for New England, who suffered tough last second losses to Miami and Pittsburgh in weeks 14 and 15.
Brady went 13-24 passing, 126 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Brady now has 11 interceptions on the season, the most since 2013. Michel carried 18 times for 116 yards. Edelman had six catches for 70 yards. Patrick Chung had seven total tackles to lead the defense, while Jason McCourty and J.C. Jackson had interceptions. New England had 179 rushing yards in first half alone, the most in any half for the Patriots since 1991. New England will host the New York Jets next Sunday in the regular season finale scheduled for 1 pm, but could be flexed by the NFL.
