Foxboro, MA (WGR 550) -- The Buffalo Bills had everything going for them to upset the New England Patriots, untill Tom Brady and the troops made a comeback with under two-minutes left in the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium on Monday night.
The Bills defense held on a fourth and one play in Buffalo territory on the opening drive of the game. The team then punted after being unsuccessful on their first drive. New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed a 41-yard field goal attempt on the next drive.
Quarterback Trent Edwards hooked up with rookie TE Shawn Nelson for an 11-yard touchdown pass to get Buffalo on the scoreboard first. Rian Lindell added the extra point to give the Bills a 7-0 lead with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter. Tom Brady and the Pats offense did not have an answer, and trailed by seven to start the second quarter.
New England evened the game at 7-7 midway through the second with a Fred Taylor 1-yard touchdown run and Gostkowski extra point. Aaron Schobel gave the Bills a 14-7 lead on a 26-yard interception return late in the second. Schobel picked off a Brady screen pass to undo the tie. Gostkowski booted home a 20-yard field goal to close the gap to 14-10 at the end of the first half.
New England had a six-plus-minute drive in the third quarter, but handed the football back to the Bills on downs. Lindell kicked a 40-yard field goal through the uprights to cap off a seven play, 42-yard drive and give Buffalo a 17-10 lead late in the third. The two teams combined for four possessions in the third, but only yielded the one field goal.
Gostkowski chipped in a 28-yard field goal to cut the New England deficit to 17-13 early in the fourth. The Bills marched down the other end of the field to extend their lead. The 14-play, 62-yard sustained drive was finished off by a Fred Jackson 10-yard TD reception from Edwards with just over five minutes to go in the game.
Brady tossed his first touchdown pass of the game to TE Benjamin Watson to cut the Bills lead to 24-19. The two point conversion was not converted, with the Bills holding the five point lead. A fumble on the ensuing kick-off gave the Pats the football with two minutes to go in Bills territory.
Brady tosses another touchdown pass to Ben Watson for 16 yards to take the lead 25-24. They were unsuccessful with the 2-point conversion, but left the Bills just 50 seco0nds to playcatch for the first time in the game.
But the Bills couldn't regain that lead, as they only completed two passes on their final drive.
Trent Edwards looked pretty comfortable, completing 14 of his 24 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was Fred Jackson, who caught five passes for 80 yards and a touchdown. Jackson also rushed 15 times for 57 yards in the disappointing loss.
Terrell Owens caught two passes for 46 yards, but he also dropped a ball on third down earlier in the first half. On the other side, Lee Evans caught three passes for 25 yards.
Demitrius Bell had a rough game in his first start at left tackle. Bell was beat on more than one occassion Monday night, including on a critical play in the fourth quarter. Bell became the starter earlier in the week, when the Bills cut previous 2-year starter Langston Walker.
Tom Brady had a slow start, but really picked it up in the second half. Brady completed 39 of his 53 passes for 378 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The Pats Pro Bowl receivers saw tons of action as Randy Moss caught 12 passes for 141 yards, while Wes Welker had 12 catches for 93 yards.
Besides the game slipping fway from their finger tips, the Bills got bad news on the injury front. LB Paul Pozlusny left the game in the first quarter with a broken bone in his left arm. Chris Kelsay also left the game, but his injury is unknown.
Pats also lost a key player as LB Jerod Mayo left the game in the opening quarter with a right knee injury.
The Bills will have a chance to redeem themselves this Sunday, when they host the Tampa Bat Buccaneers at Ralph Wilson Stadium at 4:15 P.M. Stay tuned to WGR 550 for the latest updates leading up to the big game!
Ok, let's not trash Jauron for the fact that McKelvin made a bad play. Period. Nobody expected the BIlls to be in this at all, and we led into the fourth quarter. Fine. 0-1, let's build for the next one.
09/14/2009 10:42PM
Classic Bills
A game they should have won...lost by bad penalties and some timely bad decision making by players on the field
09/14/2009 10:42PM
losertown Buffalo!
Typical Buffalo loss! Can't wait for the Sabres to start, oh wait they suck too!
09/14/2009 10:44PM
Always the painful way
If we went out and lost outright, like everyone expected, there would be no anger there would be no pain. But no we find a way to make it the most painful lost you can imagine. Why cant we just suck outright!?
09/14/2009 10:44PM
Embarrassing
I CAN NO LONGER SUPPORT THIS TEAM.
HIRE COWHER.
