The New England Patriots released recently signed DL Landon Cohen on Tuesday after afternoon.  Cohen was brought back just last week when Myron Pryor was placed on the IR with a season ending injury.

Cohen had spent training camp with the Patriots and was among the last players released.  He was claimed off of waivers by Seattle and released a week later.  He then came back to Foxboro.

To take Cohen’s roster spot, the team has brought back veteran DL Gerard Warren an 11-year vet out of the University of Florida.

He spent the 2010 season with the Patriots and came back to the team at during training camp and was released prior to Week 1.  It was speculated at that time that Warren was a possible candidate to return as he is one of those guys that Bill Belichick loves.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Getty Images

The day after a loss for the New England Patriots always has kind of a sour taste because there always seems to be something they could have done better to win the game no matter how well the opponent played.

Give credit to Buffalo they came into the game looking to show the football world that they are for real and for the second week in a row they overcame a large early deficit to win a game at home.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills’ Harvard educated quarterback, looks like he is coming into his own as he finally found a team willing to give him a chance to play.  He was 27 of 40 for 369 yards with 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s and the Sox & Dawgs Co-Offensive Player of the Game.

The New England defense continues to give up large yardage totals most of it through the air.  This was the third game in a row in which the defense has allowed at least 369 passing yards as Philip Rivers and Chad Henne both had more passing yards in the other two games.

The secondary in this weeks game was decimated missing starting S Patrick Chung and starting CB Ras-I Dowling both who have been playing well. It hurts when you’re missing two of your top pass defenders and it hampers the defense especially in sub packages where you end with personnel playing in places they don’t normally play in.

On the bright side defensively the run defense once again held a very good back in Fred Jackson under 100 rushing yards.  They will be tested again this coming Sunday as for the second week in a row they will face the current rushing yards leader.  This time it’s Oakland’s Darren McFadden who torched the New York Jets for over 200 yards on the ground with a pair of TD’s in the Raiders win.

Offensively the team had a difficult time running the ball against the Bills; they practically shut down BenJarvus Green-Ellis in favor of Steven Ridley who scratched out 44 yards.

Passing wise, Tom Brady had a bad day, he has those but luckily we don’t see those all that often.  As I noted in the game notes of the recap that was his 6^th career 4 INT game and his first since 2006, or before his two NFL MVP awards.

Brady now has thrown 5 INT’s this season to 11 TD’s.  Last year he threw only 4 picks against 36 TD’s.  I have to admit we’re spoiled watching him play.  We expect him week in and week out to be perfect and when he isn’t we wonder what happened.  Well what happened was the Buffalo defense stepped up and made Brady look like some of the other lesser QB’s in the league.  He threw about 7 bad balls the entire game and the Bills got their hands on four of them.  It happens, let’s hope it’s out of his system.

Referee Carl Cheffers and his crew called 17 penalties in the game on Sunday and some felt they were “too involved” in the game.  Interesting note on the Sergio Brown pass interference call in the end zone, how is that a penalty when Fitzpatrick failed to even throw a catchable ball?

As the coach likes to say, it’s on to Oakland.

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New England head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after media meeting about Sunday’s game.

Patriots QB Tom Brady had his usual Monday morning radio interview for WEEI’s Patriots Monday.

Look for recently released TE Dan Gronkowski to get re-signed to the team.  It was noted today that his locker was still intact.  This usually results in the player returning even after a release.  He was most likely released due to the fact the Patriots knew he was too hurt to play and they needed a roster spot for an additional player in the secondary.

The Patriots defense is on pace to set the NFL record for total yards allowed with 7499, the current record held by 1981 Baltimore Colts who allowed 6793 yards.

They are also on pace to set marks for total 1^st downs allowed with 416 currently those ’81 Colts hold the record with 406.  They also are on pace for setting the record for passing first downs allowed with 293 the current record is 230 set by the 1995 Atlanta Falcons.

Connecticut native, TE Aaron Hernandez missed the game Sunday after he took a helmet to his knee last week.  It’s reported he has a sprained MCL and may miss this weeks game as well.  I figure to see him listed as doubtful or questionable with limited or no practice time this week.

S Patrick Chung missed the Buffalo game with a thumb injury and his status for Oakland is unknown.  All I know is they are a better team with him on the deep cover.  Look for limited practice time for Chung and to have him listed as questionable.

