ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Linebacker Matt Judon praised the Patriots offense while taking a playful swipe at rookie quarterback Mac Jones.
“Hats off to the offense. Really everybody, probably besides Mac,” Judon said breaking into a smile. “He didn’t really do nothing besides hand the ball off.”
No offense taken. With 40 mph wind gusts placing an emphasis on running the ball, Jones was more than content in being relegated to handoff duty in New England’s 14-10 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night.
Jones completed just two of three pass attempts for 19 yards in essentially standing back and watching the Patriots backfield literally run away with their seventh consecutive win and shore up New England’s familiar place atop the AFC.
“Just a crazy game to be a part of,” Jones said.
“We knew it was going to be windy. You can’t control it. There is no on and off switch,” he added. “You just have to go out there and do your job, and for us to run the ball like we did was incredible.”
Damien Harris scored on a 64-yard run in an outing the Patriots out-gained Buffalo 222 to 99 in yards rushing. Nick Folk hit both field goal attempts from 34 and 41 yards with the wind at his back, and the Patriots defense limited the Bills to a season-low 230 yards offense.
Defensive back Miles Bryant sealed the victory by batting down Josh Allen’s pass at the goal line with Buffalo facing fourth-and-14 at New England’s 18 with 1:55 remaining. It came a series after Buffalo’s Tyler Bass missed a 34-yard attempt wide right into the wind in a game the Bills managed 10 points on four drives inside the New England’s 20..
“What a memorable game that will be for me in my career,” center David Andrews said. “One, it’s a win. Two, I don’t know if I’ve ever played in a game where we’ve thrown the ball three times. And I’ve been playing football since I was 6 years old, so that’s 23 years.”
New England (9-4) improved to 6-0 on the road this season and now has a two-win edge over the Bills (7-5) in the AFC East standings.
The Bills continued their inconsistencies by losing four of their past seven, and have not won consecutive games since capping a 4-0 run spanning Sept. 19 to Oct. 10.
Though the two teams meet once more in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Dec. 26, Buffalo’s path to repeat as division champions, never mind earn a third straight postseason berth, is suddenly muddied. The AFC’s wild-card race now features four teams with seven wins. The Bills also dropped to 5-5 against AFC opponents and 3-1 against division opponents.
Buffalo continues resembling the shell of a team which swept the season-series against New England last year for the first time since 1999, en route to its first 13-win season in 29 years.
“No excuse for it,” middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. “They came in and they beat us. We’ve just got to get better. We’ve got to finish off the season strong.”
Easier said than done for a team which continues to have difficulty running the ball and stopping the run. Take away Allen’s six carries for 39 yards, and the Bills trio of running backs finished with 60 yards on 19 carries.
Buffalo’s defense has now allowed 200-plus yards rushing in two of its past three, after giving up a season-worst 264 in a 41-15 loss to Indianapolis two weeks ago.
Harris finished with a season-best 111 yards rushing and opened the scoring on New England’s ninth play from scrimmage. Facing third-and-5, Harris burst though a gaping hole up the middle and was untouched on his way to the end zone.
Rather than attempt the extra point into the wind, coach Bill Belichick succeeded on a 2-point conversion, with Brandon Bolden scoring just inside the left pylon.
Each team capitalized on the other’s mistakes in trading touchdowns in the opening quarter.
Harris’ TD came three plays after New England’s Lawrence Guy recovered Matt Breida’s fumble at the Patriots 31.
Buffalo responded on its next possession which was extended after N’Keal Harry slipped and had Matt Haack’s punt glance off his helmet, with Siran Neal recovering the ball at New England’s 14. Allen hit Gabriel Davis on a slant route on the next play to cut the lead to 8-7.
Allen finished 15 of 30 for 145 yards.
“You don’t plan on losing games, you know. It’s not part of the gig,” Bills center Mitch Morse said. “We understand the magnitude of what this meant and what this loss meant so it’s not lost on us. We understand that we have a lot of work to do to put ourselves in a position where we think this team can be.”
MILESTONES:
According to Elias Sports, the Patriots had the fewest yards passing and became the first team to attempt just one one pass in the first half since at least 1978. … Jones became the NFL’s third quarterback to win nine games in his rookie season, joining Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger in 2004, and Dallas’ Dak Prescott in 2016. He also joined Roethlisberger and Prescott in becoming the NFL’s third rookie QB to win his first six road starts. … Bass’ 35-yard field goal with 6:35 left in the third quarter ended New England’s four-game streak of not allowing a point in the second half.
