Patriots 52, Bills 28
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes, Brandon Bolden and Stevan Ridley each rushed for more than 100 yards and the New England Patriots defense forced six turnovers in a 52-28 rout of the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Brady completed 22 of 36 passes for 340 yards as the Patriots rolled up 580 yards and scored 45 second-half points to even its record at 2-2.
Bolden had 137 yards on 16 carries and Ridley 106 yards on 22 carries. Two of Brady's receivers -- Wes Walker (nine receptions for 129 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (five receptions for 104 yards) -- also surpassed the century mark.
Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick threw four touchdown passes, but was intercepted four times as Buffalo dropped to 2-2.
Brady wasted little time establishing the Patriots offense, completing his first five passes for 80 yards as New England took a 7-0 lead with 6:49 to go on Ridley's two-yard run. The drive included a 41-yard bomb to tight end Gronkowski, who hails from suburban Buffalo.
Brady cooled down after that, completing just one of his next seven passes for six yards as New England's drives ended in two punts and a missed 49-yard field goal attempt by Stephen Gostkowski.
Buffalo tied the score 7-7 with 9:43 left in the half on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to tight end Scott Chandler. The play came one snap after Bills safety Jairus Byrd forced and recovered a fumble by Gronkowski.
Fitzpatrick had been picked off twice in first five series. The first came when nose tackle Vince Wilfork tipped the ball and it was intercepted by linebacker Jerod Mayo. The second occurred when Fitzpatrick badly underthrew T.J. Graham along the sidelines and cornerback Devin McCourty stepped in front of the receiver for the interception.
After Gostkowski missed a 42-yard field goal, the Bills drove 68 yards in six plays to take a 14-7 lead on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Chandler with 3:30 left in the half.
The Bills squandered a golden opportunity to go up two touchdowns late in the half, but running back C.J. Spiller was nailed by nose tackle Wilfork, who recovered the ball at the Patriots 3.
Buffalo took a 21-7 lead with 11:08 to go in the third quarter when wide receiver Donald Jones turned a short slant pass from Fitzpatrick into a 68-yard touchdown.
The Patriots countered with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Danny Woodhead three minutes later to cut the deficit to one touchdown. The score put the exclamation point on an eight-play, 80-yard drive.
New England tied the game with 3:53 remaining in the third quarter on a four-yard run by Brady. It came at the end of an eight-play, 85-yard march.
The Patriots regained the lead on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Gronkowski five seconds into the final quarter.
New England extended its lead to 42-21 early in the fourth quarter on touchdown runs of two yards by Ridley and seven yards by Bolden.
Buffalo cut the gap to two scores with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick to Brad Smith with 6:32 left.
But the Patriots answered with yet another score on a 25-yard on a touchdown pass from Brady to Brandon Lloyd with just over four minutes left.
Gostkowski kicked a 30-yard field goal with two minutes remaining to finish the scoring.
Notes: Fitzpatrick has two or more touchdown passes in four straight games, joining Jim Kelly (1991) and Joe Ferguson (1975) as the only Bills quarterbacks to accomplish that feat. ... Fred Jackson started at running back for the Bills after missing the previous two games with a strained knee. He finished with 29 yards on 13 carries and had three receptions for 50 yards. ... Spiller also saw action in the Bills backfield just a week after leaving the Cleveland game with a shoulder injury and had 33 yards on eight carries. ... The Patriots were without left guard Logan Mankins, wide receiver Julian Edelman and tight end Aaron Hernandez.