Patriots at Bills (1 Viewer)

[Boston]

*BB the GM sees absolutely no urgency as the Brady window closes...when Brady is gone there will be a few titles left on the table because BB just had to be different...is there really a need to have 13 rookies on this team...

*Vereen looked great...he's got some zip to his game...

*Ridley needs to re-earn the coaching staff's trust...Blount looked a little slow...still early but might rather have a healthy Bolden in there instead of him...Ridley better prove he can be trusted or he will lose playing time...hopefully he corrects this because he can play...

*Spiller did not look good today...he has off-field issues and it almost looked like he wasn't focused...

*Manuel looks like he has a chance to be a pretty good QB...

*If (and it's a big if) Amendola can stay healthy he is going to put up crazy reception numbers...the kid can play...Thompkins looked very raw...will be very interesting to see if Brady continues to trust him...Edelman is the other WR to own here...he's a solid player...

*The 2013 Pats need a healthy Gronk in a big way...

*Sudfeld was MIA...

*Pats D looked improved but the pass-rush wasn't where I want it to be...

*Only one game but the move to cut Mesko looks a little questionable right now...

 

[Steve Tasker]

Pretty encouraged by the Bills play today all around. The penalties are my main concern along with the two big drops....gotta make those plays and be disciplined if you want to beat New England.

 

[Hagger]

I've not read through all of the posts so I don't know if this has been hashed out already, but Marrone made a mistake by still going up-tempo at the end of the game. He should have still called plays aggressively, but used all of the time possible on the clock. Overall, the Bills D looked improved and Manuel looked solid. I have a glimmer of hope for my Bills.

 

[Gawain]

I have hope for Manuel, but a 5.55 Y/PA is anemic. Last year it would have been good for 58th, right behind John Skelton and ahead of Jason Campbell. If he can't get that number up, it's a bad sign.

 

[GroveDiesel]

Pretty encouraged by the Bills play today all around. The penalties are my main concern along with the two big drops....gotta make those plays and be disciplined if you want to beat New England.

The penalties are a freaking disgrace. 14 called penalties, 10 accepted. 7 of them were pre-snap penalties which there is no excuse for at all. I think 4 lead directly to 1st downs on 3rd down.

That was consistent all preseason as well. They averaged about 9.5 accepted penalties per preseason game. That's just not acceptable and speaks poorly of the coaching.

Oh, and not one of those penalties today was called on a rookie. So inexperience isn't even an excuse.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I have hope for Manuel, but a 5.55 Y/PA is anemic. Last year it would have been good for 58th, right behind John Skelton and ahead of Jason Campbell. If he can't get that number up, it's a bad sign.

Just speculation on my part, but it looked like short passing was the Bills gameplan today. With Manuel fresh off an injury, not to mention being a rookie starting week 1, I think they just wanted him to get rid of the ball and not take any hits. Pass protection was great and EJ didn't look flustered, but I do wonder if he took the checkdown too often. That said, I'm certainly willing to give him a pass on that early on. The important thing, IMO, is that he didn't make any mistakes. He did make some very good throws - Stevie's TD comes to mind - that's a throw Fitz never could've made, but the gameplan looked to be pretty simple for him today.

 

[bostonfred]

I've not read through all of the posts so I don't know if this has been hashed out already, but Marrone made a mistake by still going up-tempo at the end of the game. He should have still called plays aggressively, but used all of the time possible on the clock. Overall, the Bills D looked improved and Manuel looked solid. I have a glimmer of hope for my Bills.

Completely agree. Fred Jackson was destroying the Pats, but he kept going back to Spiller. They could throw to the backs and over the middle all day, but Manuel was throwing to the sidelines when they needed to run out the clock. The Bills could have put huge pressure on the Patriots with one slow sustained drive, and the Pats seemed helpless to stop the kinds of plays that they SHOULD have been running. The Patriots were working out their early season problems with no Gronk and a brand new Kenbrell making lots of rookie mistakes. That was a gift.

 

[bostonfred]

Hoomanawanamanaui gets the start at te. Amendola catches bradys first pass of the 2013 season. Ridley with a three yard run, fumbles, but recovers it. 2nd and 6, but buffalo will challenge.

Second pass of the season also targeted for amendola, but just a little ahead of him.

Third pass of the season also targeted for amendolaa, nice bobbling catch on a seam route for 24 yards. 34 yards so far.

