The Patriots start off with a long drive. Patriots QB Tom Brady connects with multiple receivers. Brady hands off to Shane Vereen who rushes for over ten yards but fumbles. Luckily for the Patriots, they recover the ball. In an interesting turn off events, because of the fumble’s bounce, the Patriots get the first down. The drive ends with a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. (3-0 Pats)
Bills QB Thad Lewis hands off to RB CJ Spiller and he makes the Patriots pay with a 23 yard gain. Thad’s first few passes have been way off. His pass to FB Evan Rodriguez was high and sailed over his head. Thad drops the last snap which leads to a Dan Carpenter Field goal. (3-3 Tie)
Brady threw a bomb down the field to Aaron Dobson, which had too much on it. Dobson came up a bit lame after the fact. RB Steven Ridley broke through the d-line and broke off a 23 yard run right up the gut. The Patriots are once again unable to take advantage of being in the red zone. Another Gostkowski field goal (3-6 Patriots).
Thad Lewis is heating up. He has complete two of his last three passes. Lewis last pass is batted up in the air. The Bills are forced to punt.
RB LeGarrette Blount will not be stopped today. After a handoff from Brady he turns a three yard gain into a nine yard gain with his tremendous second effort. The Patriots already have over 120 yards on the ground so far. Blount runs off tackle, out runs Leonard for the first touchdown of the game. Mankins is slow to get up and eventually gets helped off the field. This adds to the ever growing list of injured Patriots. (13-3 Pats).
Thad tosses short to RB Fred Jackson for a first down. Jackson showing that he can catch as well as run. Bills coach Doug Marrone has totally committed to the run (shocking right?). So much so that he calls a run play on fourth and three, which Fred Jackson is unable to convert. It is the last game of the Bills season so his choice here was not shocking on any level.
Brady bobbles the snap on fourth down causing anther Patriots four and out. Not sure what happened there, but it cost the Patriots a possession.
After a run by Spiller, CB Kyle Arrington goes down as well. So continues the Patriots injury woes. This is getting ridiculous.
Good news for the Patriots, tackle Logan Mankins is back in the lineup. The Patriots are continuing to pound the ball with Blount. Brady goes with play action but ends up getting sacked for the first time of the game.
Bills Safety Jarius Byrd is ruled out for the rest of the game for the Bills.
As has been the case today, Brady hands him the ball, but this time he fumbles. It is recovered by the Patriots. This is the third fumble by the Patriots, but each time they have managed to recover. Another field goal by Gostkowski. (16-3 Pats).
At the half, the Patriots have accumulated 175 rushing yards (86 yards passing). The Bills offense has only mustered 135 yards of total offense.
Thad throws a stripe to TE Scott Chandler to get into Patriots territory. Fred Jackson drops a short pass that would have definitely led to a first down. The Patriots zone coverage forced Lewis to check down, but the Bills were unable to convert.
After the Bills punt, Edelman drops the ball, but once again the Patriots manage to recover.
On 3rd and 32, Patriots coach Bill Belichick tries the ultimate fake out by having Brady take the snap and punting it. Not a bad kick either, it went 32 yards.
Thad Lewis scrambles for his life and hits wide receiver TJ graham in the end zone for his first touchdown of the night. Blount ran back a huge 82 yard return.
Brady throws a bullet to Vereen for another Patriots touchdown. Belichick is clearly experimenting with the play book; The Patriots go for two. Brady hits Edelman in the end zone for the 2-point conversion. (24-10 Pats).
Lewis goes down the field and it is almost picked off by CB Aqib Talib. Short pass to Jackson for a 20 yard completion. Spiller gets called down at the one yard line. After a false start penalty, Fred Jackson drives it up the gut for the second Bills touchdown. (24-17 Pats).
Blount with another huge return kick return. This one went 65 yards. The drive ends with another Gostkowski field goal. (27-17 Pats)
Brady tries to throw it to Vereen, but Vereen bobbles the pass and it is intercepted by Lawson. Spiller limps off the field after a short run. Lewis hits Chandler for the first down. The Bills are back in Patriots territory. Lewis hands off to Jackson, who is dropped behind the line by Talib. Lewis gets sacked causing a 4-16. The Bills are forced to go kick field goal. (27-20 Pats)
The Bills attempt an onside kick, but the Pats recover. Not sure why the Bills elected to try the onside kick with 3:24 left.
Brady hands off to Blount, who runs it in for 35 yards for a touchdown. This has been a career day for Blount.
In the end, The Patriots come out on top, 33-28.
The Patriots will get a bye in the first round of the playoffs with this victory. With the massive amount of injuries the Patriots have been hit with this season, the week off could help them get a healthy. Obviously the loses of payers like Rob Gronkowski and Vince Wilfork will not be rectified in a week’s time, but still. The Bills season comes to an end tonight, but they have a lot to look forward to. Between EJ Manuel and Thad Lewis they have some choices to make at the QB position. It will be interesting to see how they address that next season. We still don’t know who the Patriots will face in the divisional round, but either way it will be an epic contest.
