New England Patriots Links 9/15/09 - Brady Leads Thrilling Comeback Over Bills

Erik Scalavino describes the Play of the Game that put the ball back in Brady's hands, that led us to victory.

On the ensuing kickoff [following Ben Watson's TD with 2 min. left], Buffalo trotted out their hands team, anticipating an on-side or squib kick from the Pats. Instead, kicker Stephen Gostkowski drilled one into the Bills end zone. Buffalo’s Leodis McKelvin decided to take it out. Bad decision. He was drilled by Brandon Meriweather, who jarred the ball a bit, followed by Pierre Woods, whose extra effort knocked the ball from McKelvin’s grasp. A pileup formed, but Gostkowski, at the back of it, wound up with the football.

"Stephen Gostkowski … what more can you say about that guy, man?" Woods mused later. "He came down there, he was all bent up, like a pretzel, had the ball, wouldn’t let the guy from Buffalo get it. I tried to pull that [Bills] guy off of him. It was chaos, man."

Randy Moss talks about how cool under pressure Tom Brady was the last five minutes of the game.

I remember…I think it was 5:32 left in the game and you see Tom coming off the sideline and he comes in the huddle talking about ‘we're gonna win this game.' And when you have a guy like that saying positive things and then going out there to make it happen, you have to have your hopes high and really think positive. From 5:32 on, everything was positive and I was really into the game. Definitely, at that time, just for the fact that…I think we were down 11 with 5:32 or something like that. So, I know it was a little late in the game for us to start playing.

When he comes in that huddle, everybody is looking up to him and want him to lead us down the field. And when you have a guy like that leading you down the field, I mean, you can't do nothing but try to run through a brick wall for him. So, I'm happy with what we accomplished tonight, but like I said, we've got to get back to work on Wednesday. And there's no telling what kind of lashing we're gonna get, but we can take this victory and hang it up.

TEAM TALK

• Game Notes: Patriots vs. Bills.  Check out the notes from the game, milestones reached and more.
• Patriots Post-game quotes.
• Post-Game Pressers:  Bill Belichick (4.34 min. video), Tom Brady (5 min. video), Randy Moss (8.17 min video).  Plus Transcripts.
• Cheers to 50 Great Seasons (1.04 min. video)
• Game Highlights: Patriots vs. Bills (5.07 min. video)
• Andy Hart says missing Mayo is a scary thought and hopefully we won't be without him for long.
• Paul Perillo offers his thoughts on the rest of the week 1 games around the league.

LOCAL LINKS

• Ian Rapoport talks about the thrilling comeback in last night's stunner.
• Shalise Manza Young recaps the game and notes Brady's two late TDs lifted the team to victory.
• Jim Donaldson tells us to forget the first 56 minutes, it was pure Brady in the final 4.
• Ron Borges writes the Patriots found a way to wring a victory out of Buffalo’s grasping, fumbling hands, and explains why they are the Patriots and the Bills are not.
• Karen Guregian notes it wasn't pretty, but the Patriots Defense got the job done.
• Christopher Price offers his ten things we learned last night.
• Kirk Minihan notes there are still plenty of questions for Pats (including whether Brady is faster than Suzy Kolber.)
• Chris Gasper presents last night's Ups and Downs, other than Brady and Moss who both had big nights.
• Bob Ryan writes that what we had just seen was a dramatic way to inaugurate the second half-century of Boston/New England Patriots football.
• Dan Shaughnessy says last night Brady played the best comeback concert since Elvis played the International in Vegas in 1969.
• Mark Farinella analyzes the Patriots amazing comeback.
• Steve Buckley focuses on Ben Watson's contributions to the game.
• Monique Walker reports with two crucial touchdowns, Ben Watson showed the doubters why he was still wearing a Patriots jersey last night.
• Chris Forsberg notes Randy Moss tied a career-high by hauling in 12 catches for a game-high 141 yards, unusually all in the short passing game.
• Julian Benbow notes how emotional Bills Safety Donte Whitner summed up the game, "We did exactly what we expected to do in the first 3 1/2 quarters. And we didn’t do what we expected to do in the fourth quarter. We wanted a win, we needed a win, we had a win, and we let it go.’’
• Chris Forsberg breaks down the key play of the game and offers quotes from the participants - Meriweather, Woods, Bills coach Dick Jauron and Bills CB Leodis McKelvin.
• Chris Gasper Patriots Notebook: Mayo injures knee - status unknown; the running-back-by-committee approach was in effect last night; Kraft says he'll always consider Seymour a Patriot and more.
• Chris Gasper and Tony Massarotti offer their video reactions following the victory.
• Chris Forsberg posts the Postgame chatter with quick links to each player and their comments following the game.
• Monique Walker catches up with recent retirees Troy Brown, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, all on hand last night at Gillette Stadium.

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Game Center: Recap, Analysis, Stats and that nifty highlight reel.
• Peter King (SI) The Pats aren't perfect, but they're contenders again with Brady back.
• Steve Wyche (NFL.com) Pats' rally over Bills proves quality teams rise to occasion under pressure.
• Jeff Goodman (Fox Sports) With help from Bills, Brady leads comeback win.
• Howard Bryant (ESPN) Brady, Pats squeak by Bills.
• Mike Reiss (ESPN) Breaking down the key play of the game; status of Mayo's knee still unknown.
• Mike Reiss (ESPN) Two-minute offense keys comeback.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Brady calm and deadly in comeback game.
• Andrew Perloff (SI) Terrell Owens makes no waves after tepid Bills debut.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) T.O. muted on, off field.
• Alan Pergament (Buffalo News) MNF crew shines bright in thriller.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Fans need to settle down after Monday night.
• Mike Reiss (ESPN) Moss looks ahead to the Jets, breaks two-month media silence.
• Mike Reiss (ESPN) Catching up with Troy Brown, talking about old Foxboro Stadium.

VIEW FROM BUFFALO

• Mark Gaughan (Buffalo News) Bills lose heartbreaker to Pats.
• Jerry Sullivan (Buffalo News) This finishing kick hits Bills in the gut.
• Mike Zeisberger (Toronto Sun) Brady clutch when it counted.
• Mike Zeisberger (Toronto Sun) Same old sorry Bills.
• Buffalo News Bills-Patriots report card.
• Niagara Gazette TOPS reports T.O. cereal sales hits 33,000 boxes.