Since 2012, Tom Brady has thrown 20 touchdowns and three interceptions against the Buffalo Bills.
His new teammate, cornerback Stephon Gilmore, found himself on the wrong end of a few of those scores, including a 43-yard strike to former New England Patriots wideout Brian Tyms back in 2014. But Gilmore, who signed a reported five-year, $65 million contract that includes $40 million guaranteed Thursday, also found himself on the right side of one of those few picks.
It took place on Nov. 23, 2015.
It stands as the only interception the Patriots quarterback has thrown against Buffalo in his last five meetings with the AFC East rival.
The Patriots held a 20-10 lead over the Bills with 13:38 left in the fourth quarter. Although on first-and-10, the offense elected to go into shotgun with five-wide from Buffalo’s 46.
From there, Brady elected to go deep.
The pass intended for then-Patriots wideout Chris Harper on a seam route would ultimately be underthrown and batted back into the air by then-Bills safety Corey Graham. And the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Gilmore, who’d been tasked with covering 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight end Rob Gronkowski for most of that evening at Gillette Stadium, would be looming behind them to make up the difference.
The interception netted Gilmore a four-yard return before Gronkowski lassoed him.
Buffalo took possession at the six-yard line in result.
“I was running with my guy and I turned my head around,” Gilmore told reporters in the locker room after what ended up being a 20-13 Bills loss. “Corey made a good play to knock it out of the receiver's hand and tip it up. I was in the right place to pick it off.”
That he was.
Brady won’t have to worry about Gilmore being in the right place to pick off another now. And as for Gilmore, whose Bills went 2-8 against the Patriots since the South Carolina product entered the league at No. 12 overall six springs ago, he won’t have to worry about Brady finding the end zone against him.
With the exception being practice.
Gilmore recorded 25 tackles, six passes defended and the interception over the course of his eight games against New England. Now with them, the 26-year-old resides on a corner depth chart that currently features Malcolm Butler, Eric Rowe, Cyrus Jones, Jonathan Jones and Justin Coleman.
Gilmore accrued 48 tackles, 12 pass breakups as well as a career-best five interceptions while starting 15 games and earning his first Pro Bowl selection in 2016.