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 Seeking their fourth championship of the Bill Belichick era, but
their first since the 2004 season, the Patriots overcame all kinds
of adversity to finish the regular season as the AFC East champs
with a 12-4 record, landing the No. 2 seed and a bye in the
conference playoffs.
"This team earned it, and I'm happy for them," Belichick said after
hulking running back LeGarrette Blount carried the Patriots to a
rain-soaked 34-20 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Adversity? Start with the tight end problem, the loss of the
arrested Aaron Hernandez, the delayed start and then the loss again
of Rob Gronkowski. The defense suffered season-ending injuries to
nose tackle Vince Wilfork, linebacker Jerod Mayo and tackle Tommy
Kelly.
The list of problems is long, but the Patriots won five of their
last six games to get right back where the team expects to be every
year.
"We'll see what we're made of here in a couple of weeks,"
quarterback Tom Brady said.
The Patriots, 8-0 at home, will rest for a week before hosting a
divisional playoff game.
Blount ran for a career-high 189 yards, including touchdown runs of
36 and 35 yards, and also recorded kickoff returns of 83 and 62
yards (both besting the previous team high for the season) in the
second half.
The 189 rushing yards represents the fifth-highest total in
franchise history, the most since Robert Edwards had 196 in 1998.
The 344 all-purpose yards is a Patriots record, the 11th-best total
in NFL history.
Blount, who posted his second consecutive two-touchdown game, left
to a huge ovation and a hug from Belichick as the Patriots were
running out the clock.
"He carried the team on his back most of the day," said Belichick,
who thanked "assistant pro personnel director (Aqib) Talib" for
advising him to acquire Blount. "It was definitely a running game
(because of the rain)."
Blount denied carrying the team.
"On the returns I had, I didn't get touched for like the first 30
yards, so I tip my hat off to those (blockers)," he said. "And the
offensive line played amazing, so you can't give them enough
credit."
Asked about the hug with Belichick, he said, "It was just the
excitement of us winning the game and getting the first-round bye
into the playoffs."
The Patriots ran for a season-high 267 yards in beating Buffalo for
the 13th straight time in Foxboro, the last 12 at Gillette Stadium.
Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals and added two extra
points, breaking the Patriots' 49-year-old season scoring record. He
had 158 points for the season, breaking Gino Cappelletti's 1964
mark. He also broke his own team record for field goals in a season
with 38. He kicked 36 field goals in 2008.
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New England wide receiver Julian Edelman caught nine passes
for 65 yards, clearing both the 100-catch and 1,000-yard
plateaus in the first half (105 for 1,056 yards). He is the
third Patriot with 100 catches in a season (Wes Welker did it
five times). Edelman, who also caught a two-point conversion
pass from Brady, is the 10th New England receiver to top 1,000
yards in a season.
Brady went 14-for-24 for 122 yards with one touchdown pass and
one interception.
On a third-and-32 from the New England 46 in the third quarter,
Brady launched a 32-yard punt, the third punt of his career.
"It could have been a lot better," he said.
The Bills, who made mistakes at too many key times (including an
offside penalty that turned a New England field goal into a
touchdown and two-point conversion), finished 6-10 on the
season. It was the franchise's 14th consecutive non-playoff
season, the longest current NFL streak.
Quarterback Thad Lewis, starting for the Bills with EJ Manuel
out due to a knee injury, was 16-for-29 for 247 yards and a
touchdown pass to wide receiver T.J. Graham.
Bills running back C.J. Spiller ran for 105 yards and caught a
team-high five passes for 28 yards.
Buffalo's Dan Carpenter kicked two field goals, including a
51-yarder, to tie Steve Christie's club record of 33 field goals
in a single season. He finished 4-for-6 from outside 50 yards.
"Obviously it's disappointing because we didn't finish where we
want to be," Buffalo linebacker Kiko Alonso said. "That's it on
that. We have to work on our game this offseason."
NOTES: The Patriots fumbled four times in the steady downpour
but recovered all four. ... New England amassed 173 yards
rushing in the first half, a team high for a half since at least
1991. ... New England OT Nate Solder returned after missing a
game with a concussion. That moved Pro Bowl pick Logan Mankins
back to guard. Mankins was helped off the field with an ankle
injury in the second quarter but was back for the last drive of
the half. ... Patriots rookie WR Aaron Dobson left with a foot
injury and didn't return. ... Buffalo S Jairus Byrd was lost due
to an ankle injury. The Bills already were missing WR Stevie
Johnson because of the death of his mother. ... Patriots CB
Alfonzo Dennard was out with shoulder and knee woes. ...
Patriots LB Brandon Spikes, playing on a bad knee, left the game
late.
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