Bills show fight, but lose in New England
By: John Kucko
Updated: November 11, 2012
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Ryan Fitzpatrick threw into the end zone to the open man. Unfortunately for the Bills, that man was Patriots safety Devin McCourty.
That easy interception with 23 seconds left decided the game the way every other Buffalo game at Gillette Stadium has ended -- with a New England victory.
On a day of dreadful defense by both teams, the Patriots held on for a 37-31 win over the surprisingly tough Bills on Sunday despite allowing 35 first downs, Buffalo's most ever and the most ever allowed by New England.
"No matter what happens in the game, there's nothing bigger than turnovers," McCourty said. "When the game gets toward the end, those big plays change the game."
The Patriots (6-3) let a 17-3 lead slip to 34-31 with 7:47 left on Fitzpatrick's 2-yard pass to Donald Jones. Then the Bills (3-6) held the Patriots to a 27-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.
Avoiding the penalties, 14 of them, that had stymied them all game, the Bills moved to the Patriots 15-yard line before Fitzpatrick threw the ball right into the hands of McCourty while trying to hit T.J. Graham. Tom Brady then knelt down for the final play.
"The only thing you can ask for as a quarterback is a chance at the end to win the game and we had that," Fitzpatrick said, "but we weren't able to get it done."
New England is 11-0 against the Bills at Gillette since it opened in 2002 and 23-2 overall in its last 25 games against Buffalo.
The Patriots were coming off a bye that followed their best game of the season, a 45-7 win over the St. Louis Rams in London. The Bills have lost five of six and need a sharp turnaround to avoid their 13th straight non-playoff season.
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