09/14/2009 10:46PM
de ja vu all over again
Once again the Bills snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They are truly a reflection of their laid back easy going head coach. "we'll look at the film and work hard yada yada yada" Poor clock management (AGAIN) penalties galore, no discipline....same old same old Bills.
09/14/2009 10:47PM
They always find a way
No excuse to lose this game. Terrible play by McKelvin - just no excuse for that decision. On the flip side, I sure did not expect them to be in it past the first half. A consistent pass rush would be nice though.
09/14/2009 10:48PM
right on the money
"always the painful way" you my friend are right on the money!
right after the game, some loser in a mcnabb jersey told me at a gas station how the bills suck. if you're reading buddy, you're lucky you survived that comment.
09/14/2009 10:52PM
Good/ Bad points...Immediate Reactions
The D played pretty well; Schobel, D-Line, McGee. Keith Ellison should not be starting, burned by Watson on both td's. Edwards played pretty well, looked a little antsy a few times but overall not bad. Would have been nice to take a few shots deep...you never know??? The o-line played pretty well except for Bell...wshat do you expect when he was put in the situation he was. McKelvin should have taken the knee or gone down easier. He ran a few seconds off the clock, he didn't need the extra yards he was going for...or he should have kept 2 hands on the ball. Officials aren't debating any roughing the passer calls. Overall, I think the good outweigh the bad. Who needs the preseason??? I was pleasantly surprised by how they played. I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY DID THIS AGAIN ON MONDAY NIGHT????!!!! Its too bad that this game came down to that one play really!!! Hopefully they come out and lay one on the Bucs! Disappointed but still love the Bills!
09/14/2009 10:52PM
scor to much time
we should know bye know that this always happens score with to much time left
09/14/2009 10:53PM
All The Wrong Moves
"Oh yeah....well if you would have had McKelvin take a knee we would've won the game."
09/14/2009 10:53PM
Wow..
Wow.
I'm not sure if I should be happy that the Bills played so well, or sad that they again made bad mistakes that cost them the game.
09/14/2009 10:54PM
Sails
That fumble really took the sails out of our winds.
09/14/2009 10:55PM
dont kill mckelvin
new england did whatever they wanted in the 4th quarter
09/14/2009 10:55PM
Its 1 game
Ok, not a big deal...its 1 game, most of you expected us to get blown out. Its ok, we can build off of this and we have 15 weeks. We were never going 16-0, we win 1 game we probably dont deserve later in the year...and it balances...not a big deal...stay positive!!!
09/14/2009 10:55PM
Langston Walker?!?
I know he was not doing a great job at LT, but Karl Malone's stupid son caused...what...4 penalties and helped Edwards get sacked? Yeah, way to cut a veteran who may have been relatively reliable...especially with under a minute left...
09/14/2009 10:57PM
wowwwwwwwwwww
what's new?. its been 9 years of this shi*t and were going on 10. this is why we have no superbowls or will ever win one.
09/14/2009 10:57PM
Spot with 2:!0
How come no one is talking about the crazy first down spot when it should have been 3rd and 1 after Welker's catch. They get the first down and throw to the end zone, McKelvin needs to bring it out to get past the two minute warning. They potentially run on 3rd and 1 as it should have been and who knows what happens. Horrible spot, horrible lack of a measurement, and horrible lack of a challenge.
09/14/2009 11:00PM
Immediate reactions cont....
I just heard Schoop say what Jauron and McKelvin said in the press conferences...typical Bills.
09/14/2009 11:01PM
Poz done
Another broken arm for Poz. Lets see if they actually sign someone and spend some money or if Marcus Buggs .........geez. Marcus Buggs. Hello Zach Thomas? Hello......
09/14/2009 11:01PM
Long time bills fan..
not surprised....something in my gut would not let me believe the Bills would win until the clock struck 0:00...thank you McKelvin...you know better than that.
09/14/2009 11:02PM
Why do they do this to us?
Dallas on MNF, now this. This loss was heart breaking, but there are many great factors to take away from this game. We saw how good the D could be. Lets hope Poz doesn't have a serious injury. That being said, it was a terrible mistake by a SECOND YEAR player who will learn from it. I liked what I saw from the Buffalo Bills and I know for sure every Bills fan was on the edge of their seat for the whole game and who expected that? They can only build form this loss. The Bills are not in as bad of shape as we all thought they would be.
