New England 41, Buffalo 25
When: 1:00 PM ET, Sunday, October 30, 2016
Where: New Era Field, Orchard Park, New York
Temperature:
49°
Head Official:
John Parry
Attendance:
70442
By The Sports Xchange
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Tom Brady continues to torment the Buffalo Bills.
Brady passed for 315 yards and four touchdowns in the New England Patriots' 41-25 victory over the Bills on a rainy Sunday at New Era Field. He improved to 26-3 against the Bills, tying Brett Favre's NFL record for most wins against a single opponent.
The Patriots (7-1) avenged their only defeat of the season, a 16-0 loss to the Bills four weeks ago in Foxboro when Brady was serving the final game of his Deflategate suspension.
"It's great to come in and show them what we are really about and put all those points," said tight end Rob Gronkowski, who set a Patriots record with his 69th career touchdown.
The Patriots head into their bye week as the only 7-1 team at the midway point of the NFL season.
"It's pretty early, so there's a long way to go," Brady said. "Seven wins is a good place. It's, I think, decent position. But coach always says seven wins won't get you anything in this league, and he's right. We've got a lot of football ahead. This is when it starts to get really into football season."
Buffalo (4-4) has lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak and now trails New England by three games in the AFC East standings.
"The better team won today, without question," Bills coach Rex Ryan said. "We made way too many mistakes. Mistakes that we haven't made all season. And against a guy like Brady, he makes you pay anytime you have a mistake. We knew that going in and he was true to form."
Brady also threw scoring passes to Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan, Julian Edelman. Five different receivers caught at least three passes. Gronkowski led the way with five catches for 109 yards.
"That's what makes this game so awesome," Gronkowski said. "It's a team game. It's not about individuals at all. Tom's dispersing the ball so well."
The Bills offense struggled without leading rusher LeSean McCoy and top receiver Sammy Watkins. McCoy missed the game due to a strained hamstring and Watkins is on injured reserve with a foot injury.
Tyrod Taylor was 19 of 38 passing for 183 yards. He also ran for 48 yards and a touchdown. Mike Gillislee rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown and rookie Jonathan Williams scored his first touchdown on a 1-yard run with 30 seconds left to play.
"We definitely gotta clean up in a lot of areas, be the team that we want to be and reach the potential that we know that we have," Taylor said.
Taylor's 26-yard touchdown on fourth down brought the Bills within 31-17 with 7:57 remaining in the third quarter.
The Patriots went back up by three touchdowns five minutes later when LeGarrette Blount scored on a 1-yard touchdown plunge. Stephen Gostkowski added a 32-yard field goal in fourth quarter.
Amendola returned the opening kickoff of the second half 73 yards and Brady threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Edelman to make it 31-10 one minute into the half.
Brady threw for 209 yards and three touchdowns by halftime to build a 24-10 lead.
Gronkowski high-stepped into the end zone after Brady hit him on a post pattern for his record-setting 53-yard touchdown. Brady then drove the Patriots 28 yards in 24 seconds to set up Gostkowski's 51-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
Buffalo had cut New England's lead to 14-10 on Gillislee's 3-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter.
Brady's first two touchdown passes of the season to wide receivers put the Patriots up 14-3 by the end of the first quarter. He engineered a 14-play drive and found Danny Amendola for a 9-yard touchdown on the first series. Chris Hogan caught a 53-yard bomb from Brady on New England's next possession.
Dan Carpenter made a 23-yard field goal on the Bills' opening drive. Carpenter hit the goal post on a 49-yard attempt in the second quarter.
NOTES: Bills LB Lorenzo Alexander, who leads the NFL with nine sacks, left the game in the second quarter after injuring his hamstring blocking on a punt return. ... Buffalo WR Brandon Tate was evaluated for a concussion after getting hit by Patriots S Devin McCourty in the third quarter. Bills TE Charles Clay went to the locker room before halftime with a shoulder injury but was able to return. ... Pro Bowl DT Marcell Dareus made his season debut for the Bills. Dareus was suspended the first four games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy and missed the past three games with a hamstring injury. ... Patriots rookies WR Malcolm Mitchell (hamstring) and CB Cyrus Jones were inactive. Jones, a second-round pick, has not played since being ejected in New England's Week 5 win over Cleveland. ... Bills S Aaron Williams (neck) did not play.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
New England
|
357 |
72 |
285 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
2.0 |
0 |
Buffalo
|
376 |
167 |
209 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
5.0 |
1 |
Upcoming Games
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Buffalo will play their next game on the road against Seattle. The Bills have a W/L % of .750 after a win and .250 after a loss.
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New England will play their next game at home against Seattle. The Patriots have a W/L % of .833 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.