The other players who missed the game Sunday were Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright, Ras-I Dowling, Taylor Price and Sebastian Vollmer.  Only the week will tell as we move through it how they project out for Sunday’s game.  If I were to guess I’d say Wright is probably the most like in this group to miss another game with post concussion symptoms.  And it would be nice to Haynesworth, Vollmer and Dowling back on the field as well.  Price is yet to be healthy enough to dress for a game this year.

LB Tracy White has made special teams his specialty.

OL Brian Waters stands guard of Tom Brady.

Brady goes into Sunday’s game one TD pass away from tying his idol, Joe Montana for 9^th on the all-time list.  With the game in the Bay area, not far from where Brady grew up, I wonder if he invites “Joe Cool” as his guest for the game.  To me it’d be a great sight to see Montana hug Brady for tying or passing him.  Expect a lot of Brady family in the seats for the game.

The Patriots and Raiders have some colorful history, especially in the playoffs.  In 1976 a Steve Grogan led New England team lost to the Raiders in the playoffs in a game that saw the mysterious roughing the passer call on Ray “Sugar Bear” Hamilton.  It took 25 years but the Patriots got even by beating the Raiders in the “Tuck Rule” game.

On a much sadder note it was Raiders famed secondary assassin Jack Tatum who leveled the hit on New England WR Darryl Stingley that left him paralyzed in a 1978 preseason game in Oakland.  Both players have tragically passed on at a young age.

The New England and Oakland franchises have combined to win 6 Super Bowl championships in 11 combined appearances.  The two former AFL franchises have become two of the iconic post merger NFL franchises.

Lost in the loss to Buffalo may have been the fact that WR Wes Welker set a franchise record with 217 receiving yards on 16 catches.  The previous record was 214 yards set by Terry Glenn in 1999.  The 16 catches tied a team record I believe that was held by Troy Brown.

WR Chad Ochocinco still has trouble catching balls thrown his way.

He said what?  Take the quiz on Bill Belichick speak it’s a cool piece that appeared in the Globe after last season.

Why was Logan Mankins so hopping mad that he had to be restrained?

The Patriots players can’t wait to put the pads back on.

Belichick says that McCourty’s late game tackle was the right play.

From Sunday’s game recap, it’s the referee’s statement on the second New England time out and Bill Belichick’s explanation of the situation.

Buffalo CB Aaron Williams who was carted off the field suffered a collar bone injury and is expected to be fine but he will miss a few weeks.

New England plays the Oakland Raiders Sunday at 4:15 p.m. in Oakland’s Black Hole.  Look for the Sox & Dawgs “In The Red Zone Game Preview” available on Friday morning.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Sunday’s used to be a great day, a day I looked forward to, especially at this time of the year with the Red Sox setting their rotation for the playoffs and the Patriots blowing teams out.

What the hell happened?

The New England Patriots were winners of 15 consecutive games against the Buffalo Bills heading into Sunday’s match up at the Ralph.  Well after four Tom Brady interceptions, a drive that the Buffalo touchdown should have been credited to the officials, a bizarre second time out called and 10 seconds mysteriously disappearing from the clock that streak no longer exists.

The Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s only CFL team, beat the New England Patriots, 34-31 on a weird winning drive and a last second field goal Sunday afternoon.

After jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter on Brady touchdown passes to Wes Welker and two to Rob Gronkowski the game looked like not only was it potentially over but that the Patriots were going to whip the Bills to the Canadian border and back again.

Defensively CB Kyle Arrington had two INT’s that stopped two Buffalo drives and a shorthanded secondary was looking pretty stellar early on.

But something happened on the way to winning the 16^th game in a row over Buffalo.  Someone forgot to tell the Bills to rollover.

Buffalo was able to cut the lead to 21-10 by halftime after a Steven Jackson TD catch and a Ryan Lindell field goal.

Buffalo scored it’s first touchdown near the end of the second quarter as the New England defense gave up 96-yards rather easily that lead to a Ryan Fitzpatrick TD pass to Johnson of 11-yards.

Brady didn’t help matters as he threw a pair of first half picks.  One bounced off of the hands of Danny Woodhead near the Buffalo 10-yard line and was grabbed on the deflection.  This led to the Buffalo field goal and ended up being a 10-point swing as the Patriots were looking to score.

An earlier Brady interception was also the product of a tipped ball in the red zone once again killing a New England Drive.

The second half didn’t play out much better as the defense was constantly challenged and the offense kept shooting itself in the foot courtesy of the league’s MVP.

The third INT of Brady’s day was intended for a very well covered Chad Ochocinco that was an exceptionally poor read by Brady, who tried to force the ball to Ochocinco and Leodis McKelvin undercut the route and ended up with the ball.