09/14/2009 11:04PM
Not a horrible decision by McKelvin
I can't blame McKelvin for taking the ball out. First, it looked as though he thought he had backtracked into the endzone once he fielded the ball, and probably thought he couldn't take a knee. Second, taking the ball out brings the clock down to the 2 minute warning. If the Pats did stop the Bills on 3 straight plays, they would get the ball back with no timeouts left. Lastly, the Pats very well could've stacked the box and stopped the Bills on three straight runs. Then, Brady would've gotten the ball with over 90 seconds to go, and the way they were throwing the ball, I don't know that the Bills could stop them, even with the length of the field to go. Tough loss, but lets not pin this on McKelvin's decision. Pin it on McKelvin's ball security, maybe, pin it on D-Bell's ineptitude to line up properly, maybe, pin it on the Bills prevent defense, maybe, but not McKelvin's decision.
09/14/2009 11:05PM
another ridiculous loss
what a shocker just ridiculous
09/14/2009 11:05PM
spot...cont
i said the same thing when that happened. i couldn't believe they gave him an extra yard. Could have changed the whole end of the game??? it happened earlier in the game in the first quarter, Faulk was like a yard short and they gave him the first.jauron probably couldn't get the flag out soon enough...figures.
This has become second nature losing this way.
09/14/2009 11:13PM
jauron
sucks
09/14/2009 11:26PM
mckelvin
I think mckelvin thought that he had to return it, because he went back on the ball. He caught it really at the one and drifted back 2 yards. Who know's. I am more pissed off that we let them go right in so easily to make it 24-19. This just hurts! Can't wait to hear what TO had to say. THIS LOSS SUCKS!!!!!!!!
09/14/2009 11:37PM
Wow ! Now what
We were there to win the game, not to just have a chance to win. The problem is Jauron was happy with the chance to win. However, that is a losing mentality. Play like you belong there and the players did, but they will have to win the games they play and beat this culture of poor leadership. We lost this game due to leadership issues. It's very simple, the Bills lose games like this, but New England win games like this, why you ask ? Leadership ! Take these same players and a motivating coach and they will be a better team. It's belief in ones self that makes the difference. For example, Marv Levy, small man, great motivator, great leadership, great coach. Those were our best years! Jaurons comments were laughable. These losses are the result of poor leadership !
09/15/2009 12:19AM
take tom brady photo off site
please.
09/15/2009 12:21AM
Fumble-itis?
let's rename it now to FumbLeodis
09/15/2009 12:24AM
Hire Bill Cower or Mike Shanahan
Please Mr Wilson hire and pay for a real coach!
09/15/2009 2:17AM
Bad Decisions by Mckelvin and by Ralph Wilson
Stupid decision by McKelvin to not down the ball in the end zone and another bonehead move by not firing Juron in the offseason and going after Shanahan or Cowher. This team needs a hard nosed coach in the worst possible way!
09/15/2009 9:35AM
Pass Defense
Why wouldn"t you throw 50 passes when the defense gives you a 5-7 yard buffer. There were times when the receiver would catch a ball and the defense was not even in the picture. The defensive coordinator should be fired immediately.
09/15/2009 10:01AM
trade Poz
He's played one season! He's not a playmaker. Do what the Pat's did. Trade him now and get something for him. He's got glass bones!
09/15/2009 12:10PM
7-9
Here comes another 7-9 season. Good enough to be heartbreaking, not good enough to make the playoffs. And it starts at the head coach. Winning and losing is a habit. A team learns to lose (Jauron) just as easily as a team learns to win (Belicheck).
09/15/2009 3:27PM
They'll rip your heart out kid
Merry Christmas 7-9 again ho, ho ho, you Buffalo losers! The Bills get smoked like a cigar every time. Smoke you Buffalo!
09/15/2009 5:41PM
i am sick of dumb players
how do these players get this far playing football their entire life and then make such a dumb play that you should know.....when the hands team is on the field DONT TRY AND RUN THE BALL BACK....your up by 5 points a little over 2 min left all he had to do was take the knee put it in the ahnds of edwards and the offense they could...not saying that NE wouldnt ahve stopped them and scored cuz the possiblaty is still there but at least give us a change NO lets be a super hero and try and put the game away....o wait i see a LINEBACKER (who is bigger and stronger then me) lets run right at him....bad move....i really wanna know what was going threw McKelvins head when he got the ball.....how dumb can i be???? that possible...either way it hurts to see us lose but it hurts even worse cuz it was off a dumb play from a player who should be smarter then what he showed....he did graduate college....WTF
09/16/2009 2:19AM
Use your brain
Why can't anybody think that plays for the Bill's? Use your head and you win the game. Special Teams? What was so special about them?
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