Pats Take Care of Business Against Bills

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Monday, September 27, 2010

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

Honestly, this is what we thought they would look like before the season started.

The Patriots did what they needed to do Sunday by beating the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium 38-30. It may not have been the blowout many expected, but for the Patriots is was a much needed win coming off of the demoralizing loss to the Jets one week earlier.

Tom Brady (21-27 252 yds. 3 TD 0 INT) and the Patriots offense was rock solid. Brady spread the ball around connecting with 7 different receivers. Rookie TE Aaron Hernandez led the team with 6 catches for 65 yards. Wes Welker had 4-45. Fellow rookie TE Rob Gronkowski had 3 catches for 43 yards and 1 TD. Randy Moss only caught 2 balls Sunday but both were for TD's.

The surprising thing was that the running game was outstanding for a change! The Patriots ground game picked up 200 yards and 2 TD's on 38 carries. That's an average of 5.3 yards per carry. Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis led the Pats with 98 yards and 1 TD. Newly signed RB Danny Woodhead picked up 42 yards on 3 carries including a 22-yard TD run.

Defensively, however, New England struggled. Ryan Fitzpatrick, making his first start of the season, went 20-28 for 247 yards, 2 TD's and 2 INT. The Bills also racked up 134 yards rushing at an average of 5.6 yards per clip. Those number probably would have been bigger had Buffalo not fallen behind in the second half.

Still, isn't this what we expected from the 2010 Patriots? This was a team with an offense capable of moving the football and scoring points on any one. But it was also a team with a lot of young, unproven talent on the defensive side of the football. It was a defense that would give up its share of big plays and points with the hope of improving each week. That's what we saw on display yesterday in Foxboro.

On deck is another big test for the Patriots as they travel to Miami to face the Dolphins Monday night. New England has had little luck over the years winning in South Florida. One of these division rivals will be happy heading into the bye week while the other will be searching for answers.