How the Patriots beat the Bills in real time Sunday:
1:04 p.m. EDT – Fred Jackson runs 11 yards on the 1st play of the game.
1:06-Scott Chandler converts a 3rd down with a 9-yard catch from Ryan Fitzpatrick.
1:08-Excellent play by Chandler Jones, who stuffs Jackson on a 3rd and short. Patriots force the punt, say it with me: bend but don’t break.
1:11-18-yard catch for Daniel Fells (his 1st as a Patriot); no-huddle and next play is a 5-yard catch for Shane Vereen (1st catch as a Patriot).
1:12-41-yard catch for Rob Gronkowski, I can get used to this offense. He makes a 7-yard catch and run on the next play.
1:15-1st opening drive TD of the season for the Pats thanks to Stevan Ridley’s 6-yard run (after a 9-yard screen to Wes Welker). 7 plays, 90 yards, 3 minutes and 7 seconds. Efficient. 7-0 New England.
1:21-16-yard catch for Stevie Johnson on 3rd down for the Bills.
1:23-Nice play by Donta’ Hightower, blowing up C.J. Spiller then sacking Fitzpatrick for a 3-yard loss.
1:24-Vince Wilfork tips Fitzpatrick’s 3rd down pass and Jerod Mayo intercepts it at the Buffalo 49.
1:28-3rd and 2, Brady can’t connect with Lloyd so the Pats have to punt. They couldn’t take advantage of the INT and great field position.
1:31-Bills were pinned on their 6 but Dorin Dickerson (Eric’s little boy?) rescues them with a 24-yard catch on a screen pass.
1:32-Nice stop by Tavon Wilson, tackling Jackson after a 1-yard gain.
1:33-Jones tackles Fitzpatrick on what should have been a sack (his knee touched the turf); already, the Pats defense has made more plays today than they did against Baltimore.
1:35-12-yard run for Brandon Bolden.
Patriots 7, Bills 0 after 1 quarter in Orchard Park, NY
1:39-4 straight incompletions for Brady.
1:39-A gem from Dan Dierdorf about the Bills: “They’ve been looking up at the Patriots for so long, that they don’t know any other reality.”
1:40-Marquice Cole makes his 1st play as a Patriot, keeping Zoltan Mesko’s punt out of the end zone. Matthew Slater downs it at the 2-yard line, great work for New England’s punt unit.
1:44-Same old Fitzpatrick, throwing interceptions like they’re going out of style. Even Devin McCourty finds a way to pick him off. Very underthrown pass intended for T.J. Graham along the sideline.
1:46-12-yard run for Bolden, that’s all he does.
1:48-3rd and 11, Brady looks for Lloyd but he’s not really open and he can’t grab it. 49-yard field goal missed by Stephen Gostkowski so the Patriots haven’t scored any points on the two Bills turnovers. Dierdorf continues to troll Buffalo: “Bills fans know what that is like, wide right.”
1:53-Fitzpatrick is lucky he didn’t get hurt as Jones and Jermaine Cunningham simultaneously drilled him high and low.
1:54-Patriots defense gets another 3rd down stop, nothing to complain about with them so far. Buffalo isn’t doing anything on offense, now it’s up to the Pats offense to get untracked.
1:57-15-yard catch by Gronk on the 1st play but he fumbles and it’s recovered by Jairus Byrd.
1:58-On the next play, Fitzpatrick hits Scott Chandler with a pretty 24-yard touchdown pass. Bills tie it up at 7. Patrick Chung was right there but he never turned around and still couldn’t knock it away from Buffalo’s tight end.
2:02-9-yard catch by Welker and 9-yard run by Ridley. Nice to see Josh McDaniels remember that they’re still on the team.
2:05-Big 3rd down catch by Lloyd for 17 yards.
2:06-Great shot of Dave Wannstedt in the booth, tangible evidence for why we should never fear the Bills as long as that clown is their defensive coordinator.
2:08-Pats try to draw the Bills offside on 4th and 1, they don’t bite then Gostkowski misses a 42-yard kick. Even before he pulled that, I wish they had the confidence to go for it.
2:11-34-yard catch for Jackson down the sideline, Mayo didn’t turn his head either. Clearly, that’s a lot to ask from a linebacker but do Patriots defensive coaches tell guys to ever turn around?
2:12-20-yard touchdown catch for Chandler, Brandon Spikes couldn’t follow him that far while Chung and Steve Gregory were too slow to react. The Patriots defense! Bills take a 14-7 lead.
2:16-Brady gets sacked by Marcell Dareus and Kyle Williams.
2:17-Welker makes a 15-yard catch on 3rd down (not far enough for a 1st down) but much worse than that, he coughs it up as well. Buffalo’s Bryan Scott recovers it at the New England 21. Guarantee Gronk and Welker have never both fumbled in the same regular season game, this is insane.
2:20-Don’t tell me the Bills aren’t big time, haha they have a full band.
2:21-This is absurd, Brad Smith of all people just made a 14-yard catch on 3rd down for another Bills 1st down. 1st and Goal from the 7 when they return after the 2-minute warning.
2:25-Huge play by the Patriots defense. Spiller ran it to about the 1 but Spikes crushed him, causing him to fumble. Vince Wilfork came out with the ball after a huge pile.
Bills 14, Patriots 7 at halftime. Strange 1st half since both teams should have way more points.
2:41-26-yard catch by Welker on the 1st play of the 2nd half.
2:43-Gronk drops what would have been a long touchdown pass from Brady, Stephon Gilmore knocked it away.
