For Patriots, Confidence is no Coincidence
Albert Breer - SportingNews.com
Sep 15, 2009
New England's defense was sluggish, allowing Buffalo to run and throw effectively. The Bills were blown away in time of possession (37:08-22:52), but made the most of their chances (5.8 yards per play). They were also uneven on offense -– a couple of unsuccessful fourth-down conversions killed drives, another drive stalled inside the red-zone, and the running game showed zero consistency.
"We're definitely not happy with the way we played for the first 55 minutes," guard Logan Mankins said. "We had penalties, we weren't doing what we should, we weren't running the ball consistently, and it's hard to win that way."
Maybe if this was the New York Jets next week, or the Atlanta Falcons or Baltimore Ravens two weeks after, the Patriots would've been closed out and forced to pay for slumping all over the field for three quarters. Maybe this is about as much about a Bills team that cut its left tackle and fired its offensive coordinator in the 10 days leading to the opener, and replaced them with guys carrying no real experience in those front-of-the-room jobs.
But on this night, it was about Brady, and what he brought to that huddle. No ifs. Just whens.
"I think that's our feeling every week," center Dan Koppen said. "We want to give him the time, we know what type of player he is, everybody knows what type of player he is. You put him in that situation, he's a pretty special player."
Here's how special: After getting knocked around (six hits) by the Bills defense for three quarters and missing targets by uncharacteristically large margins throughout the first half, Brady and the offense ran 14 plays in their final two drives –- only one was a third down.
That's why, after McKelvin coughed up the Bills' ticket to ending an 11-game losing streak to New England, Brady's presence on the field made it an inevitability that run would reach 12. And it did, of course, punctuated by two touchdown passes to Benjamin Watson, both ropes down the seam on what Brady said were identical play calls.
Afterwards, Leigh Bodden, who was 0-16 with Detroit last year, said, "some teams would say, 'Here we go again,' and heads would be down (down 24-13 late). Everybody here was positive." Maybe that's because of No 12.
"Sometimes it goes like that," Brady said. "I'm glad we came back and won, and being down 11 with (5:32) left, it's a pretty special victory."
Monday night provided evidence that New England has a long way to go to become any kind of special as a team.
But it also showed that the Patriots still have a pretty special quarterback.
This story appears in Sept. 14's edition of Sporting News Today. If you are not receiving Sporting News Today, the only daily digital sports newspaper, sign up today.
Staff writer Albert Breer covers the NFL for Sporting News. E-mail him at abreer@sportingnews.com.
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