The New England Patriots wrapped up their 10th consecutive AFC East championship with a 24-12 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
The New England Patriots turned back the clock and won their Week 16 matchup against the Buffalo Bills in the old-fashioned way.
With the defense stepping up and a running game that seemed unstoppable at times, the Patriots turned Tom Brady into a game manager as they wrapped up the AFC East with a 24-12 win at Gillette Stadium.
While the passing game was frustrating at times, Bill Belichick and his team simply did what they needed to do to secure a playoff spot and ease back into the No. 2 seed overall in the AFC.
It wasn’t a pretty game, but there were smiles all around and a great way for the team to go into the holiday after losing back-to-back tough games against the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers.
"“Well, always a great feeling to win the division,” Belichick said following the game. “You have to give our players a lot of credit. It’s been a tough couple of weeks but they responded with a great week of preparation. I thought we played hard today against Buffalo that also played tough like they always do. They’re well-coached team and they really make you work for everything. I thought our punt and punt return teams gave us a lot of good field position plays throughout the course of the game. Then we were able to run the ball fairly consistently, play pretty good defense.”"
Coming into the game, there was some concern as to how the team would respond without Josh Gordon in the passing game. They responded by turning back the clock and playing the type of football they played back in the early days of the dynasty.
Behind Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead they carried the ball, played great special teams and solid defense through most of the game to get the win.
Now 10-5 on the season, here are five observations from the 24-12 AFC East clincher against the Buffalo Bills in Week 16.
Pedestrian Tom Brady
It is not often that the New England Patriots win a football game without Tom Brady playing a solid game, but Sunday’s 24-12 victory was just that.
Brady was simply not on his game and simply did not look like himself in this game. Now part of that was the team’s success with the running game, but even when he did have opportunities to make plays in the air, he either rushed throws or was not on the same page with his receivers.
More from Chowder and Champions
- 3 Midseason Chaim Bloom Decisions That Have Killed the 2023 Red Sox
- 10 Patriots Who Will Be Cut by Tuesday’s Roster Deadline
- MLB Screws Red Sox Fans With Broadcast for Mookie Betts Return
- 3 Most Underpaid Celtics Heading Into the 2023 Season
- Red Sox Continue Rollercoaster Season With Massive Win
Those misconnections did lead to two interceptions in the game as Brady didn’t even reach 50 yards passing by halftime. In fact, the 41-year-old quarterback only passed for a total of 126 yards in the game with one touchdown.
Is there a reason for concern with Tom Brady’s play on Sunday?
According to the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, there is nothing to worry about concerning his health.
"“I feel great,” Brady said when asked how he is feeling physically. “I feel 100 percent.”"
While it is obvious something is not right with Tom Brady, it is possible the New England Patriots are holding something back offensively. Julian Edelman did make a couple big plays, but Rob Gronkowski did not catch a pass and both Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett were basically invisible.
While the running game will be important in the playoffs, Brady’s arm is still very important in leading this team to the promise land.
Robert James Gronkowski
Well, it has become clear over the past few weeks that the dominant tight end we call Gronk is no more.
That doesn’t mean he can’t be an effective tight end. With no catches on three targets against a team he typically dominates, Rob Gronkowski is definitely a shell of himself. There could still be something wrong health-wise, but the New England Patriots have had to find a different way to utilize the size and power of Gronkowski.
While he wasn’t even a factor in the passing game on Sunday, Rob Gronkowski the blocker was highly effective as the team ran for over 250 yards.
Overall, the big tight end is happy with the end results and cool with changing his role to help the team win.
"“Games like that happen,” Gronk said following the game. “I’m on year nine now, and I’ve been in games where we just run the ball the whole game if it’s working. I’ll just tell you this, whatever it takes to win a game that’s what we’re doing.”"
That is great to hear from a player who has been so dominant in the passing game in the past. Though one of his targets ended up in an interception, Rob Gronkowski is still good enough to have a couple bigger offensive games. While fans are getting use to the average tight end named Robert James Gronkowski, don’t be surprised if Gronk makes another appearance or two before the season is over.
What’s up with Hogan?
