QUARTERBACK B-
This was not a great day for the quarterback or the offense, but when the chance came to take the Bills out at the knees, Tom Brady sensed it and began hewing away. Early on, Buffalo's tight coverages led to a sack and enough frustration to spark a shouting match with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels after missing wide-open receiver Brandin Cooks on a deep cross. The Pats failed to score a touchdown on two first-half trips into the red zone, but Brady eventually found his ability to slide in the pocket, hitting running back Rex Burkhead for an 11-yard completion on an important drive that ended with a Stephen Gostkowski field goal just before halftime. Brady got the ball to start the second half leading 9-3 and understood his moment had come. He made a great read against a blitz on third-and-11 early in the drive, finding tight end Rob Gronkowski wideopen for 19 yards. He found Gronk twice more on that drive, which resulted in the first of two TD runs by Burkhead. For all his first-half struggles, Brady was 8-for-8 to open the second half and led back-to-back TD drives that broke the will of the Bills. He hit Gronkowski for 30 yards when he realized what appeared to be a 50/50 chance actually was more like 80/20 against cornerback Tre'Davious White. Brady's worst decision came when he nearly gave up a pick-6 to linebacker Matt Milano on a forced a pass toward running back James White, but even on an average day, as Brady said, “It was good enough.”