Buffalo cut the Patriots lead to 21-17 when a wide open Scott Chandler caught a 4-yard TD pass from Fitzpatrick in the 3^rd quarter.  The Patriots extended their lead to a touchdown when they answered with a Stephen Gostkowski 23-yard field goal.

Buffalo totally was back into the game and actually claimed the lead 31-24 after scoring two fourth quarter touchdowns within 14 seconds.  They scored on offense when Fred Jackson was able to get in from the 1-yard line and after the ensuing kickoff Drayton Florence had a 27-yard interception return for a touchdown and the Bills fans were bringing down the house on a lovely fall Canadian day.

You can credit the Jackson run to the officials though, who called 48 yards in penalties on that drive.  One was a phantom roughing the passer call, the second was a phantom illegal contact call and the third was a very subjective pass interference call in the end zone.  That put the ball on the one-yard line and set the stage for Jackson’s game tying TD run.

After a shaky drive got the Patriots into the red zone, Brady was able to find Welker for his second TD catch of the day with a 4^th down pass of 6 yards and once again we were tied.

But not for long.

Buffalo once again responded with some quick hits against an apparently gassed New England secondary.  A bizarre series happened when the Bills had apparently scored but the play was over turned after review.

First an additional 10 seconds ran off the clock after the player should have been marked down, then Bill Belichick took a second timeout so he could argue with officials over the time not being put back on the clock as part of the review.  And then Buffalo basically ran out the clock allowing Lindell to kick a game winning 18-yard field goal as time expired to snap the NFL’s longest current losing streak to one team.

Patriots at Bills Gamebook. This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Patriots at Bills Game Recap via Associated Press.

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Turning Point of the Game

Brady’s fourth INT that was returned by Leodis McKelvin for a TD and gave Buffalo the lead at 31-24 just 14 seconds after having tied the game.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

Shared by Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick who was 27 of 40 for 369 yards with 2 TD’s and 2 INT’s and Patriots WR Wes Welker who had 16 catches for a team record 217 yards.

Defensive Player of the Game

Patriots CB Kyle Arrington has 6 tackles (3 solo) and 2 INT’s that were returned for a total of 37 yards.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Light
LG Mankins
C Connolly
RG Waters
RT Solder
TE Gronkowski
WR Welker
WR Branch
WR Ochocinco
QB Brady
RB Green-Ellis

On Defense:

DE Ellis
DT Wilfork
DE Carter
OLB Ninkovich
ILB Mayo
OLB Spikes
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
DB Bodden
S Brown
S Barrett

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. T Sebastian Vollmer (back)

2. TE Aaron Hernandez (knee)

3. DE Mike Wright (concussion)

4. S Patrick Chung (thumb)

5. DT Albert Haynesworth (back)

6. WR Taylor Price (hamstring)

7. CB Ras-I Dowling (thigh)

Bills

1. LB Kirk Morrison (hamstring)

2. CB Terrence McGee (hamstring)

3. G Kraig Urbik (knee)

4. DB Justin Rogers

5. RT Sam Young

6. TE Lee Smith

7. NT Torell Troup

The spread (Patriots minus 9) was not covered.  But the over/under (53 1/2) was.  I am now 2-1 vs. the spread and 3 of 3 calling the under/over.

The Patriots lead the series 61-41-1

New England had won 15 straight games in the series; it was there first loss to the Bills since Opening Day 2003 when Buffalo dismantled New England 38-0 at home.

The 15 game win streak against one team was the third longest in NFL history.  San Francisco had a 17 game win streak over the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams from 1990-98 and Miami had a 20 game win streak over Buffalo from 1970-79.

New England is 49-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.  Buffalo will have that chance in Week 17 at Gillette Stadium.

Bill Belichick coached teams are 20-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Bill Belichick has 179 wins – 10th all-time.

Tom Brady is now 17-2 vs. Buffalo.

Brady was 30 of 45 for 387 yards; 4 TD’s and 4 INT’s.

He is the first QB in NFL history to throw from 1200 plus yards in the seasons first three games.

This was Brady’s 6^th career 4 INT game the others were in 2006 vs. Indianapolis; 2005 vs. Kansas City, 2004 in Miami; 2003 in Buffalo and 2001 in Denver.

Brady is 50-23 on the road in his career in the regular season.

