FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots won a wet and wild one Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Patriots clinched a first-round playoff bye with the 34-20 home victory. Running back LeGarrette Blount was the star of the game with 334 total yards in the rain at Gillette Stadium.
It wasn’t Tom Brady‘s strongest game, but he got the job done, throwing for 122 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
Check out this week’s five stars of the game:
Blount: He’s been a force lately, and he finally had his breakout game as a starter, with 24 carries for 189 yards and two touchdowns, along with two kick returns for 145 yards. He had 15 carries for 118 yards and one TD in the first half.
Blount has been running much better since Stevan Ridley was benched five weeks ago. On Sunday, Blount ran over, through and around defenders.
Julian Edelman: Brady had trouble finding any receiver other than Edelman, who was targeted 11 times and caught nine passes for 65 yards. He went over 100 catches and 1,000 yards on the season.
Edelman has been Brady’s most consistent target all year, and it wasn’t any different in the regular-season finale. Edelman didn’t have any spectacular plays, but he consistently got open enough.
Sealver Siliga: The Bills had success running the ball to the edges, but they couldn’t find much room in the middle, where Siliga helped clog the lanes. He finished with nine tackles and added some pass-rush production with one sack.
It wasn’t the best showing for the Patriots’ run defense, which allowed 169 yards after back-to-back productive games, but everyone’s had a tough time against the Bills’ rushing attack.
Rob Ninkovich: The defensive end had another productive game rushing the passer. His sack gave him eight on the season, tying last year’s mark.
Stephen Gostkowski: The kicker was 4 for 4 on field-goal attempts and set the franchise record for points in a season with 157, passing Gino Cappelletti.
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