New England Patriots crush University of Buffalo Bills, 56-10
Top Line: New England Patriots improved their 2007 regular-season record to 10-0 by stomping Buffalo Bills 56-10 on the road. Quarterback Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes, four to wide receiver Randy Moss. New England’s defense held up its end of the bargain, limiting Buffalo’s offense to 229 yards, logging four sacks, forcing two turnovers and returning a fumble for a touchdown.
Offensive Line: Left tackle Matt Light, left guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, right guard Russ Hochstein (in for Stephen Neal who was out with a shoulder injury) and right tackle Nick Kaczur. Back-up Billy Yates also got a healthy dose of snaps at left guard.
The offensive line was once again magnificent. Brady wasn’t sacked once and the line’s performance didn’t degrade one bit after runningback Kevin Faulk - who’s an important piece of the Patriots’ passing-game puzzle, both as receiver and blocker - left the game.
A couple of less than stellar plays might be worth noting: Hochstein let a Bills defensive lineman slip by him on an end-around to wide receiver Wes Welker, greatly contributing to the run netting only three yards. On a screen-pass right Yates threw a pretty weak cut block on a Bills linebacker who was able to tackle the ball carrier (of course, the Patriots still got a first down on that play, I’m just saying there’s room for improvement. ).
The Gist: It was the Patriots most dominant performance of the season. Bills had no chance whatsoever. The competitive part of the game ended when cornerback Randall Gay put a quick end to the home team’s first drive with an interception. The score was 35-7 at halftime and Patriots could probably have put up another 35 in the second without much effort. They scored 21 almost without trying.
Bills quarterback JP Losman at times almost looked scared by the Patriots pass rush.
Patriots runningback Laurence Maroney had yet another disappointing outing, managing only 19 yards on 6 carries (including a six-yard touchdown run through a gaping hole up the middle) and once again doing too much dancing and stutter stepping behind the line of scrimmage. Back up Heath Evans produced 56 yards on 10 carries and fifth-string runningback Kyle Eckel ran for 40 yards on 10 carries and scored one touchdown.
Bottom Line: I’ve never seen anything like this in the NFL.