Brady’s 4 TD passes give him 272 in his career he is now 10th all-time.  Joe Montana is 9^th with 273.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 82 consecutive games including playoffs, 68 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker set a franchise record with 217 receiving yards on 16 catches.  The previous record was 214 yards set by Terry Glenn in 1999.

The Patriots released TE Dan Gronkowski, a Buffalo-area native, on Friday.  Practice squad S Ross Ventrone took his roster spot.  LB A.J. Edds was re-signed by the team to the practice squad.

Since 2000 the Patriots have the 2^nd best road record in the NFL at 58-32.  Only Indianapolis 59-30 has better road record in the same span.

Since 2001, the Patriots are 23-11 in September that’s the second best record among all NFL teams behind only Indianapolis who is 26-8.

The Patriots have scored 30 or more points in 11 consecutive regular season games.

New England is now plus 2 in turnover differential.

The Bills are 22-29-1 as the home team in the series.

Buffalo is 21-42 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

Bills head coach Chan Gailey is now 1-3 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-2 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is 1-3 vs. New England and 15-24-1 in his NFL career with Buffalo, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

RB Fred Jackson had back-to-back 100 yard rushing games in the first two games of the season but New England held him to 74 yards on 12 carries with 1 TD.

Bills CB Aaron Williams was carted off the field but was moving his extremities and waving to fans as he was wheeled off.

Carl Cheffers was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 78 and sunny.

Referee’s report on the second New England time out and Bill Belichick’s explanation of the situation.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com

This Week in the AFC East

Cleveland beat Miami, 17-16

Oakland downed the NY Jets, 34-24

AFC East Standings

Bills                        3-0/1-0

Patriots                   2-1/1-1

Jets                        2-1/0-0

Dolphins                  0-3/0-1

Next Game

The Patriots visit the Oakland Raiders at Overstock.com Stadium on Sunday in Oakland CA.  Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS.

Photo credit: AP Photo

On Friday afternoon the New England Patriots released TE Dan Gronkowski, brother of another Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski.

Dan Gronkowski was only with the team a few weeks after signing with New England after being released by Denver at the end of training camp.  He appeared in two games with the Patriots.

In addition to Denver and New England, Gronkowski spent 2009 with Detroit prior to being traded to the Broncos prior to the start of the 2010 season.

The move is curious seeing as the team only had three tight ends on the roster, this move makes that two and of the two, Aaron Hernandez has been declared out of the Buffalo game on Sunday with a sprained MCL.

The team is already short offensive lineman as Sebastian Vollmer is also out and now it looks like they’ll need to find a tight end as well.  Look for at least one practice squad promotion on Saturday to fill the Gronkowski roster spot.

9/24 Update: The corresponding roster move for the Patriots is the promotion of S Ross Ventrone from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Ventrone, who played his college ball at Villanova, has been with the team sice 2010. His brother Ray Ventrone played for Patriots in 2009.

This move most likely signals that S Patrick Chung will miss the game with a thumb injury.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: AP Photo

This Week

The New England Patriots visit their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, NY on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Patriots (2-0) are 1-0 on the road, 1-0 against the AFC East and 2-0 in the AFC conference.  The Bills (2-0) are 1-0 at the Ralph, 0-0 vs. the AFC East and 2-0 against the AFC conference.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports have the Patriots minus 9.  The over under is 53 ½.

My Prediction is Patriots 42, Bills, 21.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 2-0 against the spread and 2 of 2 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Bills are reporting the game as a sell out.

Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster.  You can check the availability here.

Getting to the Game

If you’re lucky enough to be shuffling off to Buffalo for the game make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Orchard Park NY.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and a Ralph Wilson Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack.  I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages.  With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks.  You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time.  Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver.  Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game regionally and Marv Albert will do play by play while Rich Gannon will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.

The DirecTV designation is Channel 706.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules; flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 4 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

If you are outside the broadcast are of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass, which allows you to listen to any game live.  You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 93 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 862.

The Bills Radio Network has John Murphy calling the game while former Bills DB Mark Kelso provide the game analysis via their flagship station, WGRF-FM. Their call is available on Sirius Channel 106, XM Channel 228 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 868.

The game will also be heard nationally along the Compass Media Network affiliates.  Chris Carrino and Brian Baldinger will call the game.

Patriots All Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

• Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading, the New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots beat the Chargers at “The Razor” 35-21 as Deion Branch reeled in 8 catches; while the Bills rallied to beat the Raiders, 38-35 at home with a TD with just 14 seconds left to play.

