Was Sunday A Statement Win For Patriots?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Buffalo Bills certainly treated their Week 2 showdown with the Patriots like it was their Super Bowl, but in the end, couldn't back up all that talk from the week leading up to the game.
The Patriots handled the Bills 40-32, and it really wasn't that close. The Patriots led 37-13 in the third quarter before the Bills made it a 37-32 game with just over four minutes to play thanks to 19-unanswered points, but the Patriots outplayed the Bills for much of the afternoon, and Rex Ryan admitted after the game that Bill Belichick out-coached him once again.
Bills players themselves said they were a little too amped up for Sunday's tilt, and it showed on the field. Buffalo was flagged for 14 penalties for 140 yards, and struggled to keep their composure before and after the whistle.
While Week 2 may be a little early to call a win a statement game, any win over a divisional foe is always a big one. If anything, ESPNBoston.com's Mike Reiss said New England proved that all the talk leading up to Sunday is pretty cheap when it comes time for kickoff.
"It is a statement game in this: The talk is fun leading up the game if you're the Bills, and I bought it. I saw them last week and they looked great against the Colts. I bought the talk, but it's a reminder that statements don't matter, you have to go out and do it," he told Levan Reid on WBZ-TV's Sports Final. "And right now, no one is doing it better on offense than Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola."
"It's about actions, making it happen and not saying what's going to happen," said Reiss.
Watch Reiss's full analysis of New England's Week 2 win in Buffalo, and be sure to catch Sports Final on WBZ-TV every Sunday night at 11:35pm!
