As the New England Patriots’ prolific attack continues to suffer injuries, the defence has improved to keep their undefeated mark intact.
Tom Brady and the offence were anything but sharp in the 20-13 win over AFC East foes the Buffalo Bills, but the other side of the ball stepped up to allow the team to escape with the victory.
New England held Buffalo’s dangerous running game to 94 yards on 3.1 yards per rush, including containing duel-threat quarterback Tyrod Taylor to just one yard on four attempts.
– NFL: Smith banned for a year over substance use
– NBA: 76ers woes continue with yet another loss
– NFL: Bengals slump to first defeat of the season
After the Patriots couldn’t salt away the contest with a first down, the defence stood firm in the Bills’ two-minute drill on the final drive of the night, which was practically ended by a Rob Ninkovich strip-sack of Taylor.
New England’s unit now ranks atop the NFL with an average of just 18.2 points allowed, with the rush defence – susceptible early in the season – improved to second in the league with 88.8 rushing yards given up per game.
Brady needed the help against Buffalo as the makeshift offensive line, which rotated players in and out all game to find a reliable combination, often broke down versus the Bills’ rush.
Out of his 40 dropbacks in the game, Brady was pressured (hit, sacked or pressured) on 20 of them, his most in a game in the past seven seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
To make matters worse, Brady lost wide receiver Aaron Dobson to an ankle injury in the second quarter before also losing fellow receiver Danny Amendola to a knee injury in the third quarter.
Great throw + great catch + great photo = @budlight Frame of the Game. pic.twitter.com/XvRV9kPM62
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 24, 2015
“We were down to two healthy receivers; you get pretty limited quickly in the things that you can do,” said Brady, who saw his top
target Julian Edelman suffer a broken foot last week and running back Dion Lewis tear his ACL the week prior.
“We’ve lost quite a few guys over the last three weeks. We’ll just keep fighting and figuring out a way to win, and it’s good to win against a good defence.”
New England and Carolina are the only unbeaten teams at 10-0.
