FOXBORO, Mass. — Matthew Slater made sure his Patriots teammates understood just how special Monday night’s win in Buffalo was.
“Tonight is one of those nights, fellas, that you’ll remember 10, 15, 20 years from now,” New England’s longest-tenured player said inside the locker room after the Patriots overcame the elements in 14-10 win over the Bills. “You won’t remember the cold — you’ll remember the way we responded. It ain’t gonna come to us easy, fellas, we’re gonna have to fight and claw and scrap.”
But what made the game so memorable for Slater, a player who’s won three Super Bowls?
Most of the postgame discourse has surrounded Mac Jones’ historically uneventful performance and New England’s comical commitment to the running game.
“Consider the stakes. I mean, we’re playing against the best team in our division, one of the best teams in the AFC,” the 36-year-old Slater said Wednesday during a press conference at Gillette Stadium. “It’s late in the year, there’s a lot on the line in terms of what we all play this game for. So, I think that’s the biggest thing — the stakes, the environment. And then the weather. I know we don’t talk about the weather, and, ‘The weather’s the weather,’ but, I mean, I’ve played 200 games, and there’s, like, five of them that were like that.
“So, you remember the ones that were bad. The last time I had one like that was probably my rookie year in 2008 when we were (in Buffalo), and the wind was like 50 mph. So, to go in and overcome that, overcome the crowd, and then, first and foremost, overcome the Buffalo Bills — that’s something special. And I think the guys that played in the game, gave us great efforts, they’ll remember that for a long time to come.”
Slater then pointed toward Patriots defensive lineman Davon Godchaux, who finished Monday’s game with a career-high 10 combined tackles, a number your hardly ever see from a primary nose tackle.
“This man, speaking of playing a great game and great efforts, this man played his tail off. So, that’s one of those games that you’ll remember. And, thankfully, it’s a good memory, because we won the game, but it was a lot of fun.”
Slater and his teammates now will enjoy a much-needed bye week — the latest bye week in NFL history — after rattling off seven consecutive victories. Nothing that happens this weekend can remove New England from its place atop the AFC East and conference standings.
The Patriots will return Saturday, Dec. 18 when they visit the Indianapolis Colts.
