These are the winners and losers from the New England Patriots’ 37-16 win over the Buffalo Bills.
Winner: RB Dion Lewis
Lewis rushed for a career-high 129 rushing yards and gained a total 153 yards from scrimmage (also a career high) and 2 touchdowns (tied a career high). His 5.2 yards per carry is second in the NFL for running backs and his 803 rushing yards ranks a respectable 16th. He was the engine for the offense and he’s really emerged as a dominant player over the second half of the season.
Lewis currently has 977 yards from scrimmage in 2017 and could very well surpass 1,000 next week.
Winner: TE Rob Gronkowski
Gronkowski had 5 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown and drew a 29-yard defensive pass interference call that set up a 1-yard score for Mike Gillislee. Gronkowski was also a dominant blocker as he continued to make his case for First Team All Pro.
Winner: TE Dwayne Allen
It might be a low bar, but Allen had 2 catches for 26 yards, including an awesome 22-yard catch-and-run and he provided his normal elite-level run blocking all day. He might not be the receiving threat many had hoped, but he’s been an excellent #2 tight end since the bye week, good for a couple targets to force defenses to respect him as an option.
Winner: The Patriots offensive line
New England rushed for 193 yards on the ground, which means that the line absolutely did their job in the run game. According to Pro Football Focus, LG Joe Thuney, RG Shaq Mason, and RT Cameron Fleming didn’t give up a single pressure on the day, with LT Nate Solder and C David Andrews giving up a combined three pressures. That’s a huge win for the offensive line.
Winner: LB Marquis Flowers
Flowers racked up a team-high 10 tackles, a team-high 2.5 sacks, a team-high 3 quarterback hits, and a team-high 3 tackles for loss. What more could you ask for? Flowers is making a strong case for the Patriots to extend him into 2018 and beyond as he’s a great special teams player and a versatile linebacker. He should also start with Kyle Van Noy for the rest of the year.
Winner: EDGE Trey Flowers
Flowers has just one quarterback hit, but he added a dominant 3 tackles for loss and showed impressive control of the edge at the line of scrimmage. That was exactly the type of performance the Patriots needed against Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
Winner: EDGE Deatrich Wise Jr
Wise played well opposite of Flowers as he picked up 1.5 sacks, 2 quarterback hits, and 1 tackle for loss. He had been quiet as of late, so hopefully this was the game that launches Wise back into the discussion as the Patriots head into the playoffs.
Winner: DT Malcom Brown
Brown has been a monster in 2017 and he changed the game with his 15-yard sack of Taylor. He was dominant on the line, as always, with three run stuffs (0 or fewer yards allowed) and has really emerged as one of the most consistent defenders for New England.
Winner: S Patrick Chung
According to Pro Football Focus, Chung was targeted a team-high 9 times. He broke up as many passes (3) as he allowed (3), giving up just 27 yards in coverage. Chung has really stepped up his coverage work after some struggled in 2016.
Oh, and everyone’s a winner. It’s Christmas. No need for any losers today.
Other than Buffalo. They definitely lost.