No matter how hard they tried, Buffalo’s defense and special teams could not stop LeGarrette Blount.
Blount ran 24 times for 189 yards and two touchdowns, and had two kickoff returns for 145 yards as well to reach 334 all-purpose yards, leading the New England Patriots to a 34-20 win over the Bills to get to 12-4 and clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Buffalo head coach Doug Marrone said that Blount had an “outstanding game”, but felt that his team didn’t step up at opportune moments.
“When we really needed to step up and make a play, we couldn’t do it,” said Marrone.
Before the game even started, news broke that defensive tackle Marcel Dareus was suspended for the first half due to a violation of team rules. Corbin Bryant and Stefan Charles played snaps for Dareus in his absence.
“He made a mistake. There are consequences. And we will move on from it,” said Marrone about the decision to suspend Dareus.
Both teams got field goals on their opening possessions, with New England almost giving the ball away on a fumble on its possession. On the Patriots’ scoring possession, Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd got an ankle injury and would miss the rest of the game, with fellow starter Aaron Williams also out with a rib injury.
From there, the Patriots dominated the rest of the first half. Stephen Gostkowski made a 35 yard field goal to make it 6-3 late in the first quarter, and then New England’s defense forced a punt before the end of the 1st quarter.
Blount then began to impose his will on the Bills’ defense, rushing 4 times for 68 yards, including a 36 yard touchdown to finish a seven play, 94 yard drive less than three minutes into the second quarter to get a 10 point lead. Buffalo’s offense tried to answer, but were stopped on a fourth-and-1 with a stout Patriot front stopping quarterback Thaddeus Lewis from getting a first down on 4th and 1 on New England’s 45 yard line.
After non-scoring drives for both teams that included a bad snap that Tom Brady prevented from becoming a turnover, the Patriots had a 12 play, 69 yard drive in the final five minutes of the half. Blount nearly fumbled the ball inside the redzone , but tight end Matthew Mulligan fell on it to retain possession. Gostkowski hit a 29 yard field goal on the final play of the first half, giving him 37 for the season, breaking his own franchise record to make the score 16-3.
The Bills had a chance to capitalize on a New England miscue when Julian Edelman muffed a punt inside the Patriots’ ten yard line, but Edelman was able to come out of the pile with the ball. Late in the third quarter, Buffalo attempted a rally, with Lewis going deep to receiver T.J. Graham for 41 yards, and found him again after scrambling and directing Graham while attracting a pair of Patriots defenders from 12 yards out to make it 16-10 with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Blount took his dominance to another level when he returned the kickoff 83 yards to the Bills’ 20. Buffalo’s defense forced a fourth and 1 on the first play of the quarter, but before Gostkowski could attempt a kick, Dareus stepped offsides. On the next play, Brady found running back Shane Vereen from 5 yards out for the touchdown, and then receiver Julian Edelman wide open for the two-point conversion to get a two touchdown lead
Lewis would continue to keep his team in it, leading a 10 play, 79 yard drive that included a 37 yard pass to Fred Jackson on a key third down, with Jackson finishing the drive with a 5 yard run to make it 24-17 with just over 10 minutes remaining. But then Blount returned the kickoff 62 yards to the Buffalo 40, leading to another Gostkowski to make it 27-17 with just under eight minutes remaining.
The Bills’ attempt to answer ended at midfield when a wide-open Graham dropped a Lewis pass that would have converted a fourth and 2. Three plays later, Buffalo finally had a bounce go their way, with Vereen dropping a screen pass that landed in the hands of linebacker Manny Lawson. Lewis took the offense into field goal position with three and a half minutes left, with a 37 yarder from David Carpenter making it 27-20.
But the third time the Bills got within a score would not end any different than the previous two, with New England recovering an onside kick and Blount running in from 35 yards out to make it put the final nail in the coffin. In a season that included four single-digit losses and others that were winnable games, Marrone knows what needs to improve going forward.
“Structure and discipline are two things that we have to do a better job of,” said Marrone. “As soon as Tuesday starts, we’re working on 2014.”
What is done in the next eight months before the 2014-15 season starts will be key to the progress of the Bills under Marrone.
“I’m promise you, when Tuesday starts, we begin work on 2014. There was a lot on the line, we left it out there.
