*The New England Patriots' offensive problems appear to be over. They scored on every second half drive to beat the Bills 37-22 in Buffalo. *
- Tom Brady's didn't just back up his boffo performance against Cincinnati. He improved on it. The Patriots scored on every second-half possession, gaining 297 yards after intermission. Brady was aggressive throwing deep passes and hit on long connections to Brian Tyms, Rob Gronkowski and Brandon LaFell. Brady's 361-yard, four-touchdown performance was especially impressive because the Patriots had no running game and the Bills got plenty of pressure on him throughout the day.
- Darrelle Revis is no longer playing much zone coverage for the Patriots. He latched on to Sammy Watkins all afternoon, and Watkins wound up with only two catches for 27 yards on the day.
- The Patriots are back in first place in the AFC East at 4-2, but this was a costly win. Linebacker Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley left with knee injuries that appear to be serious. The ever-changing offensive line also lost Dan Connolly. New England is already thin at linebacker, and Mayo's injury looked particularly bad.
- This was a vintage Patriots win in many ways. They won by going pass-first. The defense bent plenty but also forced three turnovers. New England was excellent in situational football, scoring two field goals to end the first half and then scoring a touchdown to open the second half. That's a trademark sequence for the Patriots when they are in gear.Â
- Going to Kyle Orton was absolutely the right move. After a slow start, he made a number of quality passes to keep the Bills in the game. He threw for 299 yards, but the Bills aren't built to win when their running game and pass defense are absent.
- Buffalo's secondary let the team down. They did not compete for the ball well or tackle soundly. Buffalo's talented front seven dominated the Patriots on the ground -- and got some pressure on Brady -- but not enough in the big moments.
- Keep an eye on Tyms, a third-year undrafted player for the Patriots. He entered after a big mental mistake by Aaron Dobson and promptly delivered a 43-yard touchdown. He had similar plays in the preseason before starting a four-game suspension.
We recap all the Week 6 action on a jaunty edition of the "Around the NFL Podcast." Find more Around The NFL content on NFL Now.
