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The seventh week of NFL regular season action is in the books, which means that it is now also time for a new edition of the AFC East Report and for a look back at what happened in the New England Patriots’ division over the weekend — one that saw the Patriots blow out the New York Jets, with the Miami Dolphins also losing and the Buffalo Bills on a bye.
Let’s dive straight in.
1. Buffalo Bills (4-2)
Week 7: Bye
Week 8: vs Miami Dolphins
Week 9: at Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 10: at New York Jets
Week 11: vs Indianapolis Colts
Week 12: at New Orleans Saints
Even with the Patriots earning their third win of the season, the Bills are still in a comfortable position atop the AFC East coming out of their bye. And not just that: with three straight games against some of the worst teams in football coming up, Buffalo will have a golden opportunity to keep a healthy distance between itself and its closest division rival.
2. New England Patriots (3-4)
Week 7: 54-13 win over the New York Jets, in Foxborough MA
Patriots vs Jets: New England delivers statement win, crush New York 54-13
Instant analysis from Patriots’ 54-13 win over Jets
Patriots find out ‘what we’re capable of’ in blowout win over Jets
Patriots put an impressive end to their four-game home losing streak
Kendrick Bourne on his touchdown pass against the Jets: ‘It was just a dope play’
6 winners and 1 loser from the Patriots’ victory over the Jets
The Lane Breakdown: 10 takeaways from the Patriots’ blowout win over the Jets
Patriots finally seem to have found an offensive line combination that works
Final score not the only thing Patriots can feel good about after beating Jets 54-13
Patriots vs Jets snap count report: New England empties the bench in blowout
Patriots vs Jets: Fan Notes from the Game
Patriots linebacker Harvey Langi reportedly diagnosed with sprained MCL
Bill Belichick thinks the Patriots are ‘headed in the right direction’
Mac Attack: Studying Mac Jones’ performance against the Jets
Film room: How the Patriots fooled the Jets on their first touchdown of Week 7
Patriots vs Jets rookie review: Mac Jones, Christian Barmore play their best games of the season
Devin McCourty’s abdomen injury reportedly ‘not expected to be a long-term issue’
To watch highlights of the game, click here.
3. New York Jets (1-5)
Week 7: 54-13 loss to the New England Patriots, in Foxborough MA
Final Score: Patriots 54, Jets 13
Patriots 54 Jets 13: ...................
Podcast: Jets Embarrass Themselves in New England
Report: Zach Wilson Out 2-4 Weeks With a Sprained PCL
Mike LaFleur’s First Series Playcalling Was Inexplicable Against the Patriots
To watch highlights of the game, click here.
4. Miami Dolphins (1-6)
Week 7: 30-28 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, in Miami Gardens FL
From a statistical perspective, the Dolphins were the better team in Week 7. Football is not played on the stat sheet, however, and the team eventually came up short yet again in the end: Miami lost to the visiting Falcons on a last-second field goal to drop to 1-6 on the season and increase its losing streak to six straight games.
The one against Atlanta, meanwhile, did start off well. The Dolphins received the opening kickoff and promptly marched 75 yards in 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead thanks to a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Isaiah Ford. The team’s defense followed up the score by forcing a quick three-and-out. Miami was unable to take advantage, though, and after going three-and-out itself had to concede a field goal.
The team answered by driving into scoring range again, but coming up empty: a 49-yard Jason Sanders field goal try was blocked, which in turn set up Atlanta’s first touchdown drive of the day. Momentum continued to stay with the visitors, who intercepted Tagovailoa on the next series and subsequently drove 62 yards in just 32 seconds to get another field goal before the half.
Down 13-7 coming out of intermission, things did not go any better for the Dolphins. The opening series of the third quarter, after all, was a three-play Falcons drive that covered 77 yards and ended with a 49-yard touchdown pass.It took until later that quarter for the home team to finally get onto the board again: following a short Atlanta punt and solid return by Jevon Holland, Miami drove for its second touchdown — a Tua Tagovailoa pass to Mike Gesicki from six yards out.
Down only six points, the Dolphins were in prime position to retake the lead early in the fourth period: Xavien Howard intercepted Matt Ryan at the Atlanta 32. However, the very next play saw Tagovailoa give the ball back to the opponent via an interception of his own. As opposed to the Dolphins, the Falcons were able to capitalize on the takeaway. Their 56-yard return set up another three-play touchdown drive.
Facing a 13-point deficit with under 13 minutes to go, Miami finally showed some life again. Tagovailoa led a 90-yard touchdown drive to bring his team within six again — the series ended with a touchdown pass to Myles Gaskin — which was followed by another takeaway: Nik Needham recovered a Matt Ryan fumble in Atlanta territory with only six minutes remaining on the clock.
Miami’s offense did what it had to do, but Mack Hollins’ touchdown catch to take a 28-27 lead left too much time on the clock. With 2:27 left to go, Atlanta drove into field goal range and won the game on a 36-yard Younghoo Koo kick as time expired.
To watch highlights of the game, click here.
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