New England Patriots Defeat Buffalo Bills and Lock up Bye
By Hal Bent
Dec 29, 2013; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) claps his hands before their game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
On their initial drive the Patriots drove down the wet field only to stall against Buffalo’s stout defense. That was also the theme of the second drive as the Patriots kicked field goals on both drives. The Patriots ran the ball well on the first two drives picking up 74 yards on 11 carries. Not surprisingly, the Bills strong front seven brought pressure and forced stops in the passing game.
On defense, the Patriots gave up two big plays on the Bills initial drive with a 24 yard run by running back C.J. Spiller and a 22 yard pass to Marquise Goodwin on third-and-seven. Fortunately for New England, Bills quarterback Thaddeus Lewis was unable to hang on the ball and lost 13 yards creating a long field goal attempt. On their second drive Buffalo again converted a third-and-five with a plus twenty completion, this time to Robert Woods for 27 yards. After that, the defense tightened to force a punt.
With their third drive going starting inside their own ten yard line after a nice punt by Brad Moorman pinned the Patriots deep, the Patriots continued to pound the Buffalo defense with their hard running style. LeGarrette Blount and Stevan Ridley continued pounding the Bills as they went over 100 yards rushing for the game early in the second quarter. With just one pass completion on the drive, LeGarrette Blount finished the drive and went over 100 yards in the game with 12:14 to play in the half with a 36 yard rushing touchdown.
The Patriots took a 13-3 lead with the 94 yard drive, but it was muted by left guard Logan Mankins being helped off the field with a leg injury. Mankins had been filling in at left tackle but moved back to left guard with the return of left tackle Nate Solder. With Mankins out, it leaves New England thin at tackle as top backup Will Svitek has been slowed by an ankle injury in the second half of the season.
Again the Bills had success on third down through the air as the Bills converted a third-and-eight with a screen pass to running back Fred Jackson for thirteen yards. After crossing midfield, the Patriots slowed the Bills and stopped Jackson a yard short of the first down to force a fourth down at the 44 yard line. Defensive end Rob Ninkovich blew up the fourth-and-one quarterback sneak by Thaddeus Lewis as he came around the right tackle behind tackle Sealver Siliga to hit Lewis in the backfield and deny him the conversion.
New England was unable to convert and punted as quarterback Tom Brady could not handle the snap on third-and-six and forced punter Ryan Allen to come on. Allen booted a beauty as his 53 yard punt pinned the Bills down deep as his punt was downed at the seven yard line. After an initial first down, the Patriots forced a punt as practice squad cornerback Justin Green had to come on for an injured Kyle Arrington. Covering Robert Woods outside on third-and-four, Lewis went right after Green who made a nice play in coverage to deny the reception.
With guard Logan Mankins back in the game, the Patriots finally had a big screen pass as Mankins led the charge to clear out the Bills defenders for a 22 yard gain on first down. Later in the drive the screen pass went to wide receiver Julian Edelman on second-and-seventeen to get fourteen yards back and set-up a third down and three. Although the drive stalled in the red zone (due in part to a LeGarrette Blount fumble that was recovered by tight end Matt Mulligan) the Patriots were able to run the clock down and kick a field goal to make it 16-3 at halftime.