Patriots prove Bills not ready to measure up in AFC East

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Buffalo Bills – despite all the noise and bluster coming from the team’s facility this week – fell short, once again, to a Bill Belichick-coached New England Patriots team.

Thanks to a pass-heavy attack, in which Patriots quarterback Tom Brady completed 38 of his 59 passes for 466 yards and three touchdowns, New England held off a late Bills rally to take the early lead in the AFC East, with a 40-32 victory.

Simply put, Buffalo’s defense fell short of all their talk.

In the week leading up to the game, head coach Rex Ryan vowed that the Bills (1-1) would be physical in defending Patriots (2-0) tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Making the same mistake the Pittsburgh Steelers made in Week 1 against the Patriots, the Bills relied on man-to-man coverage on Gronkowski, whose seven catches for 113 yards and one touchdown crushed any chances the Bills had to stay in the game.

Receiver Julian Edelman added 11 receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

New England obviously felt it had an advantage in the passing game, as the Patriots rushed the ball just 15 times, though two of those were knees Brady took late in the game.

Belichick now holds a 10-4 record against teams coached by Ryan.

"I think our record against him has been OK," Belichick said earlier this week. "I'll take it."

The Bills charged to an early lead after a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to open the game. After that, it was a mess. Buffalo managed to get just 42 yards the rest of the half, and could not consistently move the ball.

In a trend that has been common of Ryan-coached teams against Belichick, the Bills racked up numerous unenforced errors that doomed their chances to climb back in the game.

Buffalo committed eight penalties for 74 yards in the first half alone. The Bills ended up committing 14 penalties total for a back-breaking 140 yards.

After a solid Week 1 performance in his first career start, Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor came down to Earth and struggled throughout the game. Taylor completed 23 of his 30 passes for 242 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

Follow Lorenzo Reyes on Twitter @LorenzoGReyes.

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