MNF: Part I

If before the game, you had set the Pats-Bills line at Pats -17, I would have taken the Pats. Buffalo just doesn't play the Pats well, they realize they're dealing with their betters, and they fade meekly into the night.

But not tonight. Their defense bothered Brady, who is clearly not fully back yet. You could see him getting antsy anytime someone got near his legs (and rightfully so, it takes the mind a lot longer to recover than the body after a catastrophic injury like that). Interestingly, New England looked a lot like Pittsburgh: they started the game making a concerted effort to have a balanced attack. I'm not sure how much of that strategy was an effort to ease Brady into the season, but that, as much as the Bills defense, stopped the Pats offense. The only back doing much of anything was Fred Taylor, and I don't remember seeing him touching the ball in the 2nd half.

Once New England realized they had a fight on their hands, they started throwing every down, and their offense started moving the ball up and down the field. Add in the fact that Buffalo was running a no huddle offense all game, and not running it that well, so their defense was on the field almost twice as long as the offense, and it was inevitable that New England would click offensively.

But even with all this, Buffalo was still up 24-19 with 2:06 to play with New England kicking off. Buffalo had the hands team in, with 10 people 10 yards away from the kicker and 1 guy deep. New England kicked deep, and the kick reached the end zone. Here Buffalo return man Leodis McKelvin had a choice: take it out, or take a knee and get the ball on the 20 yard line.

McKelvin brought the ball out. And you know what? It was the RIGHT DECISION, despite what the game analysts said. Here's why? there was 2:06 remaining, and the Patriots had all 3 timeouts. If Buffalo goes 3 and out after a kneeldown in the endzone, the Pats likely get the ball back with ~1:40 left and 1 timeout at about their own 40. 60 yards with that much time and with those receivers? Almost a certain TD drive. Take away the timeout, and all it takes is one sack to put a lot of pressure on the New England offense. Taking the ball out was correct...

...but fighting for every yard on the kickoff return was horribly wrong. The only thing Buffalo cannot afford is a fumble, so as soon as McKelvin gets breathed on, he needs to hit the turf. He did not do this, and Buffalo being Buffalo, he fumbled, and handed the Pats the ball at the Buffalo 30 or so. Once the Pats recovered the fumble, the outcome was inevitable.

So for the 2nd time in 3 years, Buffalo loses on Monday Night in heartbreaking fashion by the score of 25-24, for their 12th straight loss to New England. The story was markedly different, but the ending was the same as always.