Defense, Special Teams Carry Patriots To Win In Buffalo

Tom Brady and the New England Patriots' offense had a miserable time of it on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, New York - but that's ok.

In seasons past, a bad game out of Brady may have been the death knell for the Patriots, who have leaned on the future Hall of Fame quarterback for the past two decades to bail them out of tough spots - but this year the roles appear to be reversed as New England's defense has caused opposing signal callers to have performances just as bad...

...and on Sunday afternoon the trend continued, the defense forcing four turnovers and sacking Buffalo Bills' quarterbacks five times as the Patriots, ran their undefeated record to 4-0 in a 16-10 victory over Buffalo at New Era Stadium.

Patriots' Jackson (27) blocks a punt in the first quarter

But so poor was the offensive attack for the Patriots that their top-ranked defense also needed a big-time assist from their special teams to pull out a win.

Cornerback J.C. Jackson blocked a punt deep in Buffalo territory, which star special-teamer Matthew Slater picked up and returned for a score to provide what proved to be the winning points, and punter Jake Bailey consistently flipped field position to bail out the bogged-down offense with long, booming kicks that forced the Bills to drive the length of the field to acquire points.

Bailey's rocket launcher of a right leg is not only quickly becoming the stuff of Patriots' lore, but has proven to be a legitimate weapon in the field position battle, seemingly defying the laws of gravity and sending footballs into orbit, coming back to earth only after his kick coverage crew has had time to converge on the ball's landing zone...

With their elite defense and special teams leading the way, no longer are the Patriots as reliant on Brady's performances as in times past - and good thing, because he and the offense appear to be mired in a funk that has rendered their running game moot, their passing game erratic and the scorekeeper in a Rasputin-like trance.

And while the Buffalo defense had something to do with holding down New England's offense to just ten points on the day, the bulk of the Patriots' problems were self-imposed.

Brady completed just 18 of 39 throws for a pedestrian 150 yards, missing high and low, intentionally grounding balls and throwing a momentum-killing interception from the Buffalo two-yard line that was so easy for Bills' safety Micah Hyde to catch that it wouldn't have been any easier to simply hand the ball to him.

Had the ball found a Patriots' receiver instead of the Bills' defender, it would have given New England a three-score lead and essentially ended the game for all intents and purposes, but instead the interception had an adverse effect on the offense and inspired the Buffalo defenders.

Hyde's second quarter end zone pick put a cap on the Patriots' best drive of the afternoon, a classic Brady-led possession that covered 75 yards in 16 plays and kept the Bills' defense on the field for over eight minutes of clock time, but ultimately served to shift the momentum away from New England's offense, which managed only 76 yards the rest of the way, Bailey punting the Patriots out of trouble six times in that span with his moon shots.

In fact, were it not for the elite special teams' play, the Patriots would have ended up with their first loss of the season.

New England drew first blood on a seven-play, fifty-yard drive, running back Brandon Bolden scoring on a four-yard scamper to the perimeter, but only able to put up six points as kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed his fourth extra point in as many games. The Patriots' defense rose up and stopped the Bills on their ensuing drive, Jackson sprinting in from the left side to block Corey Bojorquez' punt from the Buffalo 14...

...Slater scooping it up and running it into the end zone. Gostkowski hit the extra point to give New England a 13-0 lead and all of the momentum.

Three possessions later, that momentum evaporated with Hyde's end zone pick of Brady, and by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, the Patriots were in a dog fight with just a three-point cushion - but the stratospheric bombs from Bailey combined with a larcenous defense were enough to hold off the Bills' offense the rest of the way.

The defensive thievery started with a Devin McCourty interception in the first quarter, and continued on a leaping Jackson theft in the second and then a toe-dragging job in the third - then linebacker Jamie Collins ended any chance Buffalo had of overtaking New England with his third pick of the season, a fluttering butterfly caused by linebacker Kyle Van Noy's pressure of Bills' quarterback Matt Barkley that landed right in Collins' waiting hands.

Van Noy was the most productive and visible of the Patriots' stoppers on the day, logging two sacks among his eight tackles and three quarterback hits, While Collins, John Simon and rookie Chase Winovich collected the other three sacks.

In the end, and despite surrendering their first touchdown of the season, the New England stoppers still rank tops in the league in total defense and in scoring defense, opponents scoring just over a field goal per game, but the offense took a step in the wrong direction with Brady's misfires, his receivers dropping many of the balls that did make it to their hands, and with their running game stuck in neutral.

Fortunately, the Patriots have time to correct their offensive woes with games against the lowly Washington Redskins on tap next Sunday, followed by the New York Giants in a Thursday night tilt and the erratic New York Jets the following Monday night - and they'd better figure it out by then, with a visit from the Cleveland Browns and a trip to Baltimore looming before the Patriots' bye week in early November...

...a point in the season in which head ball coach Bill Belichick traditionally has his charges playing at their best - and they need to be with games at Philadelphia and Houston coupled with home games against Dallas and the mighty Kansas City Chiefs completing a brutal stretch against top shelf defensive units.

If they can't figure it out, the Patriots always have their defense to ride and an inspired special teams to help them out.

Brady is still a great player at age 42, and with the old mantra that goes "great players aren't great all the time; but are great when they need to be" on the table, Patriots' fans can rest assured that he will come through in the clutch like he always does.

Well, almost always.