History

• This is the 103rd meeting between the Patriots and the Bills since they started to face each other as AFL foes in 1960.
• The Patriots lead the series 61-40-1
• The 61 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.
• New England has won 15 straight games in the series and 20 of the last 22. The last loss coming on opening day 2003 when the Bills dismantled New England 38-0 in Buffalo.
• The Patriots won both meetings in 2010 beating the Bills 38-30 in Week 3 despite a porous defense and an average offense at Gillette Stadium.  Patriots won again in Buffalo in Week 16, 34-3 behind 7 Buffalo turnovers.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2011 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 403-363-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in six appearances.  They last appeared in the playoffs in 2010 when they lost at home to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 28-21.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 2007 losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.  They won the AFC Conference championship that season with playoff wins over Jacksonville and San Diego.

The Patriots are the defending two-time AFC East Champions; they have won the division 8 times since 2000.

The Patriots are dedicating the 2011 season to the memory of Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late wife of owner Robert Kraft. Every Patriots player and coach will honor Myra’s memory by wearing a patch with her initials on it in recognition of her lifelong contributions to the local and global community and her influence on the charitable mission of the entire Patriots organization. The patch will be worn on the left chest of every player throughout the season.

The Patriots are 29-21-1 all time in Buffalo, 22-15 at Ralph Wilson/Rich Stadium.  The other games were played at old War Memorial Stadium.

New England is 49-14 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Patriots rushed for 200 yards or more in both games against the Bills in 2010.

The Patriots have had two double-digit win streaks against the Bills.  Currently it’s 15 games since 2003; the previous streak was 11 games from January 1983 to December 1987.

The 15 game win streak against one team is the third longest in NFL history.  San Francisco had a 17 game win streak over the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams from 1990-98 and Miami had a 20 game win streak over Buffalo from 1970-79.

The last time the teams met in December 2010 in Buffalo the Patriots recovered four fumbles in a game for the first time since 2003 vs. Philadelphia.

New England’s largest margin of victory in the series is 46 points set in 2007.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.

Since 2000 the Patriots have the 2^nd best road record in the NFL at 58-31.  Only Indianapolis 59-30 has better road record in the same span.

Since 2001, the Patriots are 23-10 in September that’s the second best record among all NFL teams behind only Indianapolis who is 26-8.

The Patriots have scored 30 or more points in 10 consecutive regular season games.

The Patriots are 3^rd in the NFL in points per game with 36.5.  While they allow 22.5 points per game good for 13^th in the NFL.

New England is now plus 4 in turnover differential, 3^rd best in the NFL (tied with Green Bay and San Francisco).  The offense has given up 1 INT and 0 fumbles, while the defense has 3 INT and 2 fumble recoveries.

The defense has 3 goal line stops in 2 games this season.  Last week against San Diego they stopped the Chargers 4 times from goal to go inside the 5-yard line.  In Week 1 vs. Miami they stopped the Dolphins two separate times.  Once in the first half the Fish had four cracks (2 rushes, 2 passes) from inside the 10-yard line and then in the 4^th quarter they had fourth and goal at the 1-yard line (pass) and the Patriots held again.

Patriots Staff Notes

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Bills.

Bill Belichick coached teams are 20-3 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 164-94 in 16 NFL seasons.  He is 128-51 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 15-6 in the playoffs, 14-5 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 179-100.

Belichick’s 179 wins are good for 10^th all-time.  Bill Parcells is 9^th with 183 wins.

He was named NFL Coach of the Year for the 3^rd time in 2010.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Light
• LG: Mankins
• C: Connolly
• RG: Waters
• RT: Solder
• QB: Brady
• RB: Woodhead
• TE: R. Gronkowski
• WR: Welker
• WR: Branch
• WR: Ochocinco

Defense:

• DE: Ellis
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Love
• DE: Carter
• WLB: Cunningham
• MLB: Fletcher
• SLB: Ninkovich
• LCB: McCourty
• RCB: Bodden
• S: Brown
• S: Barrett

Patriots Players Notes

This Tom Brady’s 12^th NFL season he is 17-1 vs. the Bills in his career.

Overall Brady is 113-32 as a starting QB and is 14-5 in the playoffs for an overall record of 127-37.  Brady is a 6 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

In 2010 Brady won his second NFL MVP and he was the first unanimous winner in league history.

Brady was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week and the 19^th time in his career for his performance against San Diego.

Brady is 50-22 on the road in his career in the regular season.

Brady has 268 TD passes in his career he is now 10th all-time.  Joe Montana is 9^th with 273.

