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Patriots make it 10 straight over Bills

Nov 9, 2008 - 11:28 PM By Mike Petraglia PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FOXBOROUGH, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Even without Tom Brady, the New England Patriots showed they still have the number of the Buffalo Bills.

Wes Welker caught 10 passes for 107 yards while Matt Cassel ran for a touchdown as the Patriots beat the Bills, 20-10, at Gillette Stadium.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis recorded his first career 100-yard game, rushing for 105 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. The undrafted rookie scored for the fourth straight game.

"I was just having fun," Green-Ellis said. "That's what we like to do, just pound the ball. We just executed our game plan, offensive line, tight ends, fullbacks, even Matt on some plays was alert (to run)."

The Patriots sealed the win with a 19-play, 92-yard touchdown drive that consumed over nine minutes of the fourth quarter.

"I was really proud of the way our team held up there today. I thought defensively, we played a pretty solid game," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

It was the 10th straight time New England defeated Buffalo, dating to a 31-0 win by the Bills on September 7, 2003, and the 15th victory in the last 16 meetings.

More importantly, it put the Patriots (6-3) in a first-place tie atop the AFC East with the New York Jets, who visit Gillette Stadium on Thursday night.

"It's getting down to crunch time now," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "It's mid-November and it's a race for the AFC East title. This is the way the rest of the games are going to be. They are going go down to the fourth quarter. The Jets, Bills, Dolphins, and everyone else are tough and it's going to be like this from here on out."

Welker set an NFL record, becoming the first player in league history to open a season with at least six receptions in nine straight games.

"This is a big win," Welker said. "It was for first place in the division for now and we've got a big one this next week on Thursday night coming up pretty quick. So, we have to be ready to go."

The Patriots began their run of three straight games against the AFC East with a win while the Bills (5-4) finished a three-game skid in their division, losing to the Miami Dolphins, Jets and Patriots in succession.

"Overall picture, we're 5-4," said Bills wide receiver Lee Evans. "That's who we are, that's what we are. Moving forward, the road doesn't get any easier. When you come down to this part of the season, you have to play well if you expect to win. You can't play a bad game and expect to get away with it at this time of season. This is when teams really start to separate themselves."

Marshawn Lynch rushed for 46 yards while quarterback Trent Edwards was held to 120 yards on 13-of-23 passing with one TD and two interceptions.

"I think it was pretty clear to everybody that we just weren't consistent enough to win the football game today," Bills coach Dick Jauron said. "Offensively, we couldn't put anything together. It looked like, from field level, that we had some chances. We just didn't execute well enough to get anything done and to stay in the game or to score enough points."

The Patriots struck first in the opening quarter when Matt Cassel ran up the middle of a wide-open Bills defense from 13 yards. The key play came on the first play of the drive when Buffalo free safety Ko Simpson was called for unnecessary roughness for a hit near the head of Randy Moss.

New England increased it to 10-0 on a 32-yard field goal by Steve Gostkowski. With Evans open over the middle, Ellis Hobbs picked off an inaccurate Edwards at the Buffalo 34 to set up the score.

"That's Football 101 right there," said Evans. "When you turn the ball over, it makes it a big, uphill struggle to try to win. That's certainly something that has to be corrected. Today, we just didn't play well enough to win. They made us make mistakes and that's why they won. They just played the way they are. That's what they do."

Leading 13-3, the Patriots took over the ball with 11:05 remaining in the game. They marched down the field in 19 plays, including one penalty that wiped out what would have been the 20th play.

"Any time you can finish out the game on offense, it's huge, especially when you've got that much time left in the fourth quarter," Welker said.

When Green-Ellis went in from one yard, it tied a franchise record for most plays ever on a scoring drive.

"Offensively, overall, I thought that last drive was awesome and it took a lot of time off the clock and we wound up getting seven points," Belichick said. "It was good time management and real good execution when we needed it."