Patriots Gold Stars, Penalty Flags: Brady, LaFell Shine In Win Over Bills
BOSTON (CBS) -- You may not feel that way about the Buffalo Bills, but Sunday's 37-22 win was a tough game for the Patriots.
New England picked up their fourth win of the season in a very tough environment, on an historic day for the Bills and their new ownership.
Here are your Gold Stars and Penalty Flags from Sunday's win over Buffalo:
Gold Stars
- Tom Brady gets a gold star. This game was vintage Brady. He completed 27-of-37 passes for 361 yards and four touchdowns, and there was a stretch in the second half where Brady was 15-of-17. This was the game everybody was waiting for from Brady; a dominant performance by #12. The Pats needed him to put them on their back and he did.
- Brandon LaFell gets a gold star. There shouldn't be any more of those "are Tom and Brandon on the same page" questions after this week. They are and it showed, with LaFell hauling in four catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns. His breakaway speed after the catch was impressive, and he's turning into one of the Patriots go-to guys. LaFell is now in the mix an he'll be expected to show up every week. The good news is he wants to be that guy.
- Rob Ninkovich gets gold star. He came into the game with one sack on the season, but was able to get to Kyle Orton three different times on Sunday, and the Patriots needed that. Jerod Mayo going down sent a sad feeling around the whole squad, but Ninkovich making noise on the defensive end helped pick up the team.
Penalty Flags
- Aaron Dobson gets a penalty flag. He's already on the hot seat, and at one point when the team was driving on Sunday he caused a false start. His job may be in jeopardy, and it doesn't seem that he even cares. If Dobson wants to stick with this team for the long haul, he's going to have to start performing.
- Danny Amendola gets a penalty flag. I have no idea what's going on here. Brady hit 10 different receivers and none of them was named Amendola. He needs to get on the board. The Pats need him in the future so whatever issue he's having with the team and the offense, they have to resolve it.
- Whomever the Pats had guarding tight end Scott Chandler gets a penalty flag. It was Patrick Chung and Tavon Wilson, and it didn't make a difference who was on Chandler during his career day. The Pats have had trouble in defending tight ends and it reared its ugly head on Sunday. Every big play the Bills had seemed to involve Chandler, and this will be a big problem if they don't fix it soon.
New England is facing some great tight ends down the road, so covering them will have to get better.
Follow Levan Reid on Twitter @LevanReid.
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