Brady is the only NFL quarterback to follow up a 500-yard game with a 400-yard game.

He is also just the 6^th NFL quarterback with back-to-back 400-yard games.

Brady’s two-week yardage total of 940 is second best all-time behind Phil Simms who had 945 yards in a two week span.

As of Thursday the following players have been declared out (will not play) of Sunday’s game:

• S Patrick Chung had surgery on his injured thumb this week that he injured on Sunday against San Diego. He did not practice.

As of Thursday the following players are doubtful (25% chance of playing) for Sunday’s game:

• TE Aaron Hernandez has a sprained MCL and is expected to miss up to 2 weeks.  He did not practice.
• DT Albert Haynesworth has a back injury and did not practice.
• CB Kyle Arrington has a concussion and did not practice.
• T Sebastian Vollmer has a back injury and did not practice.
• DE Mike Wright has a concussion and did not practice.

As of Thursday the following players are questionable (50% chance of playing) for Sunday’s game:

• P Zoltan Mesko has a knee injury and had limited practice participation.
• TE Dan Gronkowski has a hamstring injury and had limited practice participation.
• WR Taylor Price has a hamstring injury and had limited practice participation.
• OL Ryan Wendell has a calf injury. He had limited practice.
• CB Ras-I Dowling has a hip injury. He had limited practice.
• LB Gary Guyton has a hamstring injury. He had limited practice.
• LB Jerod Mayo has a thigh injury and had limited practice participation.

As of Thursday the following players are probable (75% chance of playing) for Sunday’s game:

• S Josh Barrett has a thumb injury and had full practice participation.
• CB Leigh Bodden has a hand injury and had full practice participation.
• LB Dan Fletcher has a thumb injury and had full practice participation.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 81 consecutive games including playoffs, 67 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker, Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez each had at least 7 catches two weeks in a row.  Against Miami, Welker had 8 grabs; Branch and Hernandez had 7 each.  Against San Diego, Branch had 8 catches while Welker and Hernandez had 7 each.

Branch had his 10^th career 100-yards receiving game against the Chargers.

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis has a rushing touchdown in each game so far.  He now has 20 rushing TD’s in his career.

S Sergio Brown and DT Vince Wilfork each has their 1^st NFL interception vs. San Diego.

LB Jerod Mayo leads the team with 20 tackles.

The Gronkowski brothers, Dan and Rob, who hail from Watertown NY, are ready to stampede through Buffalo this Sunday.

The Patriots have four New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); S James Ihedigbo (Northampton MA) and DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA – PUP).  They have 8 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are: WR Deion Branch (Louisville); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); C Dan Koppen (Boston College); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); NT Vince Wilfork (Miami), OL Donald Thomas (UConn); DE Mike Wright (Cincinnati) and DE Ron Brace (Boston College – PUP).

The Patriots have 7 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Bills Team Notes

Here is the Bills roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2011 Bills Schedule/Results

Buffalo’s all-time record is 360-406-8 they are 14-15 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 1999 when they lost to Tennessee in the AFC Wild Card game, best known as the “Music City Miracle”. They last played for a conference championship in 1993 when they beat Kansas City in the AFC Title game, 30-13. They then went on to lose to Dallas in Super Bowl XXVIII. They have never won a Super Bowl title in four appearances.  The Bills franchise started in 1960 in the AFL and they won two AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965.

The Bills have new uniforms this season.  They look like a cross between the O.J. Simpson era uniforms and the Jim Kelley era uniforms and they include a white helmet for the first time since 1983.  This is the first major change to the Bills uniforms since 2002.

Buffalo is 2-0 for the first time since the 2008 season when Dick Jauron was their coach, they finished the season at 7-9.

The Bills have lost the season series to the Patriots for the last 7 seasons and 9 times in the last 11 seasons.

The Bills are 21-28-1 as the home team in the series.

The largest margin of victory for the Bills in the series is 35 points set in 1970.

Buffalo is 20-42 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Buffalo defense gave up 454 total yards in its Week 2 home win over Oakland.

The Bills have the highest scoring offense in the NFL averaging 39.5 points per game.  While they allow 21 points per game, good for 9^th in the NFL.

Buffalo is now plus 3 in turnover differential, 6^th best in the NFL (tied with Cincinnati and NY Jets).  The offense has given up 2 INT and 0 fumbles, while the defense has 2 INT and 3 fumble recoveries.

