Fisch und Wirbellosenforum |
|
For the longest time Matthew Slater Color Rush Jersey , there were nothing but field goals. For three entire quarters, for 45-plus minutes of football, not a single team could find the end zone at New Era Field in Buffalo. Even the great Tom Brady, the best quarterback to ever play the game, couldn’t muster a way to get the Patriots across the goal line.And even after James White finally scored the first touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter, putting up nothing but field goals for that long isn’t going to help you cover the gambling spread when you are favored by 13.5 points.Obviously, the Patriots themselves don’t actually care about covering the spread. But this was a big game for me; I needed the Pats to cover in order to remain at .500 for the week, as well as for the season. By the time the fourth quarter finally rolled around, I had pretty much given up all hope on that. I thought we were going to look back on this Monday night affair with the Bills and remember it as the “Endless Field Goals Game.”All chances of New England coming back to cover the spread seemed hopeless — until Devin McCourty happened.With just under six minutes to go in the game, McCourty intercepted Derek Anderson and returned it 84 yards for a pick six. Before McCourty’s defensive work of art, the Patriots had apparently gone 40 games without a defensive touchdown, which was the longest drought for such a thing in the NFL.(That’s hard to believe, you know, with Bill Belichick being the great defensive coach that he is.)With McCourty pulling off the play of the game, the Patriots stretched their lead from 12 points to 19 points, and they held on to take down the Bills 25-6. For those counting Ryan Allen Jersey , it was Brady’s 29th career win against Buffalo. How is that for dominance?And more importantly (just kidding), the Patriots covered the two-touchdown spread. A few days ago when I picked them to cover, I remember feeling a little uneasy about it because 13.5 points is quite a few points. I wrote that I would never be able to live with myself if I actually picked Derek Anderson over Brady and Belichick.And boy, for over 50 minutes, I was actually regretting being so loyal to the greatest coach-quarterback duo in history. But then Devin McCourty came out of nowhere and cleared all of those doubts right up. Josh Allen had mixed emotions after an inconsistent performance in his first meeting with boyhood idol Tom Brady.“I wanted to beat him, for sure,” the Bills rookie quarterback said following Buffalo’s 24-12 loss at New England on Sunday. “He’s one of the greatest to ever do it and as a young kid growing up, I never thought I’d get the opportunity to be on the same field as him.“So it’s a cool feeling. But at the same time, I was focused on winning a football game.”Then again, it wasn’t so much Brady who beat the Bills. It was the Bill Belichick-coached Patriots defense that stifled Allen and Buffalo’s offense.Having shown progress in Allen’s previous four starts since he returned from missing four games with a sprained throwing elbow, the Bills offense took a step back against New England.The Bills (5-10) totaled 289 yards of offense and managed 14 first downs after gaining more than 300 yards and producing more than 20 first downs in five of their last six games.Allen completed 20 of 41 passes for 217 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. It was the fifth time in 10 starts Allen has committed two or more turnovers.The Patriots disguised their coverages in the first half and limited Allen to 48 yards passing. It was the fifth time this season he has had 60 or fewer yards at halftime.“They did that for an obvious reason, being young,” Allen said. “It took a little bit to adjust to. At the same time, I’ve got to be better with my eyes, got to be better with where I put the football.”Belichick improved to 10-0 at home when facing a rookie quarterback Danny Shelton Color Rush Jersey , and 17-5 overall.Allen boosted his passing totals with 72 yards and Buffalo’s only touchdown in the final minutes when the game had already been decided. The garbage-time production led Allen to topping 200 yards for the fifth consecutive game, the longest streak by a Bills quarterback since Tyrod Taylor’s five-game stretch from Nov. 30-Dec. 20, 2015.The Bills did little to help their rookie quarterback on offense. Allen’s receivers dropped several passes, tight end Jason Croom fumbled in the red zone after 24-yard gain, and the running game was ineffective.“When given the opportunity, you’ve got to make plays,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said. “Look, sometimes Josh could have made a better throw. But there were other times where the ball was catchable and you’ve got to make plays on the ball.”Buffalo finished with 72 yards rushing, the first time in five games it failed to rush for 100 or more. LeSean McCoy returned after missing one game with a hamstring injury but had only 9 yards on six carries. Undrafted rookie Keith Ford led the Bills with 33 yards on seven carries.Allen scrambled five times for 30 yards. He leads the Bills in rushing this season with 536 yards, but has been held to 46 over the past two weeks after totaling 335 in his previous three games.Buffalo’s defense had one glaring weakness in allowing a season-high 273 rushing yards against the Patriots. But the Bills defense gave Allen opportunities with three takeaways and limited Brady to 126 passing yards — his lowest since he threw for 123 yards in a 2003 loss to the Bills.“Our defense played spectacular,” Allen said. “They forced three turnovers and we got (three) points off that, and that starts with me.”Brady greeted Allen on the field after the game and gave the rookie some encouragement.“Nothing too crazy, but he’s one of the good ones off the field, too,” Allen said. “I’m sure he doesn’t want to share too many of his tricks or whatever is up his sleeve. Got to hand it to him. Such a long career and he’s still playing extremely well.”
|
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 1327
Themen
und
2207
Beiträge.
|
Forum Software ©Xobor.de | Forum erstellen |