Fourth pass of the season goes to kenbrell thompkins, who lost his footing. Incomplete. 2nd and ten, ridley goes nowhere. Third and ten, brady in the shotgun, big pass rush, brady throws it low and incomplete as he is hit.

Ridley with a red zone carry after the spiller fumble, picks up 7. Second and 3 from the 9.

Brady looks for amendola on second down but throws it low to him at the first down marker. Third and three, brady in the shotgun hits julian edelman at the back of the endzone for the td.

Pass to kenbrell thompkins on 1st and 10, incomplete. Third pass of the game targeted to kenbrell, this one is a screen that goes for two yards. Third and a long seven, a wheel route to vereen goes for 9 yards. First down. Hurry up, quick pass to edelman, 9 yards. Blount takes the run for 1 yard, first down. Play action pass to thompkins, dropped but he was interfered with, no flag but the announcers are surprised. Blount on 2nd and 10 loses a yard. Third and eleven from the 30, screen pass to edelman goes nowhere, field goal team comes out.

Bills rush defense looks solid. Ridley stuffed for a gain of 1. Pass targeted for hoomanawanamaui, knocked down by a big man deep. Third and 9, searcy blitzes from the safety spot just a yard off the los, and nobody picks him up. Sack. Punt. Nice defensive series by buffalo.

Three straight runs by fred jackson for over twenty total yards. Comes off the field and they pass to spiller for 7, third and 1, spiller runs into a wall. 4th and 1, they punt to the crowds dismay. Spiller has three catches for 5 yards on the day and hasn't gotten anything going in the running game yet.

 

[bostonfred]

After back to back three and outs, the pats open up with a 15 yard pass to vereen, then follow with a deep attempt that misses badly. Ridley comes in for a run and gets the first down, then brady nabs them for 5 yrds with a quick snap, too many men on the field. Ridley gets the run, fumbles untouched, returned for a td, ruling is confirmed. Ridley slams his helmet on the sideline as the refs announce that the ruling is confirmed.

Blount returns the kickoff to the 27, which seems like a miracle. He doesn't belong back there. Edelman for 5 yards. Blount gets a run for 1 yard. Ridley is on the bench.

Blount returns the ball to the 27, which seems like a miracle. 5 yard pass to edelman. 1 yard run by blount with ridley on the bench, acting like he's stretching out his pectoral. Third and four, vereen on the field, connoly gives a sneaky fake jump to pick up five yards. Pass to kenbrell is good for a few. Blount runs for a couple more. Kenbrell on third down fails to get both feet in bounds. Punt.

Spiller runs on first down, fights well to get six yards. Tj graham with a reverse for a first down. Denard throws graham to the ground out of bounds, 15 yrd penalty. Spiller runs for 2. He has 10 carries for 30. Spiller runs for 7 more, but its called back for a block in the back. 2nd and 11, fred jackson in t rb. Pass to marquise goodwin short of the first down marker, fumbles, patriots recover. Under review.

1st down from the 32, vereen is the running back. Runs for 21 yards. Remains in for the shotgun snap. Brady doesn't see anything, tries to scramble up the middle, runs for no gain. Amendola limping, comes off the field. Josh boyce in while amendola walks it off, holding his weiner area.

 

[bostonfred]

Come back from the two minute warning, brady with another td pass to edelman, second of the day. 5/31/2 for edelman so far.

Sorry Amendola is hurt, but he didn't look quick at all. I want to see Boyce. Was he active?

He took the field on the first play amendola went off.

Three and out for ej manuel, bills punt, pats get ball back with 1:11 left in the half.

Amendola still standing on the sidelines, helmet on, but not coming in for this final drive.

Brady with a quick pass to vereen for 5. Pass to zach sudfeld, his first of the game, bounces out of his hands and is intercepted by rodgers. Bills take over with 57 seconds in the half,probably at the 40

Ej manuel with a quick first down pass to chandler. Time ticking. Manuel deep to robert woods, touchdown. First td of either players nfl career with 34 seconds left in the half, 17-14.

Second half kickoff goes out of the back of the endzone. Ej manuel comes on the field at the 20. Hands off to spiller, who scoots through a couple tackles for 9 yards. 2nd and 1, spiller dropped quickly by ninkovich, who is having a nice game. Fred jackson gets the third down carry, take it for 2, stays in the game and runs for 10 more. Another run by jackson for three. Manuel drops back for a pass, sees nothing, and scrambles for about 20. Spiller runs for 2 more yards, 2nd and 8.

