Ding Dong…the wicked witch is dead! Just like in 1980 when Chuck Knox’s Bills ended a decade of frustration, and 20 straight losses, to Miami with a win over the Dolphins, the Bills on Sunday put an end to a long losing streak against another division rival with a stunning 34-31 win over New England, after 15 consecutive losses to the Pats. The game started out looking a lot like most of the others in that 15 game streak, as Tom Brady effortlessly passed his club to a 21-0 lead. But for the second week in a row, the Bills “circled the wagons” . Their offense awakened, and the defense managed to do the unthinkable, picking Brady off 4 times to key the big comeback win. Leodis McKelvin, playing with a target on his back after being torched by Oakland last week, had an interception, as did Bryan Scott, George Wilson and Drayton Florence, who returned his for a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. The Bills never managed to sack Brady or even get close to him, and he spent most of the day hitting either Wes Welker or Rob Gronkowski for big gains. Then the Bills used a different strategy, they got their hands in the air and began deflecting Brady’s passes. Marcell Dareus tipped the pass that Florence intercepted and returned for the score.
Offensively, the Bills used a similar formula in this game to what they did against Oakland the previous week. Fred Jackson was a main threat, this time more on screen passes than runs from scrimmage. Ryan Fitzpatrick guided a potent passing game, and spread the ball around to all of his weapons – budding star Stevie Johnson, David Nelson, Donald Jones and tight end Scott Chandler, who may also be a budding star. The Bills’ offensive line in the past few years has taken lots of criticism, but this year’s version has done a great job so far. So the win, obviously, was huge not only for the Bills’ fans but also for the team. Amazingly (or maybe not so amazing after seeing the Raiders last week), the Jets were beaten soundly in Oakland, leaving Buffalo in sole possession of the AFC East lead at 3-0. It’s a long season and there are no guarantees that the Bills can keep up this pace, but for the fans, it sure beats the 0-8 start of 2010.
Louise
September 28, 2011 at 4:02 pm
The Bills beat the Pats by not getting rattled when things did not go their way. The Pats were the ones that made horrible mistakes when the tide changed – like taking penalties. The unsportsmanlike conduct near the end of the game that gave the Bills 3 more downs to run the clock was downright stupid by the Pats..