In a matchup for first place in the AFC East on Monday night, the Patriots traveled back in time to defeat the Bills 14-10. The game was controlled by the weather, with consistent winds at 25-30 mph and gusts over 45 mph throughout the game. As a result, New England only called three passing plays the entire game, gaining just 19 yards through the air. The Patriots ran the ball 46 times for 222 yards in a game that looked like it was from the pre-Super Bowl era.
The Bills defense lined up with eight men in the box and on many downs had nine. Despite this, the Patriots were still able to average 4.8 yards per carry. Their lone touchdown of the night was a Damien Harris 64-yard run that was perfectly blocked.
While the score was close, the Patriots controlled the flow and action of the game. Offensively, they were clearly trying to run the ball all night and the Bills still had difficulty stopping them. New England wasn’t picking up chunks every play, but to be able run the ball when your opponent is putting 8-9 guys near the line of scrimmage on every play is impressive.
Defensively, the Patriots only gave up 230 total yards. The Bills had a total of 10 possesions; New England forced five punts, one turnover on downs, one missed field goal and recovered a fumble. The one touchdown they allowed was after N’Keal Harry muffed a punt and set the Bills up at the Patriots 14-yard line.
Buffalo got inside the Red Zone twice in the fourth quarter and the Patriots defense held both times. The first possession saw the Bills get all the way to the New England 6-yard line before a Matthew Judon sack pushed them back nine yards. Two plays later Tyler Bass missed a field goal. Buffalo again got inside the Patriots 20 on their final drive, but Dawson Knox false-started on 3rd and 9 from the Patriots 13. On the ensuing play, Josh Allen looked to Knox in the end zone, but Adrian Phillips had excellent coverage and broke up the pass. On the 4th Down play after the two minute warning, the Patriots gambled and called a blitz, but the gamble paid off. Allen was forced to throw quickly off his back foot and Myles Bryant broke up the pass to seal the win.
The NFL today is centered around the passing game. To win at a high level, a team must at least either throw the ball well or stop the passing attack. The elite teams can do both. However, on Monday night Bill Belichick and the Patriots gave us a flashback to a previous time when the game was centered around running the ball. There won’t be many games like it, but on a night with 50 mph winds it was what gave the Patriots the best chance to win and it worked.