New England Patriots links 12/07/21 - Gutsy Patriots go full ground and pound in gusty Buffalo

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Patriots-Bills. Patriots win 7th straight; Matthew Judon reaches 12 ½ sacks to tie for the most under Belichick; Damien Harris scores on a career-long 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter; More.
• Gamebook: Full Patriots at Bills stats.
• Erik Scalavino’s Game Observations: Patriots run, run, run the AFC.
• Mike Dussault shares four key takeaways from the Patriots big divisional win over the Bills. 1. Buffalo weather strikes.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick - Devin McCourty - Matthew Judon - Nick Folk - Myles Bryant - Rhamondre Stevenson - Brandon Bolden - David Andrews - Mac Jones.
• Lawrence Guy named New England Patriots nominee for Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award.
• What went right: Patriots run game dominates. (2 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss recaps how with a power running game of monumental proportions, led by QB Mac Jones and running back Damien Harris, the Patriots threw for just 19 yards but bruised their way past the Buffalo Bills.
• Evan Lazar tells us ten things we learned from the Patriots 14-10 win over the Bills. 1. Pats lean all the way into playing to win the game in windstorm.
• Ryan Hannable offers 10 quick thoughts from Monday night’s win: 1. Given the conditions, the Patriots ran running plays on 46 of their 49 offensive plays. Michael Onwenu was an extra offensive lineman on a number of plays and the Patriots were able to control the line of scrimmage all night long. The game illustrated how the Patriots are built to win games late in the season.
• Justin Leger gives us his Pats-Bills takeaways: Pats RBs carry the load in bizarre win. 1. Mac Jones takes a back seat.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Observations: Old school Patriots run over the Bills 14-10.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Power and Glory: Patriots run past Bills 14-10 to maintain top spot in conference, division.
• Clare Cooper (PatsPropaganda) Spoiler Alert: The Patriots win at Buffalo, roll on the road with seventh straight win.
• Andrew Callahan calls the Patriots defense the real star of Monday night’s win at Buffalo.
• Karen Guregian declares there’s no need to pump the brakes on the Patriots. They’re for real.
• Jason Mastrodonato points out Damien Harris scored the Patriots longest rushing touchdown since Curtis Martin.
• Bob George (PatsFans) Terrific coaching job by Belichick has Patriots at the top of AFC.
• Karen Guregian highlights Bill Belichick on WEEI this morning, teasing a new game plan for round two with the Bills: “We can use our whole passing game. All the pass plays that we have, they haven’t seen. We can use all of them the next time we play them.”
• Zack Cox notes Sean McDermott calls out N’Keal Harry after the game.
• Justin Leger notes NFL Twitter was ripping N’Keal Harry for his muffed punt.
• Chris Mason notes how the Bills safeties get testy when asked if loss to Patriots was ‘embarrassing.’
• Matthew Geagan picks his Ups and Downs: Patriots run all over Bills, defense Makes the big plays.
• Andy Hart gives his Patriots-Bills thumbs up, thumbs down: Damien Harris and Co. run over Buffalo.
• Dakota Randall picks his three studs, three duds from last night: Running backs up, N’Keal Harry down
• Jerry Thornton says we can now admit that the Brady-Belichick breakup was best for both men.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Diante Lee (PFF) NFL Week 13 game recap: New England Patriots 14, Buffalo Bills 10. Offensive line: Isaiah Wynn was the definition of a dancing bear in many of the run concepts called by Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. New England used him on its toss plays, as he pulled and chased defensive backs out of the running backs’ alleyways. The entire unit was able to control the line of scrimmage throughout the game.
• NFL Game Center (NFL.com) Patriots at Bills: Drive summary, stats, highlights.
• Nick Shook (NFL.com) What we learned from Patriots’ win over Bills. “It takes a certain amount of unusual stubbornness to call a game like the Patriots did, and that stubbornness earned them a crucial victory.”
• Riley McAtee (The Ringer) The Patriots’ three-pass attempt game was classic Bill Belichick. “The Patriots’ ironclad rule of success is to not have ironclad rules: Their flexibility and discipline have been the only constants across Belichick’s tenure.”
• Dan Wetzel (Yahoo! Sports) Bill Belichick painted a masterpiece using only 3 passes to beat Buffalo. Could he have done it with 0?
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) Patriots dial up an old-school game plan and win a tough game vs. Bills.
• Conor Orr (SI) Breaking Buffalo: Belichick sends Bills back to the drawing board.
• Tyler Sullivan & Jared Dubin (CBS Sports) New England leans heavily on the run, grinds past Buffalo for seventh win in a row.
• Curtis Crabtree (ProFootballTalk) Monday Night Football: Patriots throw just three passes, beat Bills 14-10 in blustery Buffalo.
• Charean Williams (ProFootballTalk) Damien Harris has a hamstring injury.
• Grant Gordon (NFL.com) QB Mac Jones on Patriots’ windy win against Bills: ‘Just a crazy game.’
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Sean McDermott: We lost because of sloppy football, not a Bill Belichick-type thing. /Sure Jan.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Bill Belichick says Patriots have played in “way, way worse” wind in Buffalo before.
• Tory Barron (ESPN) ManningCast Week 13: Eli wants Peyton to leave Mac Jones alone and more Patriots-Bills revelations.
• Albert Breer (SI) Monday Afternoon QB: Jared Goff deserves to feel good after first win with Lions; Plus, another tough injury in Baltimore, Tua and the Dolphins are on the rise and more.
• Kevin Seifert (ESPN) NFL playoff picture 2021: Week 13 standings, bracket, scenarios and outlook for the postseason.
• Cody Benjamin (CBS Sports) 2021 NFL playoff picture: Full postseason standings, wild card race, projected opening matchups.
• Steven Ruiz (The Ringer) What should be the biggest priority for each middle-of-the-pack NFL team?
• Jeffri Chadiha (NFL.com) The First Read, Week 14: Rob Gronkowski powering Buccaneers; Washington rolling.
• Staff (PFF) 2022 free agent rankings: Top 75 players expected to enter free agency.

VIEW FROM BUFFALO

• Sal Maiorana (Democrat and Chronicle) Patriots prove they’re best in AFC East as Bills are blown off course.
• Matt Parrino (NewYorkUpstate) Bills offense is broken; Sean McDermott not sure if it’s fixable.
• Alex Brasky (TheDailyNews) Five takeaways: Patriots run all over Bills, seize control of AFC East race.
• Chris Brown (BuffaloBills) Top 3 things we learned from Bills vs. Patriots. 1. Intentional grounding.
• Dante Lasting (BuffaloBills) Bills acknowledge missed opportunities against the Patriots.
• Ryan Talbot (Syracuse Post Standard) Buffalo Bills getting dangerously close to ‘In the Hunt’ territory following loss to Patriots (Encouraged/worried)
• Ryan Talbot (NewYorkUpstate) Week 13 report card: Patriots beyond predictable on offense, but Bills get outphysicaled again.
• Matt Parrino (NewYorkUpstate) Bills’ Isaiah McKenzie has one-word response to Sean McDermott’s lack of trust in returners.
• The Buffalo Football podcast (YouTube) Matt Parrino & Ryan Talbot break down MNF: Bills EMBARRASSED by Patriots; Problems may not be fixable this season. (40 min.)