TEAM TALK
- Post Game Notes: Patriots vs. Bills: Patriots clinch playoff spot for 20th time in Robert Kraft’s 25 years of ownership.
- Gamebook: Full Bills-Patriots stats.
- Erik Scalavino recaps the game from the press box at Gillette Stadium: With help, Patriots regain control.
- Paul Perillo shares his random observations from the Patriots 24-12 victory over the Bills: Perfect 10 for the Pats.
- Andy Hart’s Stock Watch: Michel helps Patriots run away from the Bills.
- Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Bills.
- Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick (12.02 min. video) - Tom Brady (4.55 min. video) - Devin McCourty (5.31 min. video) - James White (3.08 min. video).
- Press Pass: Hear from Jason McCourty, Rob Gronkowski and more as they reflect on their 24-12 win against the Bills and becoming AFC East Champs. (1.48 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Kevin Duffy highlights the Patriots clinching the AFC East with a 24-12 win vs. Buffalo.
- Doug Kyed gives us his Pats-Bills takeaways and metrics: Secondary, running backs excel.
- DJ Bean’s Must-read recap: Something has to be wrong with Tom Brady.
- Karen Guregian says that for the first time in a long time, the Patriots strength is not Tom Brady and the passing game, it is Sony Michel and the running game.
- Mike Petraglia says that if Sunday’s underwhelming performance proved anything about these Patriots, it’s that they don’t need an MVP Tom Brady to win.
- Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Running game vaults Patriots to 10th straight division crown.
- Andrew Callahan focuses on how the game has changed for the Pats, “New England’s talent this season does not afford it the same margin for error the team usually enjoys, physicality is a must going forward. If the line of scrimmage does not belong to the Pats, their fate in any given game may slip away, too.”
- Tom E. Curran writes that even after clinching the AFC East with a win over Buffalo, the Patriots continue to find themselves in unfamiliar situations in a ‘challenging’ season for a team that has come to expect success.
- Bill Burt sees these AFC East champs in position to make some noise, warts and all.
- Tom Keegan writes that sometimes, particularly in the AFC East, you don’t have to do anything great to win football games. You just have to do your job when the guys on the other side are falling down doing theirs.
- Michael Hurley serves up some still-warm leftover Pats-Bills thoughts: The sun just always seems to shine on Bill Belichick.
- David Latham (LastWordOnSports) Looking into the perceived Tom Brady interception problem.
- Mike D’Abate (FullPressCoverage) Three for Ten: Patriots defeat Bills 24-12 to clinch AFC East title.
- Evan Lazar tells us ten things we learned from Sunday’s win. 5. Pats OL shines in run game, but struggles in pass protection.
- Ian Logue (PatsFans) Five things we learned from the Patriots win over the Bills: Patriots ground game ruled the day.
- Nick Goss looks at some impressive milestones set by the Patriots.
- Dan Ventura covers how the defense stepped up against the Bills.
- Dave Brown serves up some snark flakes for breakfast as the Patriots ‘run scared to the AFC’s 2nd seed’, desperately relying on the ground game for 273 yards.
- Phil Perry describes how the Patriots locker room erupted after the Eagles beat the Texans, putting New England in prime position to take the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
- Zack Cox explains how the Patriots can clinch the No 1 seed next week.
- Nick O’Malley notes Tom Brady says he’s 100 percent, despite being pulled with 6.39 minutes left in the game. ‘I’m not injured.’
- Doug Kyed passes along Chris Hogan’s explanation for why he was sitting alone, away from the Patriots offense. “Superstition”.
- Dakota Randall reports Cordarrelle Patterson left the game with a knee injury.
- Kevin Duffy Patriots Notebook: Rob Gronkowski held without a catch.
- Zack Cox Patriots Notes: Ufomba Kamalu makes immediate impact in New England debut.
- NESN re-posts Tom Brady’s latest post-game Instagram message.
NATIONAL NEWS
- NFL Game Center (NFL.com) Bills at Patriots: Recap, stats, highlights.
- Darin Gantt (ProFootballTalk) Patriots win 10th straight AFC East title.
- Analysis Team (Pro Football Focus) Refocused, NFL Week 16: New England Patriots 24, Buffalo Bills 12.
- Gary Gramling (SI) Sunday Freakout: A day of atrocious pass interference calls, Saints clinch the 1-seed, Nick Foles saves Christmas.
- Albert Breer (SI) Monday Morning QB: As the season comes down to the wire, the Saints rise to the top: NFL Week 16.
- Don Banks’ Snap Judgments: Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we try to sort out and make sense of a drama-filled Week 16 in the NFL.
- Peter King (ProFootballTalk) FMIA Week 16: NFL playoff scenarios, picks and Millen’s holiday prayer.
- Around the NFL (NFL.com) What we learned from Sunday’s Week 16 games: New England’s defense caused Josh Allen all sorts of problems, resulting in two interceptions and a 52.6 passer rating.
- Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers of NFL Week 16.
- Jonathan Jones (SI) Contenders or Pretenders? Steelers look like the latter in loss to Saints.
- Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) NFL Insider Notes: Get ready for a whole lot of coaching changes, and more from Week 16.
- Oliver Connolly (The Guardian) When the Patriots’ secondary is outplaying Tom Brady, things have changed.
- Staff (TMZ) Tom Brady clearly in decline ... says Ron Jaworski.
- Khadrice Rollins (SI) Patriots tweet ‘Thanks Nick Foles’ after Eagles top Texans, help New England’s playoff seeding.
- Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Tom Brady: No surprise about early exit from game.
- John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 16 grades: Patriots B, Bills D
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) The full NFL playoff picture.
- Kaelen Jones (SI) NFL Playoff Picture: Seahawks clinch playoff berth for first time since 2016.
VIEW FROM BUFFALO
- Kyle Silagyl (BuffaloBills) Bills stymied by the Pats in 24-12 loss.
- Braden Carmen (ObserverToday) Bills didn’t even stand a chance.
- Howard Simon (WGR550) Another miserable game in Foxboro: Bills were never a threat in their 10th loss of the season.
- Sal Maiorana (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) Except for Tom Brady looking old, nothing new as Patriots whip Bills.
- Jay Skurski (Buffalo News) 10 Observations: Bills’ run defense woefully inept in loss.
- Joe Buscaglia (WKBW) 7 Observations from Buffalo Bills - New England Patriots: The skill players let the Bills down repeatedly.
- Chris Brown (BuffaloBills) Top 3 things we learned from Bills-Patriots: Run defense victimized.
- Ryan Talbot (NewYorkUpstate) Bills not ready for Patriots: 3 reasons to be encouraged, 8 reasons to worry.
- Sal Maiorana (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) Tom Brady looks human but overwhelmed Josh Allen isn’t ready to take torch.
- Matt Parrino (NewYorkUpstate) What Bills’ Josh Allen took away from first matchup with Patriots’ Tom Brady.