The New England Patriots won on the road finally, a 17-10 win against the Buffalo Bills.  The wins are getting uglier and uglier for the Patriots, but at this point of the season, wins are more important than looking good.  If and (most likely) when the Patriots make the playoffs, they’ll have to decide what to do about an offense that has been very inconsistent ever since Randy Moss’ 4th quarter TD against the Indianapolis Colts, and they’ll probably have to also figure out how to defend a playoff caliber QB.  The only team the Patriots have beaten with a winning record at this point of the season has been QB Joe Flacco’s Baltimore Ravens, and they’re not a lock to make the playoffs just yet.

But for now?  The Patriots win over the Bills could represent a turning point in terms of any locker room issues the team might have had.  A week after being criticized for poor effort by the Carolina Panthers (and the subject of some 1SKILLZ media nostalgia), Moss led the team in receiving for the first time since the Colts game, racking up 70 yards on five receptions that included an outstanding effort tapping the toes on the Patriots’ first TD.  In the second quarter Moss and WR Wes Welker both drew pass interference penalties in the end zone to set up the Patriots’ TDs (the other TD was scored by RB Laurence Maroney), and for the most part, that was the Patriots pass offense for the day.  Other than Moss and Welker (40 yards on four receptions), Brady had only five yards passing to RBs Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris.  No receptions by WRs Sam Aiken or Julian Edelman or TEs Ben Watson and Chris Baker.  But right now, who cares?  Those players haven’t been counted on to produce all season anyway!  This is an extreme case of non-reliance, but it’s been clear that the only receivers that matter for QB Tom Brady is Welker and Moss.  Moss came through with a good game after his team backed him, and despite season lows by everybody else involved, it is important that Moss is at least on the same page as Brady.

But perhaps the best part of the Patriots win versus the Bills were the six sacks the Patriots recorded, half of them in the fourth quarter by OLB Tully Banta-Cain.  I was surprised that OLB Adalius Thomas was back on the field for the Patriots after his deactivation against the Panthers, but the bigger story was Banta-Cain once again stepping up.  In a career year that has seen him get 8.5 sacks, Banta-Cain has his best game of his career.  His first sack knocked backup QB Trent Edwards out of the game after only one series - a microcosm of Edwards’ career perhaps.  For his second sack, he simply trucked Bills RB Fred Jackson on his way to Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick’s blind side.  And on his third sack, he fought through Bills LT Jonathan Scott to collapse the pocket behind Fitzpatrick.  He was joined in sacks by OLB Derrick Burgess, ILB Gary Guyton (first career sack), and DE Mike Wright (who got his fifth sack of the season, after getting four in his first four NFL seasons).  Too bad the Patriots don’t get to face the Bills again; of the Patriots’ 28 sacks this season, ten of them have come against the Bills’ sorry offensive line.  But the Patriots did something interesting in this game on third downs when rushing the passer.  Instead of having traditional down linemen, the Patriots would stand everybody up around the line of scrimmage, undoubtedly confusing the Bills protection schemes.  Can the Patriots continue to use this approach against teams with more experience at the offensive line and QB positions?  Maybe we’ll find out in the coming weeks against two 7-7 teams (Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans) fighting for their AFC Wild Card lives.

-1SKILLZ