Pats put the deep freeze on Bills

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady loves the snow. Once again, Brady is a master in the snowy elements as he leads the Pats to a 35-7 victory in Buffalo.

[AP Photo/David Duprey]

The Buffalo Bills got froze out of their own stadium by the rejuvenated New England Patriots. The Pats froze the Bills offense, stuffing both the running game and passing game of J.P. Losman in their 35-7 thumping of the Bills.

Willis McGahee was shutdown and only gained 3 yards on 8 carries. In total, Buffalo had their worst game ever running, picking up a measly 14 yards on 12 carries. Losman was the best Bills runner with 7 yards on 1 scramble. McGahee was met in the backfield as fast as he was handed the ball.

With the threat of the running game eliminated, the Pats went to work against Losman's aerial attack. Losman completed only 10 of 27 for 181 yards and 1 TD. The touchdown went to Josh Reed and it was during mop up time.

The Pats, meanwhile, had their way as usual against the Bills. Since Tom Donahoe took over as Bills General Manager, the Pats have won 9 out of 10 games. Tom Brady was once again machine like in completing 29 out of 38 for 329 yards and two touchdowns. Brady also ran 3 yards for the Pats first touchdown. With the Patriots up 28-0, former Bills quarterback Doug Flutie came in to the delight of Bills fans. It turned out to be the highlight of the day for the fans who shelled out big bucks, sat in the cold and snow to witness the travesty on the field.

This was an absolute snow job. Mother nature predicted it before the game as the weather turned sour an hour before the game and delayed the traffic coming into Orchard Park. The snow stopped during the first half, enough to clear the view for the fans to see the ultimate destruction of the Bills by the New England Patriots.

The Pats, under the control of Brady once again, sliced and diced the Bills defense and it was 21-0 by half time. The snow job was on and then mother nature opened up and let it fall on the brave souls who stayed to watch the remainder of the game.

Just how bad is it going to get before Ralph Wilson finally makes a move to rid the team of the garbage that is sinking the ship. I'm talking about head coach Mike Mularkey and GM Tom Donahoe here???

View from the Cheap Seats! It was cold and blustery in the Ralph on Sunday and the Bills performance didn't warm up the fans.

[Bills Thunder Photo/Rick Anderson]

It is a lot worse than ugly now and the Bills came close to losing to the tongue-in-cheek prediction I had made on my Wild Bills site, proclaiming the Pats would win 48-0. It ended 35-7, and if not for a nifty run after a short catch by Josh Reed.

Eric Moulds missed his first game in years. It was not by choice. Moulds was suspended by Ralph Wilson, at the urging of head coach Mike Mularkey. The Bills certainly could have used Moulds on the field Sunday as the receiving game went south without the veteran receiver.

The whole week leading up to the Bills-Pats game on Sunday was a media circus. It started with rumors of Moulds getting suspended. Moulds had an argument with the receivers coach in Miami and it spread to head coach Mike Mularkey. Moulds was benched for the majority of the game against the Dolphins and when he heard that Mularkey wanted to suspend him, he requested a meeting with Bills owner Ralph Wilson to hear his case. Bills head coach Mike Mularkey wanted to suspend Moulds immediately, but with Mularkey in hot water right now with the owner, Moulds was granted his request.

After the meeting, Wilson sided with head coach and suspended Eric Moulds for one game. It is obvious that the veterans on the team sided with Moulds and the locker room was in turmoil all week. The Bills certainly played on Sunday as if they quit on the coach. There wasn't any effort there, especially from McGahee, who was quite upset over the Moulds situation.

All week, the fans were talking about an open revolt on the Bills. There have been other plans to stage a walk out and other ways of voicing discontent with not only Mularkey but Tom Donahoe and the dismal Bills season. All fans who entered the stadium with anti Donahoe or Mulakey signs quickly had them confiscated. A lot of fans who displayed such signs were escorted out of the stadium. When sections of fans started chanting about Donahoe, they were told to stop or face being kicked out. The Bills are shooting themselves in the foot on this one as the fans are the ones who have sold out the stadium the entire season and most seasons past.

Moulds has done his bit throughout the ten years he's been with the team. He's taken pay cuts, has accepted the role of a decoy receiver and has had so many incompetent quarterbacks that he can't count them on two hands. But he has always done whatever the team asked him, and now it is asking him to take a loss of week's paycheck while Bills head coach Mularkey gets a pat on the back and a vote of confidence by the Bills 87-year old owner.

As the Bills start running for the bus, the big question is how much more of this can Wilson take. The fans are now in open revolt as are most of the players. A complete burning down of the house is the only way to restore player and fan confidence. Does Wilson feel he has the time left to survive yet another house cleaning?

Copyright © 2005 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.