New England vs Buffalo

Close but no cigar….

The Patriot fans almost had a heart attack nationwide for the close opener against the Bills.

The game’s first play from scrimmage, Tom Brady fumbled as he was belted by Takeo Spikes, and London Fletcher ran the recovery in for a 5-yard touchdown. Brady was not content with the way he performed, 11-for-23 for 163 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He was however fairly happy with the end result after the Patriots were able to pull it together with 19-17 over the Bills.

Bill Belichick became the 31st coach in NFL history with 100 regular-season wins, improving his record to 100-77.

New England cut the lead to 17-14 with 2:52 left in the third quarter on Brady’s 17-yard pass to Kevin Faulk after Buffalo went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Patriots 7-yard line and the line stopped Willis McGahee for no gain.

The pressure was on again when Stephen Gostkowski, the rookie replacing Vinatieri, connected on a 32-yard field goal that tied the game at 17 with 9:33 remaining.

Exactly one minute later, the Patriots took the lead for good on the third play of Buffalo’s possession, sending the Bills to their sixth straight loss against New England.

Buffalo, with a new coaching staff, dominated early, starting with the sack by Spikes, who missed the last 13 games last season with a torn Achilles’ tendon and left Sunday’s game on the Patriots second series with a mild hamstring injury that he doesn’t expect to hold him out of next Sunday’s game at Miami.