2:47-Tracy White makes a tackle on 1st down which means Hightower must be done for the day. Not good.
2:49-That kind of day, Jackson makes a juggling catch on a screen pass and goes 16 yards on 3rd and 15.
2:51-68-yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick to Donald Jones (longest of his career). Again, the Pats were beaten right down the middle of the field. Chung and Gregory are terrible. Bills lead 21-7, I guess the Patriots are frauds.
2:55-No huddle, 11-yard catch for Bolden then 27-yard run. He’s earning his playing time, forget Danny Woodhead. Follows that up with a 13-yard run. Impressive stuff.
2:57-Another drop for Gronk, this is becoming a major issue.
2:58-Sorry Danny, Brady keeps the play alive then finds Woodhead who changed his route and caught a 17-yard touchdown. Patriots cut it to 21-14. That’s how you answer the Bills. 36th straight game with a TD pass for Brady.
3:04-3 and out for the Bills, best play was Wilfork stuffing Spiller for no gain on 2nd down.
3:05-Wilson gets called for holding on the punt return when he was on the other side of the field. Bad rookie mistake.
3:07-13-yard catch for Welker, nobody on the Bills can cover him. Gotta keep going there. 2 plays later he makes a 14-yard grab.
3:09-20-yard run by Bolden, he’s having a great performance.
3:10-19-yard catch for Welker plus 7 on a penalty to Kyle Williams for hitting Brady in the knees.
3:12-4-yard TD run by Brady after a huge hole opened up and nobody was around to cover him. Check that, it’ll probably come back since his knee touchdown down before his arm crossed the goal-line. Happy to say I was wrong, somehow Brady’s knee went down but didn’t touch the ground. 21-21, Patriots have looked like a different team in the 3rd quarter.
3:18-22-yard catch for Jones on Buffalo’s 1st play of the next drive.
3:18-1st good play of the season for Rob Ninkovich who tackles Jackson for a 2-yard loss. On the ensuing play, he sacks Fitzpatrick and causes him to fumble but the pride of Harvard holds onto it.
3:21-Patriots defense forces another punt, they are dialed in now. Amazing what happens when you get pressure on a quarterback.
3:23-Dierdorf’s first orgasm of the day is the direct result of a routine 8-yard catch for Welker.
3:24-Gronk makes a catch and nice run for Ridley, Patriots are moving the ball deep in Bills territory.
Patriots 21, Bills 21 after 3 quarters
3:27-28-yard TD pass to Gronk, wide open down the middle, on the 1st play of the 4th quarter. Patriots take their 1st lead since 7-0, 28-21. 21-0- run for New England.
3:32-14-yard run for Spiller but looks like he reinjured his shoulder.
3:34-2nd caused fumble by Spikes, this time he tags Jackson. Wilson recovers it, 4th turnover for the Bills (2 INTs, 2 fumbles). Pats take over at the Buffalo 42.
3:35-13-yard run by Ridley puts him over 100 yards then Bolden goes over 100 yards (haha really) with a 12-yard carry.
3:37-14-yard carry from Bolden gets it down to the 2; Gilmore almost picks it off in the end zone on the next play, a pass intended for Gronk.
3:37-Haha Bills had 12 men on the field but they still couldn’t stop Ridley on a 2-yard TD run. Patriots take a 35-21 lead with 11:42 left. Wow, crazy turnaround. Same old Bills.
3:41-1st time since 1982 that the Pats have had 2 100-yard rushers, it’s been so long I don’t even know the guys that did it before.
3:42-Poor Bills, Wilfork (yes him) killed Jones on a short pass that he ended up dropping.
3:44-McCourty makes his 2nd interception of the game. Geez, Spikes murders Chandler on the long interception return by McCourty down to the Bills 12. This is like a Pats highlight reel in the 2nd half. So many big plays.
3:46-7-yard TD run by Bolden sends the Bills fans rushing for the exits and the remnants of their tailgate parties.
3:52-20 1st downs for the Pats in the 2nd half. Only the 2nd time in NFL history that a team has had a pair of 100-yard rushers and receivers in the same game. Haha things are so bad for the Bills, some kid that retrieves the kicks ran into another guy and fell right on his face.
3:58-35-yard touchdown grab by Smith, largely inconsequential except to remind us how bad the Pats safeties are. New England leads 35-21 with 6:32 left.
4:00-Patriots recover the onside kick. That should do it.
4:03-That probably wraps it up, 17-yard catch for Welker on 3rd and 9. Somewhere Julian Edelman weeps.
4:05-Mario Williams has been so invisible that Greg Gumbel took what I believe is the first shot of his long and dull broadcasting career.
4:06-Beautiful 25-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Lloyd, his 1st as a Patriot. New England has scored on their last six drives. Patriots lead 49-28.
4:09-Great close-up of Bills fans who are completely oblivious to the fact their team is down 21 points. Woo!
4:10-One last interception for the road, Fitzpatrick gift wraps one for Wilson.
4:11-Second extended shot of Bianca Wilfork, is it her birthday or something? She’s getting the Ray Allen’s mom treatment today.
4:15-30-yard field goal for Gostkowski and the Patriots have hung 52 points on the Bills. That’s greeted by the Krafts on the sideline with what looks like a chubby kid that must be Bob’s grandson.
Patriots win 52-28, remember when they trailed 14-7 at halftime? Haha New England scored 45 in the 2nd half, 31 in the 4th quarter. It’s easy to forget since they scored 52 points but with Welker and Gronk’s fumble plus two missed FGs by Gostkowski, the Pats could have hung 70 points on the Bills. Nice knowing ya Wannstedt.
