I know the following words have been written several hundred times since Sunday by countless bloggers and sports writers. But I need to do it too…that really happened, right?
I have a lot of great memories from the 90’s era teams that I’ve written about on this very site in my Rebirth series. But is it possible this win is even sweeter than some of those nostalgic moments? Maybe it’s because of the recent years of futility in general and against the Patriots specifically. Perhaps it’s just the animosity built up over the years for Brady, Wolfork and Belichick . Or maybe, must maybe, I’m sensing something very special with this plucky group of overachievers that has set this city on fire the last three weeks.
Let’s go with “all of the above” and get on with re-living this instant classic.
1st Quarter
What Happened
– Bills win coin toss. Choose to defer. Twitter implodes.
– Patriots march down field for 80 yard TD drive. Tom Brady hits Wes Welker for a 14 yard pass for the score. Welker had 4 catches for 67 yards on drive.
– Ryan Fitzpatrick intercepted by Kyle Arrington on 2nd play of Bills first possession on a ball that goes through Donald Jones’ hands. Gives Pats ball at Bills 35. Stevie Johnson had a 33 yard reception on previous play.
– Patriots capitalize on turnover with Brady to Rob Gronkowski TD from 1 yard line. Big play was Welker 24 yard reception.
– Bills have 2nd interception in consecutive possessions as Fitzpatrick throws another one on a 4th and 14 from Pats 35 (Arrington again). Bills had a nice drive going before a 15 yard Eric Wood penalty nullified a first down on a 3rd and 4 play. David Nelson caught 3 balls for 27 yards, including a 20 yarder.
Commentary
I briefly mentioned the mega-criticism and debate that followed Chan Gailey’s decision to defer the opening kickoff above. And I do get it. You might not want to give Tom Brady the ball at the outset with a chance to take the enthusiasm out of your crowd right off the bat. And he did do that. But in the end, it might be a moot point as the Bills may very well have gone 3 and out if we received, achieving the same result. You just never know. Chan has a philosophy on deferring if he wins the toss and he isn’t going to play scared of the Pats offense to alter this stance.
Going down 14-0 caused all the old feelings of inferiority return, didn’t it? The Bills had wowed us in the first two weeks but looked incapable of keeping up with the Pats to start the game. All the cynics jumped to the forefront on Twitter and it was a deflating thing to watch. You have that feeling in your gut that we will never beat this team and the fear starts to creep in that perhaps the first two weeks were a mirage. This could happen to any collective group of fans, but for Bills backers it’s on a whole another level. We are very much a bi-polar group and this quarter brought us right down to deep depression. But I had a little hope in my heart. I’m not saying I expected us to come back, but I wasn’t ready to become a Debbie Downer early on. I knew with Fitz at the helm we had a chance to put up big points, and last week’s game vs the Raiders showed how fun it can be if we just sat back and observed how resilient the team could be. In the end, my little leap of faith was worth it for sure.
2nd Quarter
What Happened
– Pats and Bills trade 2 punts each to start quarter.
– On Patriots third possession, they score again on a 26 yard pass from Brady to Gronkowski. Gronkowski also caught a 21 yard pass on a previous play.
– Bills respond on next drive on a 11 yard TD pass from Fitzpatrick to Johnson. Jackson had a 21 yard run and Nelson caught 2 passes for 41 yards.
– On next Patriots drive, safety Byron Scott intercepted Brady at Bills 10 yard line.
– Bills move the ball down the field and Rian Lindell hits a 42 yard field goal. Jackson had a 27 yard reception on drive.
Commentary
While the sadness in Bills nation continued on a downward spiral to start this quarter, you could just feel the momentum starting to tip our way after Scott’s interception. That was a big moment when you look at the whole picture of this game. If NE scores there it’s 28-7 instead of 21-10 and it might be game over. Credit has to be given to our defense, especially our embattled secondary, as they fought back tooth and nail to make plays as this game went on. It wasn’t a perfect performance when you look at the stats, but they stood up when it mattered. The old “bend but don’t break” philosophy.
Fitz had a rough start for sure, even though neither of the interceptions were primarily his fault, but I love his lack of fear. He’s a gunslinger and he won’t back down, won’t stop taking chances to make plays. I’ve said it before but how refreshing is that? He’s a guy you not only enjoy watching but feel good cheering for as he seems like a true blue Buffalo guy. As is this whole team – what better group of players to represent our team than a bunch of low draft picks and undrafted players who no one gave a chance to.
3rd Quarter
What Happened
– After Bills punt on 1st possession of half, Brady is intercepted by Leodis McKelvin on a pass intended for Chad Ochocinco. Bills start on Pats 39.
– Bills take advantage with Fitzpatrick hitting Scott Chandler for a 3 yard score. 18 yard Jackson run highlighted drive.
– On next drive, Pats score on a 23 yard Stephen Gostkowski FG. Key play is 29 yard Gronkowski catch.
– After Bills punt, Pats take ball down to Bills 42 to end quarter.
