Tom Brady has his 32nd touchdown of the season, hitting an open Rob Gronkowski for the rookie tight end’s eighth.
For a while, it looked like it was the Bills who would score, as Buffalo was again driving on the strength of a 41-yard bomb from Ryan Fitzpatrick to C.J. Spiller just barely over the hands of Kyle Arrington. Once again the defense came up big in the red zone, though, with Gary Guyton knocking the ball out of Fitzpatrick’s hands for a fumble recovered by Jerod Mayo.
While the running game was still working just fine for New England (Tom Brady even got in on the action with a pair of scrambles), the passing attack found its feet on the third Patriots drive of the game. Brady found Deion Branch on the first play, and ate up 23 yards with an off-balance but perfect lob to Gronkowski while under pressure to convert a 3rd-and-6 and set up the touchdown pass.
The Patriots might need that lead after all, too. New York has responded in Chicago with a pair of touchdowns, and now lead the Bears 14-10.