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Moss rebounds, leads Pats by Bills 17-10
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP)—Turns out there’s nothing wrong with Randy Moss(notes) or theNew England Patriots that facing their perennial patsy, the Buffalo Bills, can’tfix. Doesn’t mean it was pretty.
A week after being accused of quitting by Carolina Panthers defenders, Mossbounced back with five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown in a 17-10 winSunday. Tully Banta-Cain(notes) had three of New England’s six sacks to anchor abanged-up defense.
The Patriots (9-5) won their first road game on this side of the Atlanticthis season by beating their AFC East rival for the 13th straight time and 18thtime in 19 meetings. Better still, the Patriots inched closer to clinching thedivision title after Miami and the New York Jets lost to drop their records to7-7.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Tren… AP – Dec 20, 4:22 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills quarterback Tren… AP – Dec 20, 4:19 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills cornerback Terre… AP – Dec 20, 4:17 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots cornerbac… AP – Dec 20, 4:14 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots' Tom … AP – Dec 20, 3:10 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots coach Bil… AP – Dec 20, 3:10 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills' Ryan Fitzpa… AP – Dec 20, 3:07 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots' Laur… AP – Dec 20, 3:02 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots' Laur… AP – Dec 20, 3:01 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills' Donte Whitn… AP – Dec 20, 2:51 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills' Reggie Corn… AP – Dec 20, 2:46 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots' Tom … AP – Dec 20, 2:39 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots running b… AP – Dec 20, 1:59 pm EST ![]()
New England Patriots wide rece… AP – Dec 20, 1:43 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Te… AP – Dec 20, 1:38 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills fan Jeremiah Kne… AP – Dec 20, 12:37 pm EST ![]()
Buffalo Bills wide receiver Te… AP – Dec 20, 12:36 pm EST ![]()
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The Bills (5-9) were undone by 11 penalties for 124 yards, including a pairof pass-interference calls that set up New England’s first two scores.
Buffalo’s 104 yards in penalties in the first half were the most by an NFLteam in an opening half this season.
The loss mathematically eliminated the Bills from playoff contention,capping a decade of futility. They’ll miss the playoffs for a 10th straightseason, tied with Detroit for the longest active drought.
It wasn’t a pretty performance by either team. Tom Brady(notes) went 11 of 23 for aseason-worst 115 yards, with a 13-yard yard touchdown to Moss and aninterception.
Moss had his most yards receiving in five games. And his score marked theninth 10-touchdown season of his career, matching the NFL record set by JerryRice(notes).
It came a week after Moss fumbled after registering his only catch for 16yards in a 20-10 win over Carolina.
Credit the Patriots defense, which limited the Bills to 241 yards—and only94 in the second half—while playing without defensive line starters VinceWilfork(notes) and Ty Warren(notes).
The Bills fell behind 17-3 before squandering several opportunities to getback into the game.
Lee Evans(notes) scored on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick(notes) with3:02 remaining. Buffalo then recovered the ensuing onside kickoff, but the playwas negated by—what else?—an offside penalty against rookie Aaron Maybin(notes).
Down 3-0, the Patriots took control with two touchdown drives in the firsthalf.
Brady hit Moss in the end zone to put New England up 7-3. The score was setup after the Bills’ Donte Whitner(notes) was called for pass interference for slappingat Moss’ hands in the end zone on an underthrown deep pass.
Laurence Maroney(notes) then scored on a 1-yard rush off right tackle in the finalminute of the half. That touchdown was set up after Bills cornerback ReggieCorner(notes) pushed down Wes Welker(notes) in the end zone.
Fitzpatrick finished 17 of 25 for 178 yards and was briefly benched early inthe fourth quarter. Trent Edwards(notes) took over and didn’t prove to be any better inmaking his first appearance in five games. He went 1 of 2 for minus-1 yard andwas sacked for a 9-yard loss during his first series.
Edwards hurt his right ankle upon being sacked, forcing Fitzpatrick toreturn on Buffalo’s next possession.
Terrell Owens(notes) was limited to two catches for 20 yards, leaving him tworeceptions short of becoming the sixth NFL player to hit the 1,000 mark.
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