Patriots Avoid Colossal Upset

           Everyone loves Monday Night Football. After a long tiring day to begin the week, friends and family gather around the television to watch primetime football. The opening weekend in the NFL’s Monday night schedule featured a double header. The first game, the New England Patriots vs. the Buffalo Bills. The second matchup, the Oakland Raiders vs the San Diego Chargers.

          The Patriots vs. Bills game was the perfect game to start Monday night football with. The game began with many interesting story-lines for both teams. 

          Tom Brady, the quarterback for the Patriots made his return to the field after suffering a season ending knee injury in the 2008 NFL season opener. Everyone; fans, players, and coaches alike, wanted to see how healthy his knee was after a year filled with surgery and rehab.

          New England’s defense was also a headliner going into Monday. A few key stars of three Super Bowl winning Patriots teams had either retired or had been traded in the offseason. Linebacker Tedy Bruschi retired, and is now an NFL analyst for ESPN. Fellow linebacker teammate Mike Vrabel was traded to Kansas City as part of the Matt Cassel deal. Also choosing to retire was Rodney Harrison, a hard hitting safety and vocal team leader. Harrison had seen his playing time diminished due to nagging injuries over the past few seasons. Like Bruschi, Rodney is also working in television for NBC sports.

          The Buffalo Bills made perhaps the most interesting acquisition of the offseason, signing wide receiver Terrell Owens, who was released by the Dallas Cowboys after the 2008 season. Owens has been labeled as a team headache, and has spent his last seven years playing for four different teams, and never leaving on a positive note. 

          Inexperience was also a weakness for the Bills leading up to Monday night as their offensive line is filled with players who had no NFL experience prior to Monday. Starting running back Fred Jackson, was asked to shoulder the bulk of the carries because star running back Marshawn Lynch was suspended for three games by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell due to multiple run-ins with the law.

          All of these sub-plots generated a lot of hype for this season opener. The game started sluggish, as neither team was able to find a rhythm offensively. The Patriots receivers made some uncharacteristic drops, and the Bills shot themselves in the foot with a lot of penalties thoughout the game.

         By halftime, it seemed as Buffalo was the experienced team as they took a lead into the break. The Bills continued to put the pressure on the Patriots as they built an 11 point lead with 5:32 remaining in the 4th quarter.

         Tom Brady led the Patriots down the field on their next possession and scored a touchdown of their own, an 18-yard pass from Brady to tight end Benjamin Watson.

         The following kickoff will haunt the Bills for a long time. As New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski kicked off Bills returner Leodis McKelvin caught the ball in the endzone, but unwisely decided to return it. As he made his way up the field he was hit hard by Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather, and was being dragged to the ground when the ball was knocked loose and was recovered by the Patriots. The turnover gave Tom Brady only about 30 yards to go for the go-ahead score, with about two minutes left and all three time-outs to use.

         Brady only needed a handful of pass completions to put the Patriots in the redzone. Brady then hit his tight end Benjamin Watson for a second time to score the winning touchdown. It was a marvelous catch by Watson, and the finishing touch on an extroardinary comeback win. 

         The Bills final drive follwing the go-ahead score from New England looked to be gaining momentum but two sacks of Bills quarterback Trent Edwards would not allow the Bills to win.

         What looked like a miserable loss for the Patriots turned into a win. Tom Brady and his fellow teammates reminded the viewers around the world that they have the heart of a champion, and are the most dangerous team in the National Football League.

By, Nicholas Goss