Bills Staff Notes

Hear what Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey in his 2nd season with the team is 6-12 since taking over.  He was previously the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons and had an 18-14 record and is 0-2 in the playoffs. His overall NFL record is 24-28 including playoffs.

Gailey is 0-3 vs. the Patriots in his career, 0-2 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Bills Players Notes

Buffalo QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is 0-3 vs. New England and 14-24-1 in his NFL career with Buffalo, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

Fitzpatrick was a 7^th round choice of St. Louis in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Harvard.

For the first time in his 7-season NFL career Fitzpatrick started the season with a team as the #1 quarterback.  See what he had to say about facing the Patriots.

Fitzpatrick is starting to build a reputation.

RB Fred Jackson has back-to-back 100 yard rushing games.  He ran for 117 yards and 2 TD’s vs. the Raiders last Sunday and is currently the NFL’s leading rusher after Week 2 with 229 rushing yards.

Former Jacksonville LB Kirk Morrison is excited about coming to Buffalo.

Alex Carrington is adjusting to his new role as a linebacker.

Some remain skeptical that Shawne Merriman can play at a high level for the whole season.

Undrafted free agent Robert Eddins really made an impression on the Bills.

Buffalo WR David Nelson says two teams called post draft, the Bills and the Patriots.

Apparently these are not the same old Buffalo Bills (VIDEO)

After Week 1 the Bills signed former Patriots draft pick CB Terrence Wheatley (2008 – 2^nd Round) to the practice squad.  They also have former Patriots draft pick TE Lee Smith (2011 – 5^th Round) who they claimed off of waivers after he was released by New England in training camp.

Former UConn WR Marcus Easley was placed on season ending IR after Week 1 when it was discovered he has a heart ailment.  Buffalo drafted the Stratford CT native in the 4^th round of the 2010 draft.

WR Roscoe Parrish was placed on the season ending IR after he was carted off against Oakland with an ankle injury.  WR Naaman Roosevelt who was promoted from the practice squad replaced him on the roster.

Buffalo’s captains for 2011 are Fitzpatrick, Jackson, DT Kyle Williams, LB Andra Davis, P Brian Moorman and S George Wilson.

There are 5 players on the Bills roster from Big East Universities and New England based colleges.  They are: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard); RB Corey McIntyre (West Virginia); C Eric Wood (Louisville); WR Marcus Easley (UConn – IR) and DB Jon Corto (Sacred Heart – IR).

The Bills have one retired number: 12 – Jim Kelley.

Next Week

The Patriots visit the Oakland Raiders next Sunday at Overstock.com Coliseum in Oakland CA.  Kick off is at 4:15 p.m. on CBS.

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The New England Patriots pulled off yet another mid week roster shuffle Thursday when they promoted LB Jeff Tarpinian from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Tarpinian, who played his college ball at Iowa, was originally on the 53-man roster before Week 1’s game at Miami.  He was declared out with an injury and then released when the team needed additional offensive line help for the game.  After clearing waivers, he was re-signed the next day to the practice squad.

The casualty of the Tarpinian promotion was oddly enough a second former Iowa linebacker, A.J. Edds.  He was claimed from Miami just days before the season opener and was expected to play in third down situations but he has had difficulty moving on the field due to lingering injuries.

The Patriots then signed defensive back Josh Victorian to the practice squad.  The  Baltimore Ravens originally signed the Metairie, LA native as an undrafted free agent out of Louisiana Tech; he was released after training camp.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

The NFL named New England Patriots QB Tom Brady the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week and 19^th time in his illustrious career.

Brady became the first quarterback to ever follow up a 500-yard game with a 400-yard game when he threw for 423 yards on 31 of 40 passing with three TD’s against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday in the Patriots home opener.

He is the first NFL player to win the award twice in the first two weeks of a season and he won it back-to-back for the fourth time in his career.

Only Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning has won the award more than Brady being given the honor a record 20 times since 1998.

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Photo credit: Reuters Pictures

The New England Patriots made some roster moves today.  The team placed C Dan Koppen on the IR with the broken fibula he suffered Week one in Miami. 

Sources say that after the recovery time was adjusted to 10-12 weeks from the earlier projection of 6-10 weeks the team felt that it was too long to wait.

Also placed on the IR was DL Myron Pryor with a shoulder injury.  Pryor hurt it during the San Diego game on Vincent Jackson’s 2^nd quarter TD.  It’s unclear what he did to the shoulder as it looked like a routine pass rush play.