 

[bostonfred]

Fred jackson another run, third and 6. Manuuel in the shotgun, first pass of the 2nd half goes to fred jackson on a wheel route for a first down. 22 yard line. Spiller runs for about 4. He has 13/41 so far with three catches for 5. Manuel deep to stevie johnson, 18 yard touchdown. Bills take their first led of the game after trailing 10-0 and 17-7.

After a touchback, brady takes over trailing 21 17. Amendola suited up and on the sideline, not on the field. Brady throws to boyce for his first target of the game, low throw and boyce doesn't catch it. Aamendola back on the field, run to vereen, he picks up 20 on a one cut rush. Another run for vereen picks up 5. Another run for vereen, picks up 2. Amendola still on the field for third and three. Brady in the shotgun, throws to amendola, who catches it for six, first down.

Amendola on the sideline again, first down pass to thompkins is incomplete but well defended on the screen. Second and ten, vereen runs for no gain. Thompkins, amendola and I want to say boyce were the receivers. Third and ten, amendola back in the slot. Shotgun snap, pass to vereen for another big gain of 21.

Blount in at running back, picks up four on a sweep to the right. 2nd nd 6, vereen takes the deep handoff for a gain of 1 or so. Mario williams on the sidelines, no reason given. Amendola on the field. Brady throws it in the seam and amendola picks up a big third down gain of 19. First and goal from the 5. Amendola still in. Pass to thompkins at the 2. 2nd and goal. Thomkins and edelman wide, amendola at tight end. Hits thompkins in the back of the end zone but he jumps out of the back of the end zone. Third and goal. Vereen in the backfield, amendola wide. Shotgun snap, vereen takes the handoff, stopped for 4th and inches.

Blount in for the goal line carry as the go for it, and brady fumbles the center exchange. Bills recover, and bring it back to the 11. Bills take over.

 

[bostonfred]

Manuel on first down throws to spiller for 2. Second down he scrambles right for three more. Third and five, manuel from the shotgun finds fred jackson for another easy first down. Jackson runs for 7. He is significantly outplaying spiller to this point. Jackson runs for 2 more, third and one. Manuel with another pass to jackson, nice catch on a bad throw, but called back for illegal hands to the face by an o lineman.

3rd and 11, pass rush by chandler jones gets to manuel, he spins out, throws short to stevie johnson, but short of the first down. Great punt for 57 yards downed inside the 5.

1:15 left in the third quarter, patriots take over at the 2 yard line. False start patriots. First and 11 from the 1. Blount in the backfield, edelman and kenbrell out wide. Throws to edelman dropped by julian. Amendola back on the field in the slot next to edelman with vereen in the backfield. Quick pass to vereen incomplete. Third and eleven, brady in the shotgun, hits hommanawamenaufnjk for 6, 4th down. Punt with 28 seconds left in the third and the bills have a short field to start the drive.

Soooo is Ridley hurt?

He had two first half fumbles and hasn't been back since. Vereen has looked really good with a couple long runs and a long catch, all for 20ish each. Blount has been the short yardage guy.

Spiller with another crappy first down run for a four yard loss. Patriots decline the holding call. Bills let the clock run out in the third quarter.

2 yard run by spiller. Still not looking good. Deep throw by manuel is way off target down the sideline and out of bounds. Bills punt, downed inside the ten but illegal formation. Patriots enforce the penalty from the end of the kick, start with the ball at the 15. Brady under center, edelman and kenbrell on the field. Pass to edelman picks up 35. Handoff to blount for 5, 2nd and 5 on the good side of the 50. Blount deep again, play fake, throws to thompkins who holds on to it for 15 or so. First down pass deep down the middle of the field, edelman can't quite haul it in but it was a perfect pass.

2nd and ten, handoff to vereen, and he runs for another gain of about 20. I think that's four of those today. First and goal from the ten. Low snap, brady throws to boyce, who misses it and comes off the field. Second and goal, brady deep in the back corner for edelman, can't quite make the catch, but 12 men on the field is called. Second and goal from the five. Mario williams back on the field. Brady audible to the shotgun, escapes pressure, scrambles and throws to thompkins who stretches out but drops it.

 

[bostonfred]

Third and goal, amendola back in. Brady looks at him, but amendola is knocked down inside the five. On the other side of the field, kenbrell runs into julian edelman. Brady is sacked. Field goal, pats cut the lead to 21-20 with 10:48 left in the game.

Brady and amendola talking on the sidelines. Terelle pryor just completed a fourth and 9 with less than two minutes left inside the ten with a chance to beat the colts. Wow.

