15:00 3rd Qtr
Opening KO for the 2nd half: Gostkowski to the goal line.
-- Nice wedge buster double-team magnet play by Chung to suck in both wedge men, this frees up McGowan for a play.
-- Aiken takes the first shot at McKelvin coming up the middle, though he missed, McKelvin was forced off balance from dodging him.
-- McGowan, shielded by Chung occupying the wedge, circles in to stick an off balance McKelvin at the Buffalo 20 and stand him up for a swarm of red jerseys to fly in and perhaps strip the ball. Alexander was the next one in behind McKelvin, but there was a lively dogpile of willing Pats.
-- Buffalo ball at their 21.
14:54 3rd Qtr
1st and 10 Buf 21: Buf 2-wide, 2 TE L
-- NE: 6-1, press-man. L-R Burgess - Warren - Wilfork - Green; Thomas - Guyton - Woods; Wilhite - Bodden; Meriweather - Sanders
-- Toss sweep L. LG cuts Wilfork, LT pulls and leads, C comes out and blocks Guyton, Green was sealed inside by the blocking TE; Woods fought the 1x1 TE down the LOS and forced the LT to double him to spring the RB around the corner, Owens ran Bodden off then blocked him upfield to keep him up at the sticks.
-- Woods did a terrific job extending the play and sucking up blockers, but his help never came. Guyton looked slow to read the toss and was effectively sealed inside by the C. Bodden was run off, then blocked upfield, though he made the tackle forcing Jackson oob after he got the first down. Sanders and Meriweather must have been very deep, because Meriweather never came on camera and Sanders arrived the same time Jackson ran into Bodden. Just a poor job by the pursuit folks after Woods bought them time. 11 yds.
-- Penalty, Off. Holding 1x1 TE, -10 yds. Woods, with a bit of help by an official, saved the day despite his teammate's slow response.
1st and 10 Buf 11: Buf 2-wide, 2 TE R
-- NE: 6-1 press-man
-- Buffalo tried to set up a screen L, but Green and Woods occupied both L-side blockers, and Wilfork got in on the QB so fast he was unable to get off a good throw to the RB.
-- Penalty, roughing the passer, Wilfork, 15 yds. Obviously this has already been discussed to death - horrible call, horrible rule application by the NFL.
1st and 10 Buf 26: Buf 2-wide, 2 TE R
-- NE: 6-1, Woods is out shaded inside the LWR with Bodden 7 yds deep behind him. I think the DBs went Cover-3 off the snap.
-- Woods works in showing blitz. Pass. 4-man rush, man under by the LBs. I don't think it was intentional, but this effectively turned into a screen, partly by the RB running a poor slide route, and partly because the blocking TE chipped Burgess, then pealed off underneath as a dump-off option and was next to the RB when he made the reception to provide escort. Warren beat the RG outside to pressure the QB into a dump-off. With the TE leading, and Lee Evans breaking off his route and getting back in time to block, Jackson was easily able to cross the Line to Gain before being tackled. Thomas and Sanders were both blocked out of the play by Jackson's escort. 15 yds.
1st and 10 Buf 41: Buf 2-wide, 2 TE L
-- NE: 6-1 over, CBs soft.
-- Pass. Green and Warren both split double-teams to collapse the pocket and force Edwards to rollout R. Edwards had good yardage if he'd run, but he threw a dart to his 1x1 TE who ran a drag with Woods man-to-man the entire way. The throw was behind the receiver - but catchable - and dropped. Incomplete.
2nd and 10: Buf 2-wide, 2 TE L
-- NE: 4-3, CBs soft. Thomas shifted inside to MLB with Guyton over the Center showing blitz and Woods on the LOS outside the TEs. Burgess was wide with Warren in a 5-tech over the RT - after the pressure Warren has gotten on this drive, this was a really nice pre-snap mind-phuck look from NE.
-- I'm not sure if the Pats forced extra communication from the Bills' OL or if it was just a "rookie" mistake, but the LT twitched his shoulder while turning his head inside as if to hear a line call and Green immediately stands up with he and Woods pointing to help the Line Judge. (It was another toss sweep with the LT pulling, so that could have been it too.) Even if there hadn't been a false start, there was a good chance of a holding penalty because the RG literally tackled Guyton to keep him out of the backfield - I like what NE did pre-snap to mess with Buffalo.
-- Penalty, False Start, -5 yds.
2nd and 15: Buf 2-wide, 2 TE L
-- NE: 4-3, CBs soft. Thomas shifted inside to MLB with Guyton over the Center showing blitz and Woods on the LOS outside the TEs. Burgess was wide with Warren in a 5-tech over the RT.
-- Edwards drops into a "pistol" with Jackson shifting R. On the snap, NE went to Cover-3, with Thomas man-under and Sanders in the L flat man on the 1x1 TE. 6-man rush. Burgess drew a double-team by the RB/RT, Wilfork and Guyton ran a twist stunt in the middle which collapsed the pocket. And Woods blitzed, coming free off the edge to hit Edwards as he released. Evans did a nice job coming back underneath the Cover-3 for the reception, but Wilhite wrapped him up right away. Meriweather should have drawn a late hit for his extracurricular activity. 12 yds.
-- A "pistol" is a formation used by Nevada with the QB in a very shallow shotgun, about where a 3-step drop would wind up, and the RB behind the QB - though in this case Jackson set up at the same depth to help with Burgess.
3rd and 3: Buf 3-wide, TE R, Pistol
-- NE: 4-3 under, press-man-free, LBs and Sanders showing blitz. L-R Burgess - Green - Wright - TBC; Thomas - Guyton; Wilhite - NB U/I - Bodden; Sanders - Meriweather
-- 4-man rush. Burgess got pressure off the edge, drawing the RG off Green's double-team to help, but not before flushing Edwards. There should have been holding on the RT against Burgess. Green was in Edward's face when he threw it away. Incomplete.
-- Jaws jabbering about blitz pressure, but there was no blitz, just good man coverage and good DL pressure from Burgess and Green.
4th and 3: Punt. Moorman 49 yds.
-- Welker let it go over his head for a touchback, but Moorman kicked a beauty with backspin that hit at the NE 2 and was downed at the 3.
12:51 3rd Qtr.