Bill Belichick and his New England Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills in a low-scoring game last night. A 14-10 win for the Patriots gave them a cushion in the AFC as they held on to the number one seed.
The weather conditions were horrible, to say the least. Huge gusts of wind that saw a 34-yard field goal fail to make the distance in the warmup, and consistent snow made for a tough night for both sets of players.
But Patriots coach Bill Belichick has seen it all before. Speaking post-game to his players, Belichick made an emotional statement after the win.
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“Just two quick things from me, that is why we practice in this sh*t,” Belichick said.
Belichick and Patriots take control of the AFC
The game was billed as nearly a winner-take-all. At Orchard Park, home of the Bills, many were expecting Mac Jones to struggle against the Bills defense. But Jones didn't have much to do against Buffalo, and he didn't need to.
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In total, the Patriots ran the ball 46 times and rushed for 222 yards compared to Buffalo's 99. Horrible weather conditions contributed to such lobsided play-calling from the Patriots as they leaned heavily on the run game.
Damien Harris (10 carries, 111 yards, 1 TD) and Rhamondre Stevenson (23 carries, 78 yards) were the ones who did the damage as the Bills simply could not stop the run.
In his passionate declaration, Belichick stated that this is why the team practices in such conditions, referring to the weather in New England, where it can get really blustery with heavy snowfall. Well, it certainly did hold the Patriots in good stead for the game.
The weather clearly had a greater effect on the Bills, who do not have much resemblance to the run game; so it was on Josh Allen to make things happen. Allen threw the ball 30 times and only completed 15 of his passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. In comparison, Jones only threw three times, two of which were completed for just 19 yards.
Jones' three pass attempts were the least by a team since 1974 when Buffalo had just two in Week 3 of that year in a 16-12 win over the New York Jets.
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