NFL-Patriots, pumped-up Brady continue mastery of Bills

Sept 20 (The Sports Xchange) - New England quarterback Tom Brady passed for 466 yards -- the second-highest total of his career -- and three touchdowns on Sunday to lead the Patriots to a 40-32 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. On a day when Buffalo's fans hoped to set a Guinness World Record for noise, Brady deflated the home crowd's enthusiasm. "It was really loud, no doubt," Brady said. "I thought the good plays settled them down a little bit. ... It's a good team, great defense, tough place to play, and it was a great win. It's great to be 2-0." The Patriots (2-0) have now beaten the Bills (1-1) in 24 of their 27 meetings when Brady was the Patriots starting quarterback. "It's a team win," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "We prepared hard and we got something to show for it. We scored 40 points and we are 1-0 in the division." New England are also now 10-4 against teams coached by Rex Ryan, who led the New York Jets before taking over in Buffalo during the offseason. "It's on my shoulders," Ryan said. "Belichick out-coached me. No question about it. That's how it ended up." "It's our players," Belichick countered. "They made the plays that won the game. They probably overcame some not-so-great coaching on our part." Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman caught 11 passes for 97 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and tight end Rob Gronkowski caught seven passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. New England running back Dion Lewis gained 138 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown, and kicker Stephen Gostkowski made all four of his field goal attempts. Gostkowski sealed the win with a 25-yard field goal after the Bills had cut the Patriots' 24-point lead down to 37-32 late in the fourth quarter. Penalty flags flew frequently in this game. The teams combined for 25 penalties for 259 yards. Buffalo had 14 of those penalties for 140 yards. Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor struggled for much of his second career start, but rallied Buffalo to three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. He finished with 242 yards passing and touchdowns to tight end Charles Clay and wide receivers Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins. Taylor also rushed for 43 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted three times and sacked eight times. "On the offensive side, we killed ourselves," Taylor said. "We have to protect the ball more, or better. And penalties, we can't have as many penalties as a team and on the offensive side." New England appeared to put the game out of reach when they scored 13 straight points in the third quarter and built a 24-point lead. The Patriots opened the half with a 77-yard drive that ended with Gostkowski's 21-yard field goal. Edelman then took a short pass 22 yards for his second touchdown of the day to punctuate an 83-yard drive and put the Patriots in front 34-13 midway through the third quarter. A 50-yard field goal from Gostkowski made it 37-13 just before the end of the third quarter. Taylor hit Woods for a 32-yard touchdown with 11:41 remaining, but missed a two-point conversion pass attempt to wide receiver Percy Harvin. Taylor also scored on a 5-yard run with 5:27 left in the game. The Bills got within one score when Taylor threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Watkins with 4:16 remaining. Buffalo started the drive at the 50 when linebacker Preston Brown recovered a Brady fumble forced by defensive end Jerry Hughes. (Editing by Peter Rutherford)