I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

[Ebenezer]

The Pats timing was terrible in the first half. Had Brady & Co. been firing on all cylinders and had their timing down they could have put up 21 in the first half. Schobel makes an incredible play and scores a TD. This game was close on the scoreboard but not in reality. I am pumped for the Tampa game based on what I saw but I am no where near thinking this team can be better than 7-9 based on what I saw last night. Had this been week three NE could have put up 40.

[HHURRICANE]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

I get your point but I'm not sure about the logic behind it.

If Evans and Ownes make those easy catches, both on 3rd down, than maybe we are up 21 instead of 11.

The Bills let one get by and in a season where every game counts, this one hurts.

[Syderick]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

The defense stopped them on fourth down 2 times!

[cocamide]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

Instead of fumbling, McKelvin should've ran that kick back for a touchdown to make it 31-19. You're right, the game wasn't as close as it should have been.

[psubills62]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

The Pats timing was terrible in the first half. Had Brady & Co. been firing on all cylinders and had their timing down they could have put up 21 in the first half. Schobel makes an incredible play and scores a TD. This game was close on the scoreboard but not in reality. I am pumped for the Tampa game based on what I saw but I am no where near thinking this team can be better than 7-9 based on what I saw last night. Had this been week three NE could have put up 40.

I can understand these points.

However, you could say the same things about our offense. If our offense had been firing on all cylinders in the first half, who knows how many sustained drives we would have had? If our receivers did their job and caught some passes, we could have easily kept Brady and co. on the sidelines for most of the first half.

And I don't think you can just disregard Schobel's INT and TD as a freak play. No, guys like that don't normally intercept balls and run them back for TD's. But those kinds of things happen in football and it was a result of a great read by Schobel.

[ddaryl]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

There were some highlights to be proud of...

BUT I share you sentiment. If Brady was firing on all cylinders he would of tore us and our 10 yard cushion pass D to shreds

I expect a big time different Brady in Dec... and if we are running this same D it will be a much uglier game IMO

In fact any of the playoff caliber teams with Good QB's or any QB who is hot is going to rip our pass D to shreds.

BUT as mentioned if we don't drop 3 key passes early and commit 8 O penalties we oculd of put up a few more points too.

[Cleve]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

The Bills let one get by and in a season where every game counts, this one hurts.

Yeah, ESPECIALLY against a division opponent. Buffalo lost every single division game last season, and we've extended this dubious streak by one more game.

[Ebenezer]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

I can understand these points.

However, you could say the same things about our offense. If our offense had been firing on all cylinders in the first half, who knows how many sustained drives we would have had? If our receivers did their job and caught some passes, we could have easily kept Brady and co. on the sidelines for most of the first half.

And I don't think you can just disregard Schobel's INT and TD as a freak play. No, guys like that don't normally intercept balls and run them back for TD's. But those kinds of things happen in football and it was a result of a great read by Schobel.

I give Schobel all the credit, no doubt. But plays like that happen once a year; you can't count on that happening again.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

The Pats timing was terrible in the first half. Had Brady & Co. been firing on all cylinders and had their timing down they could have put up 21 in the first half. Schobel makes an incredible play and scores a TD. This game was close on the scoreboard but not in reality. I am pumped for the Tampa game based on what I saw but I am no where near thinking this team can be better than 7-9 based on what I saw last night. Had this been week three NE could have put up 40.

Sorry Eb but this is BS.

[DraftBoy]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

It was week 1, both teams made mistakes. We know the Pats will get better, the question is will we?

[JD]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

A lot of "what if's"... what if TO didnt drop the ball? What if Bell hadn't commit a penalty on Jacksons first down run?

What if, what if, WHAT IF..blah blah!

[trapezeus]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

I watched a lot of games on the redzone channel on sunday and i think the NFL has to look at the number of preseason games and cut them down.

No one plays anyone. the first game of the season has gotten sloppier and sloppier for teams, especially the good ones who really don't run their starters at all. Why prolong the whole season and risk those injuries if these teams don't come out looking better.

Bills offense, pats offense. those two extra presesaon games didn't really seem to matter. Both offenses would have made the same mistakes without those games.

As for EB. i see your point, but the game shook down the way it shook down. i think it was close. the bills offense had some killer penaltiies and some worse drops. if TO didn't drop that third down conversion in the first half up 14-7 on a leading drive, the could have potentially really opened up the whole game and made the patriots totally one dimensional.

[Forward_Lateral]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

Draftboy is right. The Bills made just as many mistakes as NE. This game could've been 45-44, or it could've been a blow out by either team. Buffalo handed the game to New England just as much as they handed it to Buffalo.

[Cleve]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

Ebenezer has a valid point - if you look at the final stats for the game, it looks a lot more lopsided in the Patriot's favor. A 2 to 1 ratio of passing yards for the Patriots, 165 more total yards, more plays, more time of possession and fewer penalties.

	17	28
Total Plays	48	77
Total Yards	276	441
Passing	186	368
Rushing	90	73
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-2	3-5
Penalties	9-71	6-55
3rd Down Conversions	4-10	10-16
4th Down Conversions	1-1	0-2
Turnovers	1	1
Defensive / Special Teams TDs	1	0
Possession	22:52	37:08

[TheBrownBear]

Re: I am not convinced that it was as close as the final score appeared.

The Pats timing was terrible in the first half. Had Brady & Co. been firing on all cylinders and had their timing down they could have put up 21 in the first half. Schobel makes an incredible play and scores a TD. This game was close on the scoreboard but not in reality. I am pumped for the Tampa game based on what I saw but I am no where near thinking this team can be better than 7-9 based on what I saw last night. Had this been week three NE could have put up 40.

It's funny because I felt the same way last night. But I think that was more a result of watching our collapse while the Pats shredded us to pieces in the last five minutes. Upon reflection, we really played a hell of a game on both sides of the ball up until the meltdown point. We took Brady out of his rhythm by applying pressure, we didn't give up the big play, and we made stops when we needed to. I also thought our offense did a good job of protecting the ball and capitalizing with timely scores.

Assuming we can bounce back emotionally, I think there were a lot of good signs last night. Most of which might be Trent showing signs of growth at the qb position. Remember, he looked completely lost against division foes last year.