Bad pass by manuel, but mayo with a personal foul. 7 yard run by jackson, and then another six yard run. First down buffalo close on their own 40. Spiller back in, runs for two. Amazing how much more successful jackson has been. Second and 8, manuel throws to chandler for 7. Third and 1, manuel drops back and hits stevie johnson in the fingertips with nobody around him, but he can't hang on. Punt to edelman, fair catch at the 14.

Pass to kenbrell, and he makes a bad adjustment. 2nd and 10, pass to amendola is well covered and almost picked. Brady popped on the play. 3rd and 10, 8:32 to play, brady drops back, throws to amendola who makes an amazing cacth but crumbles as he lays out for the ball. Amendola on the sideline, first down pass goes to edelman who makes another nice reaching catch. Out of bounds at the 40 with seven and a half to play. Vereen in the backfield, runs for one. 2nd and 9. Amendola back on. The field, shotgun snap with vereen in the backfield. Deep handoff to vereen, who tries to turn the corner but is stopped for a gain of 2 on a nice solot tackle. Third and seven, brady passes to kenbrell who is held but makes a bad adjustment. Patriots opt to punt, but can't down it. Bills take over at the 20 with 5:51 to play and a 21-20 lead.

Spiller runs for nothing, again. 2nd and 10. Manuel throws deep. Nobody close. Third and ten. 5:24 left. Over the middle to chandler, who catches it for a three yard gain. Bills punt with 4:40 in the game after taking just a minute ten off the clock. Edelman receives the punt at their own 34.

Vereen with a catch for two yards, can't get out of bounds. 4 minutes to play. Brady in the hotgun, four wide including vereen who lines up in the right side slot and catches a pass for 5. Third and three. Vereen in the backfield, amendola from the slot makes a huge first down catch for about 7. He's got 7 for 84. Vereen takes the first down handoff, and crosses midfield for a 6 yard gain. Ridley on the sidelines with no helmet. Vereen leaves the field, pats go five wide and hit amendola for another first down pass as they reach the two minute warning.

1st and 10 from the 42 with 1:58. Bills jump, pats guard jumps, false start called this time. First and fifteen. Brady in the fun, vereen and amendola on the field. Amendola again with a catch over the middle. 2nd and 11. Amendola and edelman on the right, vereen from the backfield runs a route and makes a sideline catch for 2. Third and 9. Patriots on the 42. Amendola with another big catch on a ball that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, his tenth catch of the game putting him over 100 yards and with a huge first down. Bills take a timeout with 1:08 left in the game and the patriots in field goal range.

Brady hands off to vereen, and it looks bad, as vereen is running backwards for the shotgun handoff with a defender chasing him. But vereen turns the corner and makes yet another big run, picking up about 15 and running along the sidelines to avoid going out of bounds. bills take a timeout, Brady kneels to center the ball. Bills take their final timeout, brady kneels again. Clock running down to under ten seconds, gostkowski ready to kick a 35ish yard field goal, and with five seconds left on the clock, the patriots take the 23-21 lead.

 

[flysack]

I have hope for Manuel, but a 5.55 Y/PA is anemic. Last year it would have been good for 58th, right behind John Skelton and ahead of Jason Campbell. If he can't get that number up, it's a bad sign.

Just speculation on my part, but it looked like short passing was the Bills gameplan today. With Manuel fresh off an injury, not to mention being a rookie starting week 1, I think they just wanted him to get rid of the ball and not take any hits. Pass protection was great and EJ didn't look flustered, but I do wonder if he took the checkdown too often. That said, I'm certainly willing to give him a pass on that early on. The important thing, IMO, is that he didn't make any mistakes. He did make some very good throws - Stevie's TD comes to mind - that's a throw Fitz never could've made, but the gameplan looked to be pretty simple for him today.

I wouldn't say he didn't make any mistakes. He threw a long ball to Woods in blanket coverage and it was nearly intercepted. He was just lucky it didn't show up in the stat line.

That said, it's the only mistake I can recall. And despite the low yards per completion, both TD throws were fairly long (15+ yards), if I recall correctly.

He's going to be good. If he can play that well against a BB defense in his first NFL start, he's going to be good.

 

[GroveDiesel]

SMH.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SalSports/status/377069665886797824/photo/1?screen_name=SalSports

 

[bostonfred]

SMH.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SalSports/status/377069665886797824/photo/1?screen_name=SalSports

If the Bills get that holding penalty, and the Pats get just one of the pass interference calls they should have gotten for Kenbrell, the game probably works out the same.

