It was bound to happen sooner or later.
The Buffalo Bills won their first game against the Patriots since 2003 yesterday, erasing a 21-0 deficit and starting the season 3-0.
Ryan Fitzpatrick passed for 369 yards and two Touchdowns, leading the furious comeback that was probably the biggest Bills win in years. Buffalo took advantage of four interceptions of Tom Brady and were able to make big plays down the stretch. Brady had some great numbers as usual, but his turnovers were costly and set the stage for the Bills to pull off the upset.
The Patriots jumped out to a 21-point lead in the middle of the second quarter after two Rob Gronkowski touchdowns and one Welker score. After Stevie Johnson caught a TD pass from Fitzpatrick, the Bills got the ball back and got into field goal position. The Bills capitalized on a tip drill interception, after a Brady swing pass bounced off Danny Woodhead's hands and into Bryan Scott's hands. Rian Lindell delivered, booming a 42-yard field goal, cutting the Patriots' lead to 21-10 going into halftime.
The Patriots forced a Buffalo 3-and-out but Brady's next throw, a pass intended for Chad Ochocinco, was picked off by Leodis Mckelvin (great name). Brady spotted Ochocinco in man coverage and forced the ball into a tight area. Ochocinco seemed like he ran the wrong route, as he was out of position to try and break up the interception.
The Bills had a nice drive down the field, getting into the Patriots' red zone when it looked like their drive was going to stall. On 3rd-and-Goal, the Patriots were caught napping, as tight end Scott Chandler ran a 3-yard hitch route and was wide open when Fitzpatrick found him. The defensive breakdown was a running theme throughout the day but this was the most egregious.
Gostkowki added another field goal on the next possession extending the Patriots' lead to 24-17. The two teams traded possessions until a deep Fitzpatrick pass was picked off by Barrett. A dumb pass interference penalty by Sergio Brown negated the turnover and put the ball on the Patriots' 1-yard line. Fred Jackson scored on a 1-yard TD plunge to tie the game at 24.
Brady was intercepted again on the next drive, as Bills CB Drayton Florence took Brady's fourth INT 27 yards for the go-ahead score.
The Patriots marched down the field on the next possession and then on 4th-and-6, Brady connected with Wes Welker for his fourth TD pass of the day, knotting the score at 31. The Bills then got the ball back and went 79 yards in three plays, before bleeding the clock so that Lindell could deliver the game-winning kick with no time remaining.
There is more than enough blame to go around in this one and hopefully the Patriots coaching staff and personnel can learn from this comeback loss. The Patriots will take on Oakland next week and have to clean up their act before playing the Jets the following week.
Game Notes
*Wes Welker is a machine. With Aaron Hernandez out, most people thought that Gronkowski would benefit the most or Ochocinco. While Gronk did have a great game, Welker was nothing short of dominant, racking up 217 yards (breaking a franchise record) on 16 receptions (tying Troy Brown's mark). His first catch in the game gave him sole possession of the Patriots franchise record for consecutive games with a reception. He has now caught a pass in 64 straight games, beating Ben Coates' old record of 63. If anyone is above criticism in regards to yesterday's result, it's Welker.
*I know it's only been three games now but Devin McCourty's lackluster play is looking more and more like a trend. After allowing bigger recievers like Brandon Marshall and Vincent Jackson to have big games, McCourty was abused by Johnson time and again yesterday, including his first TD catch in the corner of the end zone. The worst part about it is that he's not getting burned on any routes. He's there. It just seems like he is having a hard time turning his head around toward the ball and making a play on it. No one seems to be afraid to throw at him. I don't know if it's because of the new secondary around him or what but if that's the way its going to be from McCourty all year, this defense is going to be in big trouble.
*Speaking of the DBs, holy shit they were playing like them yesterday. Leigh Bidden got absolutely toasted on the first play of the game and didn't have a good afternoon. Brown had that inexcusable pass interference penalty on the Barrett interception that should've ended the game. He may not have interfered with the intended reciever, but that was just a dumb penalty to take.
*Has anyone ever seen a DB take worse angles than Barrett? I'm serious. He has looked awful in all three games, especially when it comes to making open-field tackles. He looks like that one kid in Pop Warner who runs alongside the play and then when the whistle blows, he's on top of the pile. I think he's going for the NFL record for half tackles set by Junior Seau and Ray Lewis. I mean, did you see him and Brown trying to wrap up Jackson near the end of the game? Unreal. It almost makes me miss the Big Bang Clock. Let's all hope that Patrick Chung comes back sooner than later.
*Did you know that in the NFL you can actually hand the ball off to a running back and try to gain yards on the ground? It seems to be news to the Patriots, who kept Danny Woodhead on the sidelines for stretches of time, and only used BenJarvus Green-Ellis and rookie Stevan Ridley in obvious running downs. It seemed like every drive started with Brady in the shotgun, virtually eliminating the chance that they would run the ball. When defensive linemen are swatting down passes left and right, maybe it's because they are prepared and ready for the pass and nothing else. The Pats did the majority of their running late in the game when they had to score quicker shi h doesn't make sense to me. Not nurturing the running game is going to end up killing this team later on in the season.
*Ochocinco continues to dissapoint me and I'm starting to wonder how long his leash is heading into Week 4. He had two catches but also played a role in one of Brady's interceptions. McKelvin started on Ocho's outside shoulder but Chad looked like he broke off from his route a bit, which led McKelvin to undercut the route and make the play. Brady was pissed on the sideline and rightfully so. Chad also dropped an easy TD catch late in the game but was bailed out by Welker's fourth down TD catch. Not the best way to endear yourselves to Pats fans.
*As usual, there were a few sketchy penalties to say the least. Kyle Love got flagged for unnecessary roughness when he barely touched Fitzpatrick but was outdone by the worst call I think I've ever seen. Welker caught a ball and turned upfield and was flattened by Byrd. He was flagged for "hitting a defenseless reciever" even though he had control of the ball and was running upfield. Just a bullshit call on the Bills right there.
*Injuries suck. But at the same time I think that the Pats would still have these problems on defense even with Ras-I Dowling, Chung and Albert Haynesworth on the field. All in all, the Pats defense is dead last in the league in yards allowed. Is Bill Belichick still a defensive genius? We shall see.
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