The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots are division rivals who have met twice a year for decades. There have been times in their history when they have been evenly matched and times when one team has been significantly better than the other. There have also been times when one team surprisingly upset the other team even though they weren’t as good as them. The game played between these two clubs on Sunday November 17, 2007 would not be one of those days.
This game was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo and it was the visiting Patriots who were first on the board. By the time the first quarter ended, Laurence Maroney had rushed for a touchdown six yards and Randy Moss and Tom Brady had connected for a 43-yard touchdown. Buffalo had responded with a 47-yard touchdown pass from JP Losman to Roscoe Parrish, but trailed 14-7. The second quarter was when Moss and Brady really came into their own, as the quarterback found the receiver for three touchdowns in that quarter alone. When the two teams got to the locker room at the half, the Bills trailed 35-10.
Tom Brady would connect with tight end Ben Watson in the third quarter and the Bills would score for the second and final period of the game on Rian Lindell’s 52-yard field goal. New England would add a fourth-quarter 1-yard touchdown run by Kyle Eckel and a 35-yard TD fumble by Ellis Hobbs to make the final score 56-10.
By the end of the day, both Tom Brady and Randy Moss had compiled some impressive stats.
Tom Brady was 31 of 39 for 373 yards and five touchdowns. He also didn’t throw interceptions that day.
Randy Moss had caught ten passes for 128 yards and four touchdowns.
Other interesting facts about that game:
-Tom Brady completed passes to eight different players: Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Heath Evans, Donte Stallworth, Kyle Eckel, Jabar Gaffney, Ben Watson and Kevin Faulk.
-The most receiving yards a Bills player had in the game was 47 by Roscoe Parrish. Had he had those stats and been on the Patriots, he would have ranked fourth in receiving on the day behind Moss, Welker and Stallworth.
-Buffalo’s defense that day had no sacks, interceptions or fumble recoveries.
-Because of all the Patriots’ touchdowns that day, Terrence McGeen, Buffalo’s kick returner, had 147 yards returning on eight kickoffs. That was close to surpassing the 173 passing yards Bills quarterback JP Losman had thrown.