In Week 4 of the 2016 NFL season, the Buffalo Bills shocked the New England Patriots at home, beating them 16-0.
The Buffalo Bills shocked the New England Patriots in Week 4 of the NFL season by not only beating them at home, but shutting them out in the process. The last time the Patriots were shut out at home was November 28th, 1993 in a 6-0 loss to the New York Jets.
It is the second week in a row that then Bills pulled out a big upset. They’re now 2-2 and moved into second place in the AFC East thanks to a pair of losses from both the Jets and Dolphins this week.
The Bills sitting in second place after an 0-2 start is rather remarkable, and that unpredicability is part of what makes football so great. The Bills will host the Patriots in the rematch later this season, but Tom Brady will be under center for New England.
Not much can be said of New England, after a jittery performance by Jacoby Brissett. He finished 17-of-27 passing, throwing for 205 yards and no touchdowns. The Patriots ran a similar gameplan to that of Week 3, a lot of motion with quick throws on inside routes.
Despite the loss, there is no cause for concern in New England. Buffalo showed up, and New England was playing with their third string quarterback.
Highlights:
Buffalo opened up things early with a seven-yard TD connection= from Taylor to McCoy.
.@TyrodTaylor is now one touchdown away from entering the @buffalobills career top 10 in TD strikes. https://t.co/wbHuuVVLRm
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) October 2, 2016
This summed it up for the Patriots offense today.
In a defensive brawl like this one, there weren’t many highlights.
Three Stars
1-ILB Zach Brown Buffalo Bills
Brown’s play really sticks out after this gritty win by the Bills. It didn’t matter what role he had, whether in coverage, blitzing, or defending the run, Brown was around the ball. He came into the game as the Bills leading tackler, and will remain their leading tackler after this game.
He had a whopping 18 total tackles, 13 solo, a sack, and three tackles for a loss. On top of his sack, he also had two QB hits. His style of play is similar to that of Bart Scott, who Rex Ryan had in New York.
2-OC Anthony Lynn Buffalo Bills
In his second game as the offensive coordinator, Lynn did just enough on offense to keep the Bills on top in this one. While it wasn’t pretty, it got the job done for Buffalo. The Bills ran the ball 32 times for 134 yards, averaging 4.2 yards per carry.
While the passing game wasn’t exactly dynamic, Tyrod Taylor did just enough through the air. He threw it quite a bit, finishing with 39 passing attempts. He completed 27 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown.
3-K Dan Carpenter Buffalo Bills
The former Dallas Cowboy was 3/4 on field goals. His longest was a 44-yarder. With Buffalo’s offense stalling at times in this one, Carpenter picked them up and accounted for nine of the 16 points Buffalo had.
Odds
The Patriots were 6.5 point favorites at home and clearly didn’t cover. Many people considered them one of the safest bet this week.
Next: Panthers at Falcons: What we learned
Next Week
New England will get Tom Brady back from suspension and the Patriots travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns. Buffalo will travel to Los Angeles as they take on the Rams.