Starters Get A Rest, Patriots Topped 17-9 By Bills

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Monday, December 29, 2014

Matt LaPan, Go Local Sports Reporter

The Patriots welcomed the Buffalo Bills into Gillette Stadium with nearly nothing to play for. Entering Week 17 the Patriots had already clinched the AFC East title, the top seed in the AFC and home field throughout the playoffs. With little to play for, the Patriots roster was drastically different than it will look in the playoffs. Rob Gronkowski, Dont’a Hightower, Brandon Browner, Sebastian Vollmer and Dan Connolly were all inactive.

The Patriots “regular” players only played one half and the offense was held without a touchdown as Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo and the Patriots fell to the Bills 17-9.

Quick Start For Bills

These changes did not help the Patriots, as their 1st half woes continued against the Bills. The Bills started the game with a six-play, 80-yard drive that gave them the early lead. Kyle Orton was 3-3 on the drive, including a 43-yard pass to rookie Sammy Watkins on Patriots star cornerback Darrelle Revis. Buffalo capped the drive when Robert Woods got open in the end zone after blown coverage by the Patriots for a six-yard touchdown. The score gave the Bills a 7-0 lead.

The Patriots offense could not get anything going on their first drive of the game, however, going 3-&-out with all three plays going to running back Brandon Bolden.

Tyms Time

The Patriots next drive looked much better as they went 80 yards on 13 plays. The drive featured Brian Tyms as the primary receiver as he pulled in three receptions after having just one reception on the season prior to the drive. The drive stalled, however, and the Patriots had to settle for a 24-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal.

Bills Answer

The score did not spark the Patriots defense. Buffalo came right back and looked dominant on a 13-play 80-yard drive that took over seven minutes of game clock. The Bills featured all three running backs — Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller and Anthony “Boobie” Dixon — on the drive. The drive was capped by Dixon, who plunged in a 1-yard touchdown to give the Bills a 14-3 lead.

After another failed offensive drive, the Patriots defense looked to give them a boost. Jamie Collins provided the boost by getting a strip-sack on Orton, sacking him, forcing the fumble and recovering the football to give the Patriots terrific field position — starting on the Bills 44 yard line. This spark did not work, however, as Josh Kline gave up a sack where Stefan Charles dominated him. This forced the Patriots to settle for another Gostkowski field goal, this time from 44 yards. The field goal brought the Patriots to within eight, trailing 14-6.

The Bills added another field goal before the half to make the score 17-6, giving them their largest lead in Foxboro since 1994 at the half.

Garoppolo Takes Over

At the half, the Patriots made a quarterback change. Tom Brady gave way for rookie Jimmy Garoppolo. That change did not get the offense moving, however, as the Patriots went 3-&-out after Garoppolo completed his first pass of the day to Danny Amendola.

The Patriots defense did appear to be ready to start the 2nd half despite nearly all of their starters being moved to the bench for rest. Two of the starters that were not resting were Vince Wilfork and Akeem Ayers, who came up with a huge 3rd down play. Wilfork collapsed the pocket on Orton and allowed Ayers to come around the edge on Orton for the six-yard sack to force the Bills to punt.

Starting To Run

While the Patriots offense finally got their run game moving on their next drive, they still struggled to move the ball. The big play of the drive came on a 34-yard run by LeGarrette Blount, but the Patriots eventually turned the ball over on downs.

After the Patriots defense did their job again, Garoppolo led the Patriots on his first scoring drive of the game. the five-play, 27-yard drive ended in another Gostkowski field goal, this time from 35 yards. The field goal brought the Patriots back within one score at 17-9, Buffalo.

Stuffing The Bills

The Patriots defense once again made a big stop on the Bills next drive. This time it was Alan Branch and Darius Fleming who made a huge stop on Anthony Dixon on 3rd-&-1 to give Garoppolo and the Patriots offense the ball back. 

While it appears that the Patriots offense was getting moving, it was a Jimmy Garoppolo mistake that forced the Patriots to punt the ball away. Garoppolo did make an amazing escape play on the drive, spinning out of a sure sack and carrying the ball for nine yards on a 3-&-7. Later in the drive, Garoppolo made his rookie mistake. He held onto the ball and tried to escape pressure and took a 15-yard sack. After another holding on the Patriots, they were out of field goal range and were forced to punt the ball away.

Comeback Denied

The Patriots defense once again did their job, forcing Buffalo to punt the ball back to the Patriots just inside the two-minute warning. The Patriots had to get two stops on the drive as Jonathan Casillas was called for roughing the passer on a 3rd down stop. The defense bowed their backs, however, and got Garoppolo the ball back with a chance to tie the game.

Garoppolo could not muster any offense, however, going 4-&-out and giving the Buffalo Bills their first ever win at Gillette Stadium and their first win in Foxboro since Doug Flutie led the Bills to victory in 2000. The loss snapped the Patriots 35-game winning streak against AFC opponents at home in the regular season. The Patriots will get to enjoy another Bye Week before finding out who their playoff opponent will be.

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