The New England Patriots’ 16-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday might appear inconspicuous to most. However, most viewers seemed to take away three things.
Josh Allen is concussed
After a hit early in the fourth quarter by New England safety Jonathan Jones, Bills quarterback Josh Allen was immediately taken out of the game. Allen has since been placed in concussion protocol, according to Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott.
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Following that vicious helmet-to-helmet hit, Jones was flagged for unnecessary roughness, which is grounds for ejection from the game. However, Senior Vice President of Officiating Al Riveron argued that the hit did not garner an ejection.
“We looked at it and, in this situation, we didn’t feel that that contact rose to the level of an ejection,” said Riveron. “The player actually turns. Obviously, there is helmet contact, but we have standards for an ejection, and this did not rise to that standard; therefore, we did not eject him. There was a foul called and obviously the penalty stood, but we did not feel this contact rose to that level.”
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Bills offense commits turnovers and draws penalties aplenty
The Bills’ offense struggled Sunday against the Patriots’ defense, as it was able to move the ball but found itself consistently unable to cash in for points at the end of drives. Rather, Buffalo appeared snake-bitten by turnovers and penalties that killed many of its drives.
Allen threw for three interceptions on Sunday, not to mention various missed throws and bad decisions throughout the game. Those turnovers — coupled with multiple pre-snap penalties and the team being forced to burn timeouts in order to avoid delay-of-game flags — led to the Bills’ offense getting in their own way more than once.
Tom Brady throws his first interception of 2019
Another big story from Sunday’s game was Tom Brady’s struggles versus the Buffalo defense. The six-time Super Bowl champion finished 18-of-39 passing for 150 yards and an interception, his first of the year. That defense held the All-Pro quarterback to a passer rating of just 45.9 after he forced three-and-outs on seven of the Patriots’ last 12 drives. Though the Bills’ defense held in check an offense with a lot of firepower, it was not enough, according to cornerback Tre’Davious White:
“We don’t take pride in moral victories,” White said. “Obviously (Brady) made a few more plays than we did to stop him. He put his team in a position to win and we had to get a few more three and outs and that would’ve helped our offense out more.”
With the win, the Patriots improved their record to 4-0 on the year. Meanwhile, the Bills dropped their first game of the young season to fall to 3-1.
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