‘D’ turns up pressure
Pass rush strong but not perfect
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Among the Week 1 overreactions was that the Patriots didn’t generate enough of a pass rush in their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So much for that. The Patriots sacked Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor eight times yesterday during their 40-32 victory — evidence they can, indeed, harass the passer this season with their revamped front seven.
“It’s fun,” defensive end Rob Ninkovich, who had one sack, said. “I think we’re still growing, and we need to continue to grow as a unit.”
It was just the third time the defense has had at least eight sacks under coach Bill Belichick. The Pats notched nine sacks against the Atlanta Falcons in 2001 and eight against the Philadelphia Eagles in 2003. But Belichick wasn’t overly satisfied with yesterday’s performance because there were still too many breakdowns when the pass rushers broke from their assignments and allowed Taylor to scramble or get outside the pocket to extend plays.
“We had our moments,” Belichick said. “I mean, we let him run around a lot, too. Taylor ran around. He scrambled for yardage. He scrambled and threw for big yardage. So again, I didn’t think it was all that great. We made some plays. We gave up some plays. I don’t think it was very consistent.”
Defensive end Chandler Jones (three sacks), linebacker Jamie Collins (2.5 sacks), defensive tackle Alan Branch (sack) and linebacker Dont’a Hightower (0.5 sacks) also took down Taylor. The Patriots have an impressive cast of pass rushers, but like Belichick, the players recognized the stat sheet shouldn’t overshadow the mistakes along the way.
“You look at the numbers, and it’s great,” Ninkovich said. “It’s the versatility of different guys coming, different guys in coverage, having guys that are very versatile and well-rounded as far as linebackers, defensive linemen coming and dropping. The more different looks you can give an offense, the better you’re going to be. We have to continue to improve. I think we did a great job for 40 minutes, and then the last 20 minutes, we started to try to get a little bit too aggressive and pin our ears back too much. And that’s when the dipin, dip-out quarterback problems started happening.”
Williams checks out
Bills safety Aaron Williams was released from the hospital after he was taken off the field in an ambulance with a neck injury. Williams passed all of the necessary tests, according to the Bills.
Williams dived toward Julian Edelman trying to stop the wide receiver’s 22-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but he remained on the ground for a while after his head jerked back during the midair collision.
“I hope he’s going to do well,” Edelman said before the news of Williams’ release. “You definitely don’t want to see that.”
Williams was very vocal last week regarding his hatred for the Pats, and quarterback Tom Brady pointed at him when he walked onto the field for the first time. Brady and Edelman beat Williams four times for 38 yards and two scores during the game.
Gronk’d at the Ralph
Rob Gronkowski, who is from nearby Amherst, N.Y., had seven catches for 113 yards and a score, so the tight end now has 30 receptions for 474 yards and six touchdowns in five career games at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
“It’s great coming back home,” Gronkowski said. “It’s great going on the road and having a big atmosphere. Buffalo was 1-0. They were hot at the moment. It was great to come in, especially get them a little quiet out there, which is always good, which is always what you want to do when you’re on the road. It was an unbelievable game atmosphere.”
Dobson dazzles
Aaron Dobson had seven receptions for 87 yards. It was the first time the receiver had more than one catch in a regular-season game since Week 11 in 2013, and it was his best statistical performance since he caught five balls for 130 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers in Week 9 of 2013.
“Aaron Dobson stepped up,” Brady said.
Flag day
The Patriots committed 11 penalties for 119 yards. It was just the 12th time they have had at least 11 penalties under Belichick (three of those occasions were last year). They had 119 penalty yards for the sixth time in Belichick’s tenure.
“Penalties happen,” safety Devin McCourty said. “Obviously, you don’t want it to happen. I’m sure Bill will let us know how he feels about it tomorrow.” . . .
Receiver Danny Amendola was quiet until his remarkable 29-yard catch with 3:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. Amendola outleaped cornerback Nickell Robey down the left seam at the Bills 17yard line to set up Stephen Gostkowski’s 25-yard field goal.
“I was battling more so the sun than anything,” Amendola said. “But it was a good throw by Tom and ended up working out for us.”