 

[GroveDiesel]

SMH.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SalSports/status/377069665886797824/photo/1?screen_name=SalSports

If the Bills get that holding penalty, and the Pats get just one of the pass interference calls they should have gotten for Kenbrell, the game probably works out the same.

I saw one PI on McKelvin in the 1st quarter. There were tons of non-calls on Patriot holds all day. There were two blatant ones right in front of refs on the last drive alone.

The Pats earned the win. Brady was Brady and Amendola made some crazy catches. But the refusal of refs to call holding on the New England line is a joke to the whole league at this point.

 

[TheGreatSpinks]

SMH.

https://mobile.twitter.com/SalSports/status/377069665886797824/photo/1?screen_name=SalSports

If the Bills get that holding penalty, and the Pats get just one of the pass interference calls they should have gotten for Kenbrell, the game probably works out the same.

I saw one PI on McKelvin in the 1st quarter. There were tons of non-calls on Patriot holds all day. There were two blatant ones right in front of refs on the last drive alone.

The Pats earned the win. Brady was Brady and Amendola made some crazy catches. But the refusal of refs to call holding on the New England line is a joke to the whole league at this point.

The Packers and Packers fans have no sympathy. Two straight years on the West Coast and awful, game tilting errors.

 

[Bills_Fan11]

You mean the mis-enforcement of the offseting fouls that shouldn't have been offsetting in the first place? Yawn.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I've not read through all of the posts so I don't know if this has been hashed out already, but Marrone made a mistake by still going up-tempo at the end of the game. He should have still called plays aggressively, but used all of the time possible on the clock. Overall, the Bills D looked improved and Manuel looked solid. I have a glimmer of hope for my Bills.

False. As it turned out, the Bills needed to conserve more time, not less.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I have hope for Manuel, but a 5.55 Y/PA is anemic. Last year it would have been good for 58th, right behind John Skelton and ahead of Jason Campbell. If he can't get that number up, it's a bad sign.

Just speculation on my part, but it looked like short passing was the Bills gameplan today. With Manuel fresh off an injury, not to mention being a rookie starting week 1, I think they just wanted him to get rid of the ball and not take any hits. Pass protection was great and EJ didn't look flustered, but I do wonder if he took the checkdown too often. That said, I'm certainly willing to give him a pass on that early on. The important thing, IMO, is that he didn't make any mistakes. He did make some very good throws - Stevie's TD comes to mind - that's a throw Fitz never could've made, but the gameplan looked to be pretty simple for him today.

I wouldn't say he didn't make any mistakes. He threw a long ball to Woods in blanket coverage and it was nearly intercepted. He was just lucky it didn't show up in the stat line.

That said, it's the only mistake I can recall. And despite the low yards per completion, both TD throws were fairly long (15+ yards), if I recall correctly.

He's going to be good. If he can play that well against a BB defense in his first NFL start, he's going to be good.

I can agree with that, he did make some throws into coverage that I was unsure about. All I hope is that he gets better. It was a good start yesterday.

 

[pats3in4]

Pats offense looked eerily close to the 2009 offense of Welker/Moss (now Amendola/Edelman) and nobody else, with the significant exception of Vereen contributing mightily. Still, I'm sure a lot of it is early-season kinks needing to be worked out, especially with all the new faces. Hopefully Gronk is past his injury woes and is there for good once he comes back.

Amendola is exactly what I expected when paired with Brady: Welker 2.0. That last 3rd down catch he made was incredible and was the topper on a day where he consistently moved the sticks.

EJ Manuel impressed overall and I thought the Bills did a good job protecting him from Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich.

Penalties killed the Bills. The Pats' turnovers almost offset them, though, as the Ridley fumble and the pick off of Sudfeld's hands were deadly (the 4th down fumble at the goalline may not have been as bad as it looked like the Pats might have been stuffed on that play). I don't care who the opponent is: Three turnovers on the road and still pulling out the win is great.

 

[pats3in4]

bostonfred for the in-game play-by-play and analysis. I didn't see the game until I watched gamerewind last night so reading this thread beforehand with bostonfred's comments was great.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

*BB the GM sees absolutely no urgency as the Brady window closes...when Brady is gone there will be a few titles left on the table because BB just had to be different...is there really a need to have 13 rookies on this team...

yeah, I remember when all you guys were complaining the team was too old

 

[HellToupee]

why was Dennard anywhere near there