Patriots Bounce Back and Then Some

After falling in week three to the Ravens in a heartbreaking 31-30 defeat, the Patriots found themselves in an unusual spot – with a losing record. This was the first time since 2003 that the Patriots record had fallen below .500, a place that just feels foreign to Pats fans since the beginning of the Bill Belichick era. Though it is still early in the season, it was extremely important that the Patriots rebound with a win in Week Four against the division rival, the Buffalo Bills, and that is exactly what they did in a very big way.

Though they started the game off slow, heading into halftime down 14-7, Tom Brady and the rest of the offense exploded in the second half, putting up 45 points and scoring on six straight drives on their way to a more than convincing 52-28 victory. Tom Brady looked like his old self as the Patriots ran the no huddle offense, throwing for 340 yards and three touchdowns. He relied heavily on tight end Rob Gronkowski and receiver Wes Welker, who each had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown, 109 and 154 yards respectively. Brady was visibly fired up on the field and really provided the Pats offense with that spark that seemed to be missing the past two weeks, as they had their way with the Bills defense getting anything that they wanted in the second half.

Part of the reason Brady and the passing game were so effective was that the running game was able to take the pressure off them and force the Bills defense to play the run as well, a weapon that the Patriots haven’t had too much of in the past few seasons. Stevan Ridley had another big game with 106 yards and two touchdowns in what has been a fantastic season for him so far. But the real surprise in this game was undrafted rookie running back Brandon Bolden, who broke out for 137 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. The tandem of Bolden and Ridley gave the bills problems all afternoon and the two became the first Patriots running backs to have over 100 yards rushing in the same game since 1980.

This was truly a complete game victory for the Patriots as their defense put up a stellar performance in the second half, and the offensive line was tremendous for the entire game even without All-Pro guard Logan Mankins, who was out with an injury. With this offensive assault, the Patriots became only the second team in NFL history to have two players rush for over 100 yards and receive for over 100 yards in the same game. Pats fans can rest easy again as the Patriots seem to be back to their old selves, and  could be even scarier if they can maintain this type of running game. They carry this momentum into a huge game this week in Foxboro against the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning.

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