Monday, December 29, 2014

Bills Defeat Patriots 17-9 To Post A Winning Record

The Buffalo Bills defeated the New England Patriots 17-9 to finish the 2014 season with a winning record, going 9-7. This was the first time the Bills finished with a winning record since the Bills went 9-7 in 2004. However, the Bills did not make the playoffs and the team has now gone 15 season without making the playoffs. Robert Woods and Boobie Dixon scored the touchdowns for the Bills, while the defense did not allow the New England Patriots to score a touchdown. 

While Tom Brady only played the first half of the game, he did not show much success against the dominant Bills defense, a defense lacking Marcel Dareus and Stephon Gilmore. The Patriots also were without Julian Edelman, still nursing a concussion and thigh injury, as well as star tight end Rob Gronkowski. These are two huge difference makers for the Patriots offense.

Jimmy Garoppolo, the Patriots rookie quarterback who replaced Brady, played well, but did not do enough against the tough Bills defense to lead the team into the end zone.

This was the first time that the Bills defeated the Patriots in New England since 2000. The Bills were in a meaningless game because of a loss to Oakland a week earlier. In the end, even if the Bills had won the Raiders game, they would not have got enough help to make the playoffs.

This article is from the Buffalo Bills Bee on Yoozpaper