With those moves being made that opened two spots on the 53-man roster.  The Patriots brought back DL Landon Cohen who was among the last cuts in training camp.  For one I am shocked Cohen was still available to New England after the way he played in the preseason.

DB Philip Adams was also signed by the club.  He was a 7^th round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2010 out of South Carolina State.  He played 15 games for the Niners last season and had 13 tackles and one pass defensed.

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Photo credit: AP Photo

The NFL announced today that New England Patriots quarteback Tom Brady has been nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Week for his Week 2 performance against san Diego.

Brady was 31 of 40 for 423 yards, 2 TD’s and 0 INT’s in the 35-21 win over the Chargers at Gillette Stadium.

This is the second week in a row that Brady has been nominated, he won the award in Week 1 after throwing for 517 yards and 4 TD’s against Miami.

Other nominated for the FedEx Air award are Dallas QB Tony Romo and Detroit QB Matthew Stafford.

You can vote for Brady through Friday at noon.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

The day after a win by the New England Patriots is always a good day even if in most cases it is Monday.  On Sunday, the Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers behind the arm of Tom Brady and the defense coming up with four takeaways at very opportune moments in the game.

Also the defense is starting to develop after a major offseason overhaul in which several new linemen and secondary players were brought in and the scheme was changed to hopefully address some of their deficiencies from 2010.

While they’ve given up over 800 yards in two games they’ve played against two quarterbacks who had very good days.  One, Chad Henne of Miami, had probably the best day of his career while the other, Philip Rivers of San Diego, had a typical week.

Last week we reviewed the soft yards given up when the game was in control and I’ll accept that for time coming off the clock.  This week the defense was just matched up against a very good, potent offensive unit and once again they had to choose what aspect of the Chargers game they would take away.

Well they slowed up the Bolts the running game, which the week before had well over 200 yards against Minnesota, allowing only had 98 yesterday.  And they took away TE Antonio Gates, one of the best to ever play the position, and they kept him off the score sheet.  That’s right the 5-time All-Pro and 7-time Pro Bowl selection did not have a catch for the first time since 2008 and was a non-factor.  Safeties Patrick Chung, Sergio Brown and Josh Barrett did a great job on Gates, playing him tight all game.  Plus Bill Belichick used the defensive ends to chip him at the line, ala Marshal Faulk in Super Bowl XXXVI, and knock him off his pass routes and take away any timing plays that Rivers had for him.

That being said they knew they also couldn’t take away WR Vincent Jackson, he ended up with 10 grabs for 172 yards and 2 TD’s.  You can’t stop everyone so you have to pick your poison and once again even though Jackson and Rivers had great games their team still lost.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

According to Mike Dussault of Pats Propaganda 25 of Rivers 29 completions went to Jackson, Mike Tolbert or Ryan Matthews.

New England head coach Bill Belichick had his weekly day after media meeting about Sunday’s game.

Patriots QB Tom Brady on the comments by former Patriots players on WR Chad Ochocinco “None of those guys have any clue what they’re talking about.  They’re not in the locker room.”  For comments about the game and other things check out the full Brady interview from WEEI’s Patriots Monday.

Former UConn running back and Chestnut Hill MA native Jordan Todman returned this weekend with the Chargers but the rookie is yet to see any game action in 2011.

From our friends at Awful Announcing comes this piece on Chargers play-by-play man Josh Lewin making fun of Vince Wilfork’s huskiness.

Connecticut native TE Aaron Hernandez took a helmet to his knee towards the end of the game on Sunday and did not return. Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe has learned from a source that he has a sprained MCL and will likely miss 1-2 weeks. While The Herald’s Ian Rapoport says there appears to be no set timetable.

With Hernandez apparently out, that means it’s time for Dan Gronkowski to get involved more.

S Patrick Chung hurt his thumb yesterday and he returned to play but did so with a cast on.

Massachusetts native and former UMass star S James Ihedigbo and LB Tracy White have carved out roles on the 46-man game day roster.

DT Albert Haynesworth says of the defense “when we put it all together…”

LB Jerod Mayo held his annual “Mayo Bowl” Monday night and several teammates showed up including K Stephen Gostkowski who brought his own ball, with the Memphis Tigers logo and colors on it.  Other players at the charity included QB Brian Hoyer, P Zoltan Mesko, WR Chad Ochocinco, DE Andre Carter and DT Albert Haynesworth among others.

New England plays the Buffalo Bills Sunday at 1 p.m. as the two division rivals face off in Buffalo.  Look for the Sox & Dawgs “In The Red Zone Game Preview” available on Friday morning.

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