Commentary
Speaking again of momentum, I love in football when you can just sense one team starting to take over the game. It’s not usually the huge plays – it’s that extra buzz in the crowd…a running back squeaking out an extra yard as he fights to overpower a much larger man…the players on the sideline jumping around a little bit more excitedly…a receiver pumping up a crowd after an outstretched grab. It all adds up and all of the sudden the other team suddenly realizes they’ve lost control of the game. That’s what was happening here. We still ended the quarter down by a score, but it was our game at that point.
Going back to secondary, I was glad to see Leodis make that nice interception. When he flashes speed and anticipation like he does there, he looks like a real NFL CB. I kind of like some of the things he says about having a short memory in his locker room interviews. I think while he still has to prove that he can consistently make plays in this league, I do like his inner toughness as he’s been questioned a lot about his worthiness as a 1st round draft pick. And the focus is always on the corners – when they have a bad game, there is no where left to hide.
4th Quarter
What Happened
– Bills defense holds off the Pats drive started at end of 3rd, force punt.
– After Bills are forced to punt as well, defense comes up with third interception of Brady by George Wilson at goal line. Bills start at 5 after illegal block in the back penalty on Reggie Corner.
– Bills tie game on 1 yard Jackson run. Two key plays are 48 yard completion to Jones and pass interference penalty on Sergio Brown defending Nelson in end zone, which negated interception.
– First play on ensuing Pats possession, Brady pass is deflected by Marcell Dareus and intercepted by Drayton Florence who runs it into the end zone to give Bills their first lead of the day. Tom Brady glances askew at Florence as he runs by him.
– Pats respond on next drive to tie with a 6 yard Brady to Welker TD pass. Welker has 43 yards, including two 4th down conversions.
– Bills take next and final possession down the field for the victory. Fitzpatrick hits Jones with a 29 yard strike and then connects with Jackson on a 12 yard play. Jackson follows that up with 39 yard catch and run which was originally ruled a TD. After review, ball placed on 1 yard line. Bills run out clock and win game on 28 yard FG by Lindell as time expires.
Commentary
Where to start? Let’s go to the interceptions. I liked the play making mentality on display here. Much in the vein of their QB and mates on the offensive side, the likes of Wilson and Florence weren’t looking to play conservative in this tight game. They were jumping routes, taking chances and leaving everything they had on the field. With the tough start the D had, I have much admiration for the aggressiveness our boys finished the game with.
Here’s my obligatory Fred Jackson praise for the week. When the Bills need a big play, they turn to him. There’s a real killer instinct in the way he’s running this season. Just re-watch that final reception – once he sensed an opening he went into overdrive with a mighty purpose and NE’s players didn’t stand a chance. We’ve seen that countess times in 2011. I always thought Fred was a good RB, but now he’s playing like the team’s MVP.
I can watch Bill Belichick melting down on the sidelines for hours at a time. Kudos to Chan for out coaching him throughout most of the game with his impressive offensive game planning. The successive kneel downs at the end of the game might seem like an obvious thing to do for everybody watching, but with our past coaches would it have been a given?
Some General Notes
– I didn’t mention it above, but Ochocinco’s drop in the 4th quarter was another unlikely break for the Bills. The football gods were surely on our side this day. Not to say we didn’t earn our way, but sometimes you need a little luck as well.
– Marv Albert and Rich Gannon are awful announcers. AWFUL. From Marv consistently miscalling the Bills receivers’ names to Gannon completely overlooking why Belichick had to call his 2nd timeout at the end there, those two were so hard on the ears. I felt like punching Gannon in the mouth when he was going off about Fitz downing the ball too close to the line of scrimmage as the clock ticked down. For one, we didn’t want to cause a longer FG attempt, and two, his knee was down before any of the NE players touched him. Come on, man.
– Brady’s sour puss face at the end of the game is another keeper in the memory banks. Clearly this is Buffalo fans’ most hated opponent right now in any sport. It’s awesome just soaking in all the little moments from this one.
– Kyle Williams and Dareus may not be making jaw-dropping plays, but if you notice there’s a big difference in the run D this year. No more gaping holes in the middle of the line, and they’re clearly taking up the other teams’ attention, freeing up the likes of Nick Barnett and the secondary.
– 0 sacks allowed? Two for the season? Amazing. To believe that it was only a month ago that we were flipping out about the OL. Seems a lifetime ago.
I think like the Bills we need to enjoy this one a little bit longer. As Bills fans we need to revel in the fact that we are 3-0, the only undefeated team in the AFC. The media is taking notice and it’s fun to cheer on our boys again. After watching the boredom that was the Sunday and Monday night games, how lucky are we to have seen these 3 weeks of football?
Will next week be a trap game? I don’t think so, as this team is focused and motivated. They know if they lose to the Bengals, it will burst the balloon of good feeling a bit. But no matter what happens next week, we have week 3 to put in our history books and our hearts.
Follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkBerm
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