The Buffalo Bills ended their 2014 season on a winning note on Sunday, defeating the New England Patriots 17-9 in a meaningless game as far as playoff possibilities was concerned. The Bills were already mathematically eliminated, while the Patriots already had home field advantage throughout the playoffs sewn up. In an unlikely scenario, since Pats’ coach Bill Belichick goes for the jugular no matter the situation, New England played Tom Brady for only about a half before turning the game over to rookie backup Jimmy Garoppolo. Also, receiver Julian Edelman and tight end Rob Gronkowski, a Bills’ killer, were inactive for the game, along with starting offensive linemen Dan Connolly and Sebastian Vollmer, while several players played only sparingly. Bills’ coach Doug Marrone declared it was important to win the game anyway, and played veteran QB Kyle Orton for that reason, rather than giving EJ Manuel another shot to play. Orton, if not spectacular, has at least been consistent in his performances. In typical fashion, he led the Bills on impressive touchdown drives early in both the first and second quarter, and didn’t do much the rest of the way. He also coughed up a fumble while being sacked, squandering good field position. Buffalo’s defense, minus inactive starters Marcell Dareus and Stephon Gilmore, played another outstanding game, even though Garoppolo wasn’t exactly a Brady clone. They came up with four sacks, with Pro Bowler Mario Williams getting one, along with 1.5 for Jarius Wynn, subbing for Dareus, 1 by Stefan Charles and another half sack for Manny Lawson. Brady and Garoppolo combined for a meager 144 net passing yards. Although the game had no bearing on the playoffs, it did accomplish a few positive things for the Buffalo franchise. It allowed them to finish with their first winning record (9-7) in a decade, got them their first win ever in Gillette Stadium, and broke New England’s 35-game home winning streak against AFC East opponents. For the sake of continuity and for accomplishing the slight improvement in wins (+3), Marrone probably should keep his job, but like the rest of the organization, he has a lot of room for improvement, which I’ll get into in more detail in part 1 of the Bills’ season review later this week.
NFL – Bills’ Game Review
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