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 6th 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 1st 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 9th 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
