This just in: Tom Brady's still Terrific, and the Buffalo Bills still stink.
Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Or, in the case of the Bills, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Buffalo had an upset of Niagara Falls proportions all but locked up after taking a 24-13 lead over their perennial nemesis New England with 5:32 remaining Monday night.
Then, thanks to the brilliant passing of Brady, and a not-so-brilliant decision by Bills kick returner Leodis McKelvin, the Patriots pulled out an improbable, 25-24 win.
For 55 minutes, it seemed as if the Bills were going to play Juan Martin del Potro to the Patriots' Roger Federer.
There were all sorts of reasons Buffalo should have been blown out by the Pats. The Bills' first-team offense had scored just three points in five preseason games, prompting coach Dick Jauron to fire his offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, 10 days before the opener. Three of Buffalo's offensive linemen -- tackle Demetrius Bell and rookie guards Andy Levitre and Eric Wood -- were playing in their first NFL game. Marshawn Lynch, the Bills' leading rusher, was sitting out the first of a three-game suspension.
And, besides, the Bills never beat the Patriots. Buffalo came into Gillette Stadium having lost 11 in a row to the Pats, and 15 of the previous 16.
So it was surprising, stunning and shocking when the Bills took a double-digit lead late.
But here's the thing about teams like the Bills -- they find ways to lose.
And here's the thing about teams like the Patriots -- they find ways to win.
Especially now that Brady, the best quarterback in the business, is back in business after a year on the sidelines with a knee injury.
"It came down to a few plays at the end of the game, and we made them," coach Bill Belichick said.
What it came down to, at the end of the game, was Brady having the ball in his hands.
It was the situation he'd been waiting a year for. The situation he lives for and loves. The situation when nobody in the NFL today is better than Tom Brady.
If there was any question that Brady, after a year away, was still magic, still a miracle worker with a pigskin in his hands, they were answered in the final minutes last night.
First, he took the Patriots 81 yards in 11 plays -- the last an 18-yard TD pass to tight end Ben Watson -- that cut Buffalo's lead to 24-19 with 2:06 to go.
That's when McKelvin made a decision that cost the Bills the game. And Pierre Woods and Stephen Gostkowski made a play that put the Pats in position to win.
McKelvin could have stayed in the end zone after fielding Gostkowski's kickoff. He hesitated for a moment, but then, instead of taking the touchback, decided to come out. It was a decision that proved fatal to the Bills.
The Patriots had forced a fumble on the previous kickoff, but Buffalo recovered. This time, the Pats ran downfield looking for another.
"We got the fumble out on the previous kickoff," Belichick said. "We just didn't get it. At that stage of the game, you're always looking to pull the ball out."
Woods did just that, stripping it from McKelvin's hands. Gostkowski recovered at the Buffalo 31, with 1:56 to go.
If you're a Patriots fan, you knew Brady was going to cap his comeback by directing his team to a dramatic, come-from-behind win in the final seconds.
And the sad thing, if you're a Bills fan, is that you, too, knew that was exactly what was going to happen.
It took just three plays.
There was a 6-yard toss to Randy Moss, followed by a 9-yard pass to Welker for a first down at the 16. Then, with 50 seconds remaining, Brady, cool as ever in the pocket, stepped forward and rifled a strike -- once again to Watson -- in the end zone for the lead.
"It was the best catch I've ever seen him make," Brady said.
There was only one problem.
The Bills still had time for a last-gasp bid to move into field-goal range, as the Patriots' bid for a two-point conversion after Watson's TD failed.
The New England defense, hurt by a first-quarter injury to leading tackler Jerod Mayo's knee, hadn't exactly distinguished itself, particularly considering the offensive woes the Bills had been experiencing.
But, to their credit, they came up big in the final seconds, twice sacking Buffalo QB Trent Edwards.
Does anyone doubt that, if the situation had been reversed, and it had been the Patriots needing to get into field-goal range, Brady would have done it?
"Two-minute drives are fun for a quarterback," Brady said. "We didn't play very well in the first half. We missed some pretty good opportunities. But, being down 11 with five-and-half minutes left, to come back and win -- that's pretty special."
Brady remains pretty special. He completed 39 of 53 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns -- both in the final 3:30.
Tom is, indeed, still terrific. And the Bills still stink.
(Contact Jim Donaldson at jdonalds@projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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