Rookie RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis had 105 yards and a TD vs. Buffalo. Getty Photo.

The Result

The New Engand Patriots today took charge of the game and beat the Buffalo Bills 20-10 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and in the process remained tied for first in the AFC East with the New York Jets and knocked Buffalo into a second place tie with Miami.

It was far from the blow outs of 2007 and more like a typical Bills-Pats game until New England took charge in the 4th quarter with a time killing 19 play, 92 yard drive that are up 9:19 of the clock and sealed the Buffalo fate.  That drive was capped by a BenJarvus Green-Ellis one yard run and put New England up 20-3.  Buffalo was able to strike right back because of a great kick off return by Leodis McKelvin for 85 yards tht set up a 14 yard Trent Edwards TD pass to James Hardy.  The ensuing onsides kick was given to New England after it was ruled that the ball had hit a Bills player prior to going ten yards.  Matt Cassel then ran out the clock and as “The Pick Up Artist” would say it was “game over”.

This was big win for the Patriots who at 6-3 are tied with New York in the division as those same Jets come to town on a short week for a Thursday night matchup.   A win on Thursday could give New England the upper hand in the division as they would have two wins over the Jets and one over Buffalo and a loss to Miami.

Scoring Plays

BILLS 0 3 0 7 10
PATRIOTS 7 3 3 7 20

1st Quarter

  • NE – Cassel 13 yard run – Gostkowski PAT

2nd Quarter

  • NE – Gostkowski 32 yard FG
  • BUF – Lindell 25 yard FG

3rd Quarter

  • NE – Gostkowski 37 yard FG

4th Quarter

  • NE – Green-Ellis 1 yard run – Gostkowski PAT
  • BUF – Edwards 14 yard pass to Hardy – Lindell PAT

Offensive Player of the Game

New England rookie RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis runs the ball 25 times for 105 yards and 1 TD.

Defensive Player of the Game

New England rookie LB Jerod Mayo had 6 tackles and 1 pass defensed.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Drive.  When the fourth quarter started New England led by 10 points, 13-3.  2 minutes in they went into a 19 play, 92 yard drive that chewed up an unbelievable 9:19 of game clock as was capped by the Green-Ellis TD on 3rd and goal at the BUF 1.  The drive effectively put the game out of reach as there was less than 2 minutes to play.

Offensive Leaders/Notes

In addition to Green-Ellis, WR Wes Welker had 10 catches for 107 yards.

  • Wes Welker runs after catching one of his passes on the day. Getty Photo. For a more indepth recap make sure you check out the live blog replay.
  • Green-Ellis really showed today what he has, the undrafted rookie was very good as was the offensive line and Matt Cassel, who was only sacked once but did turn the ball over the play.  Cassel was 23/34 for 234 yards 0 INT and 0 TDs and 1 Fumble lost.

Defensive Leaders/Notes

In addition to Mayo, Ty Warren had six tackles and a sack, Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel were in on 5 tackles a piece as well.

  • Jerod Mayo hurries Trent Edwards. Getty Photo.For a more indepth look at the defense make sure you check out the live blog replay.
  • The defense was very good, they hounded Trent Edwards all day sacking him twice and hitting him or hurrying him nearly every time he threw.  Edwards was 13/23 for 120 yards 1 TD and 2 INTs as he was picked by Deltha O’Neal and Ellis Hobbs.  Pass coverage was good several good hits, the longest completion they allowed was 15 yards which is a huge change.  They also shut down the Bills running game as Marshawn Lynch had 46 yards on 14 carries and most of that was done in the 3rd quarter and begining of the 4th.

Special Teams Notes

  • Just awful KO coverage after the Green-Ellis TD only the speed of Jonathan Wilhite saved a TD return.

Coaching Decisions

  • None

Injuries

  • NE – CB Mike Richardson unknown injury on special teams in 1st quarter – did not return
  • NE – LB Adalius Thomas arm injury in second quarter – did not return

The Officials

  • Walt Coleman was the referee.

Game Notes

  • Inactives for the Bills: CB Ashton Youboty (injured – foot), DE Aaron Schobel (injured – foot), S Donte Widner (injured – shoulder), WR Josh Reed (injured – ankle), RG Brad Butler (injured – knee), RB Xavier Oman, LB Teddy Lehman, OL Demetrius Bell and QB Gibran Hamdan (3rd QB) .
  • Inactives for the Patriots: CB Terrence Wheatley (injured – wrist), RB LaMont Jordan (injured – calf), RB Sammy Morris (injured – knee), CB Lewis Sanders (injured – hamstring), G BIlly Yates, OL Wesley Britt, LB Eric Alexander (injured – hamstring) and QB Matt Gutierrez (3rd QB).
  • Note: The third quarterback can still enter the game at any time, but if he does so in the first, second or third quarters, the team can no longer use its top two quarterbacks the rest of the game.
  • Offensive starters for the Patriots:
    QB: Matt Cassel
    RB: Kevin Faulk
    WR: Wes Welker
    WR: Randy Moss
    WR: Jabar Gaffney
    WR: Sam Aiken
    LT: Matt Light
    LG: Logan Mankins
    C: Dan Koppen
    RG: Stephen Neal
    RT: Nick Kaczur
  • Defensive starters for the Patriots:
    DE: Ty Warren
    NT: Vince Wilfork
    DE: Richard Seymour
    LB: Tedy Bruschi
    LB: Adalius Thomas
    LB: Jerod Mayo
    LB: Mike Vrabel
    CB: Ellis Hobbs
    CB: Deltha O’Neal
    S: James Sanders
    S: Brandon Meriweather
  • The Patriots won the toss and elected to defer .
  • Wes Welker has 14 consecutive games of catching 6 or more passes.
  • Since replacing Tom Brady, Matt Cassel is now 5-3 as a NFL starting QB. Brady was 5-3 after his first eight NFL starts.  He didn’t lose another game that season winning his last 9 in a row as the Patriots won their first Super Bowl.
  • New England is now 65-15 in games played after November 1st since 2001.
  • The Patriots have won 10 consecutive games over the Bills.
  • New England is now 37-10 against the AFC since Bill Belichick took over in 2000 and Belichick is now 15-3 all-time vs. Buffalo.
  • Dick Jauron is now 1-6 vs. New England as a NFL head coach.
  • This was Trent Edwards first career start against New England.  He did play in the Week 3 matchup last season in relief of an injured J.P. Losman and was 10 of 20 for 97 yards with 0 TDs and 1 INT.
  • Buffalo is 0-7 at Gillette Stadium since it opened in 2002.
  • Patriots haven’t allowed an opening drive score since Week 17 in 2007 against the New York Giants.
  • Former Patriots DB Jimmy Hitchcock is 38 today.  Hitchcock was drafted by New England in the third round of the 1995 draft and played in Foxboro for four seasons (1995-97;2002).  He also played with Minnesota and Carolina.

Post Game Press Conferences

Listen to what Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Matt Cassel had to say about the game.

Post game press conferences via patriots.com

Things To Work On For Next Week

Special teams especially kick off return coverage.

Next Week’s Opponent

The Patriots will entertain the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night at 8:15 p.m.