It's a miracle, Patriots pull off incredible win

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Boy, did the Patriots luck out with a win in the opener against the Buffalo Bills.

Can you believe the Bills were so close to stunning the Pats in the opener like I was?

Who saw this coming? On paper -- I know the games aren't played on paper -- it was a mismatch, but it looked like two pretty even teams duking it out in an AFC East game.

Tom Brady looked rusty, I'll give you that, at certain times ...more like in the first half. But he delivered in the second half with 2 TDs passes in 1:16 span to win late, that's what the elite NFL QBs do (those elite guys are Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Brady), but should it have been that close?

If the Pats defense plays like that against the Bills, what's the rest of the season going to look like? Can they stop a screen pass? No. Granted, they did take away the outside with wide receivers Lee Evans and Terrell Owens, but everything else was wide open -- the running game, and in particular, the screen game. 

They better tighten it up or we're in for a lot of shootouts. But I'm willing to bet Bill Belichick will get these guys flying to the ball and making plays behind the line of scrimmage.

I saw a lot of early-season troubles --missed field goal, dropped balls (how many did Welker drop?) failed conversions on third and fourth down, and some predictability on offense -- pass on first down, run on second down, pass on third. I guess it's better than running draws on third down all the time when Charlie Weis was the offensive coordinator?

What I liked: 

Brady -- he delivered in the clutch, that's why he's the best QB in the NFL, coming off injury or not.

Benjamin Watson -- He showed great hands and great route running for two TDs catches over the middle when the Bills were pinching on the outside receivers, which opened up the middle for someone to take advantage of.

Safety Brandon Meriweather -- He had a team-high 8 tackles. Meriweather was all over the place on offense and special teams, and lit up kickoff returner Leodis McKelvin when Pierre Woods came in and got the strip, setting up the winning score.

Defensive end Tully Banta-Cain -- He provided a much-needed pass rush on the outside. A big welcome back to you! He had two sacks, including a big one on the final drive to preserve the win. Way to step up.

Running back Laurence Maroney -- He's been knocked by so many people, but Maroney ran hard, hit the hole and looked for defenders so he could deliver the blow. Nobody better say he was dancing around because he didn't. He only had 32 yards on 10 carries, but why did they go away from the run after finding success early? Plus, Maroney had a great kickoff return for 52 yards. He no doubt earned his paycheck.

Wide receiver Randy Moss - Moss hauled in 12 balls for 141 yards. I know Bills cornerback Terrence McGee was being praised all night about his coverage skills and not backing down on playing Moss, but Moss simply punked him. I don't know what the announcers were watching.

Be sure to check back to Fan Fanatic Sports for more opinion on the Patriots-Bills game.