One of the players the New England Patriots need to step up in the absence of Josh Gordon is Chris Hogan.
On Sunday, Hogan simply wasn’t a factor.
More from New England Patriots
- Former Patriot Stevan Ridley Put Kevin Hart in a Wheelchair
- 3 Patriots Who Can Clinch a Roster Spot in Final Preseason Game
- Patriots Get Win Over Division Rivals Before Season Even Begins
- New Massachusetts Sportsbook Promos: $450 Bonus to Bet on Your Patriots at Caesars + DraftKings
- Ezekiel Elliott Reveals 3 Reasons Why He Signed With Patriots
Part of that was due to the heavy running game, and some of it has to do with Tom Brady not looking his way. Whether that is because of him not getting separation or something else, we don’t know. However, it was obvious Hogan was frustrated at something during the game on Sunday.
After the team failed to convert a third down, Chris Hogan was seen slamming his helmet down. Then was spotted sitting alone on the bench a few times. When asked about why he was sitting on the other side of the bench, Hogan chalked it up to superstition?
“Yeah, we were playing well sitting over there so I thought I would see if I could continue it,” Hogan explained, as transcribed by WEEI.
Really? Okay, we’ll buy that for now.
For a player on a contract year, it has to be frustrating for Chris Hogan not to be more involved than he is right now…right?
"“Not at all, we won,” Hogan said following the game. “Proud of this team. We had to battle a couple of weeks and a couple frustrating losses and we came out here and got the job done.”"
In putting the team first, Chris Hogan is showing what kind of player he is. But, his body language on the field told another story. We’ll have to see how this tale plays out the rest of the season and into the playoffs.
Running is the name of the game
The game ball for Sunday’s 24-12 victory over the Buffalo Bills go to the offensive line and the way the team ran the ball.
With 273 yards on the ground on 47 carries, the New England Patriots set the tone for the game right off the bat. Behind the strong running of Sonny Michel, Rex Burkhead, James White and a couple of sweep plays by Cordarrelle Patterson, the Patriots showed they can run the ball and win games when Tom Brady is off.
White, who had a 27-yard touchdown run, talked about how good it feels for the team to turn to a physical style of football on the offensive said of the ball to win football games.
"“I think the offensive line, it starts with them and they did a great job today of being physical, the tight ends, receivers,” James White said. “It’s not easy as much as we ran the ball today to keep doing the right things, keep being physical for that many plays, but they did it. We had a lot of rushing yards. Sony [Michel] ran hard, Rex ran hard, and I tried to run hard when I got the ball. I mean, just a great team effort.”"
Speaking of the rookie, Sony Michel looked good in finding holes and knocking off some big runs. Overall, the Georgia product rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown. He has now run for 881 yards on the season and is in striking distance for a 1,000-yard season despite missing a few weeks due to injury.
Old friend Nick Foles
The game of football is a funny game.
After the New England Patriots beat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, all attention turned to Philadelphia where the Eagles were involved in a tight game against the Houston Texans.
With old friend Nick Foles leading the way, the Eagles did ink out win against the Texans giving the Patriots the No. 2 seed in the AFC once again. The Super Bowl MVP who worked his magic in beating the Patriots in Super Bowl LII may have just played a role in getting the team back to the big game.
While the Eagles are fighting for their own playoff lives, Patriots players were opening rooting for the clutch backup quarterback. As some players were heard saying “fly Eagles fly” as the game came to an end, safety Duron Harmon summed up how Nick Foles has performed the last two seasons late in the year.
"“Just to think about the last two years, I mean Nick Foles plays his best ball in December,” Harmon said, via WEEI. “He’s a competitor. We’ve seen that in the Super Bowl. We’ve seen that leading up to the Super Bowl when he had to take over for the Eagles at the quarterback position last year. We knew what type of player he is and he’s doing it all over again, so like I said, [we] thank him for leading that offense today, especially on that two-minute drive.”"
As bleak as things were a week ago, the New England Patriots have a chance to actually secure the No. 1 seed with a victory next week against the New York Jets and a loss by the Kansas City Chiefs.