THE ELEMENTS
The elements were at times overwhelming, including a wind-chill that dropped the temperature into the mid-20s.
One of New England’s Jake Bailey’s punts went sideways into the wind for 15 yards. Members of ESPN’s pre-game broadcast crew were blown off their chairs along the sideline, and the orange flags was ripped off the top of the left upright in the east end of the stadium.
UP NEXT
Patriots: Enter bye week off, and return to play at Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 18.
Bills: Travel to play Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, with Tom Brady, 32-3 against Buffalo, holding the NFL record for most career wins by a quarterback against one opponent.
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EDMONTON – The Edmonton Oilers signed defenceman Travis Dermott to a professional tryout on Friday.
Dermott, a 27-year-old from Newmarket, Ont., produced two goals, five assists and 26 penalty minutes in 50 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season.
The six-foot, 202-pound blueliner has also played for the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto drafted him in the second round, 34th overall, of the 2015 NHL draft.
Over seven NHL seasons, Dermott has 16 goals and 46 assists in 329 games while averaging 16:03 in ice time.
Before the NHL, Dermott played two seasons with Oilers captain Connor McDavid for the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. The team was coached by current Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam singles champion, led the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote her first year on the ballot — an important part to possible selection to the hall’s next class.
The organization released the voting results on Friday. American doubles team Bob and Mike Bryan finished second with Canada’s Daniel Nestor third.
The Hall of Fame said tens of thousands of fans from 120 countries cast ballots. Fan voting is one of two steps in the hall’s selection process. The second is an official group of journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers from the sport who vote on the ballot for the hall’s class of 2025.
“I am incredibly grateful to the fans all around the world who supported me during the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan votes,” Sharapova said in a statement. “It is a tremendous honor to be considered for the Hall of Fame, and having the fans’ support makes it all the more special.”
Sharapova became the first Russian woman to reach No. 1 in the world. She won Wimbledon in 2004, the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. She also won the French Open twice, in 2012 and 2014.
Sharapova was also part of Russia’s championship Fed Cup team in 2008 and won a silver medal at the London Olympics in 2012.
To make the hall, candidates must receive 75% or higher on combined results of the official voting group and additional percentage from the fan vote. Sharapova will have an additional three percentage points from winning the fan vote.
The Bryans, who won 16 Grand Slam doubles titles, will have two additional percentage points and Nestor, who won eight Grand Slam doubles titles, will get one extra percentage point.
The hall’s next class will be announced late next month.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.
Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed in Carneys Point, New Jersey, on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.
The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,’” his wife told Higgins when he called her from jail after his arrest, according to First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn of Salem County.
The defense described Higgins as a married father and law-abiding citizen before the crash.
“He’s an empathetic individual and he’s a loving father of two daughters,” said defense lawyer Matthew Portella. “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night.”
Higgins told police he had five or six beers that day and admitted to consuming alcohol while driving, according to the criminal complaint. He also failed a field sobriety test, the complaint said. A prosecutor on Friday said he had been drinking at home after finishing a work call at about 3 p.m., and having an upsetting conversation with his mother about a family matter.
He then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove around in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn said. He had been driving aggressively behind a sedan going just above the 50 mph speed limit, sometimes tailgating, the female driver told police.
When she and the vehicle ahead of her slowed down and veered left to go around the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered right, striking the Gaudreas, the two other drivers told police.
“He indicated he didn’t even see them,” said Superior Court Judge Michael J. Silvanio, who said Higgins’ admitted “impatience” caused two deaths.
Higgins faces up to 20 years, a sentence that the judge said made him a flight risk.
Higgins has a master’s degree, works in finance for an addiction treatment company, and served in combat in Iraq, his lawyers said. However, his wife said he had been drinking regularly since working from home, Flynn said.
Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey,” played 10 full seasons in the league and was set to enter his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets after signing a seven-year, $68 million deal in 2022. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames, a tenure that included becoming one of the sport’s top players and a fan favorite across North America.
Widows Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau described their husbands as attached at the hip throughout their lives. Both women are expecting, and both gave moving eulogies at the double funeral on Monday.
