The Buffalo Bills overcame a 21-0 deficit to defeat the New England Patriots 34-31 in the Bills’ second come-from-behind thriller in the last two weeks, becoming the first team in NFL history to have 18+ point comebacks in back-to-back games. Kicker Rian Lindell hit a 28-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bills the win.
The victory snaps a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots, which was the longest active streak in the NFL. The next streak they hope to break is 11 seasons without making the playoffs, and with the Bills sitting at 3-0, that is starting to look like a very real possibility. Seventy-six percent of teams that start 3-0 make the playoffs.
The Bills took advantage of four Tom Brady interceptions, which set up 24 of the Bills points, including one pick which was returned 27 yards by Drayton Florence for a TD.
After the game, Brady said, “We played a good football team. We made too many mistakes. It’s tough to overcome as many mistakes as we did. [Buffalo] made a lot of plays and they’ve got a good team.”
Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said, “I think in terms of what this means for the city of Buffalo, it’s the biggest win since I’ve been here, for sure.”
Fitzpatrick threw for 369 yards and 2 TDs, and the Bills had four receivers with over 80 yards including running back Fred Jackson who had 74 yards rushing and 87 yards receiving.
“Every time that guy touches the ball, he does something special with it and it was great to see today,” Fitzpatrick said after the game.
Jackson said of the win, “We’re happy we’re 3-0. We just beat a very good team and that’s something to build off of. But we know we’ve got a lot of work left to do and that starts with us just taking care of business.”
In spite of all the points scored, a lot of the credit goes to the Bills defense and the four interceptions of Tom Brady, matching the total he threw all of last year.
Fitzpatrick said, “First off, versus them, you can’t come back 21-0 unless your defense does something special and I thought our guys, with the turnovers and what they did obviously gave us a chance in that game to come back and it was such a good team effort.”
Bills wide receiver David Nelson, who had 6 receptions for 84 yards, said, “Our defense won that game for us.”
Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman commented on the Buffalo defense and their approach to Brady and the high-scoring Patriots offense. “We were confident all week. We knew what type of team we were coming out to play. We knew we had to come out and play our best, and to come back from a 21-0 first quarter just shows the type of guys we’ve got in this locker room.”
Amazing game. I sat right next to the author of this article. THE BILLS ARE BACK!