TEAM NOTES
- Patriots secure 35th winning season, 24th winning season in Robert Kraft's 28 years.
- Patriots win seventh straight.
- Patriots improve to 7-1 in the AFC.
- Bill Belichick secures 21st winning season and his 20th as head coach of the Patriots.
- RB Damien Harris scores on a career-long 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
- Mac Jones ties the mark for most road wins by a rookie quarterback with a 6-0 record.
- Nick Folk extends streak to 52 straight field goals under 50 yards.
- Matthew Judon reaches 12 ½ sacks to tie for the most under Belichick.
PATRIOTS EARN 35TH WINNING SEASON; 24TH WINNING SEASON IN 28 SEASONS UNDER ROBERT KRAFT
The victory over Buffalo improved New England to a 9-4 record and secured their 35th winning season since the 1970 merger, second only to the 37 winning seasons by Pittsburgh. It also marked the 24th winning season in the 28 seasons under the ownership of Robert Kraft.
MOST WINNING SEASONS SINCE THE 1970 MERGER
Team Seasons
Pittsburgh 37
New England 35
Dallas 33
Minnesota 31
Miami 31
Denver 29
MOST WINNING SEASONS SINCE 2001
Team Seasons
New England 20
Green Bay 16
Pittsburgh 15
Seattle 15
Baltimore 14
Indianapolis 14
Philadelphia 13
PATRIOTS ADD TO BEST CONFERENCE RECORD AND FIRST TEAM IN AFC WITH A WINNING RECORD
The Patriots improved to a 7-1 record in the AFC and became the first AFC team to secure a winning record with a 9-4 mark.
PATRIOTS EXTEND NFL RECORD TO 99 STRAIGHT GAMES SCORING IN FIRST HALF
The Patriots have gone 99 straight games (regular season and postseason) scoring in the first half, to extend an NFL record, following Damien Harris' 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Patriots also own the second-longest streak at 82 games with a first half score (2006-11). The last time the Patriots failed to score in the first half was a 16-0 loss at home against Buffalo on Oct. 2, 2016.
PATRIOTS BEGIN THE GAME WITH 10 STRAIGHT RUNS
The Patriots began the game with 10 straight runs. That's their longest streak to start a game under Bill Belichick and the longest by any team since the 2018 Ravens in Lamar Jackson's first career start (Week 11 vs Bengals). Overall, the Patriots finished the game with 46 rushing attempts, the most since they had 47 rushing attempts on Dec. 23, 2018 vs. Buffalo.
PATRIOTS WIN SEVENTH GAME IN A ROW
New England won its seventh straight game. During the streak the Patriots have allowed just 73 points for an average of 10.4 points per game.
PATRIOTS COMPLETE JUST TWO PASSES
The Patriots completed just 2-of-3 passes for 19 yards. The 3 pass attempts are the fewest by a team since Buffalo in Week 3 of the 1974 season against the Jets with just 2 attempts. It is the third time that has happened for the Patriots. They also completed just two vs. Miami on Dec. 12, 192 and vs. Miami on Nov. 9, 1969.
PATRIOTS ALLOW JUST THREE POINTS IN THE SECOND HALF IN LAST FIVE GAMES
Buffalo's third quarter field goal were the only points the Patriots have allowed in the second half in the last five games.
PATRIOTS ARE PERFECT ON THE ROAD IN 2021
The Patriots improved to a perfect 6-0 road record in 2021. The Patriots have finished undefeated on the road twice before (2007 and 2016). Since the start of the 1994 season when Robert Kraft purchased the team, the Patriots have the best regular season road record in the NFL. Arizona (7-0) is the only other team that is perfect on the road in 2021.
BEST ROAD RECORDS SINCE 1994
Team W L T Pct
New England 138 84 0 .622
Pittsburgh 122 98 1 .554
PATRIOTS RUSH FOR 200 YARDS FOR 17TH TIME UNDER BELICHICK
The Patriots rushed for over 200 yards for the first time in 2021 and for the 17th time in a single game under Bill Belichick. The Patriots rushed 46 times for 222 yards against the Bills. The Patriots have rushed for over 200 yards seven times under Belichick.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
BILL BELICHICK SECURES 21ST WINNING SEASON AS A HEAD COACH;
Bill Belichick secured his 21st winning season as a head coach, including his 20th winning season as the head coach of the Patriots.
Head coach Winning Seasons
George Halas 34
Don Shula 27
Curly Lambeau 27
Bill Belichick 21
Tom Landry 20
RB DAMIEN HARRIS SCORES ON A CAREER-LONG 64-YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN
RB Damien Harris scored on a career-long 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Harris's previous long was a 41-yard run on Oct. 5, 2020 at Kansas City. It is the longest run and longest touchdown run by the Patriots in the regular season since a 70-yard touchdown run by Curtis Martin on Sept. 21, 1997 vs. Chicago. LeGarrett Blount had a 73-yard touchdown run vs. Indianapolis on Jan. 11, 2014 in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game.
HARRIS GOES OVER 100 YARDS FOR FOURTH TIME IN 2021;
FOURTH-HIGHEST RUSHING AVERAGE IN A SINGLE GAME BY A PATRIOTS PLAYER
Harris finished with 111 yards on 10 carries for an 11.1-yard average. It is his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the 2021 season. Sony Michel was the last Patriots running back with four 100-yard rushing games in one season. He accomplished the feat in 2018. Harris's 11.1 average is the fourth-highest among all Patriots running backs in a single game with at least 10 rushing attempts.
Highest Rushing Average/Single Game (Min. 10 attempts)
Larry Garron – 11.60 – vs. Buffalo (10/22/61)
Sam Cunningham – 11.36 – at Buffalo (10/20/74)
Laurence Maroney – 11.14 – vs. Miami (12/23/07)
Damien Harris – 11.10 – at Buffalo (12/06/21)
FIRST TWO TACKLES GO FOR TWO SACKS FOR EKUALE
DL Daniel Ekuale tackled Buffalo QB Josh Allen for a 5-yard sack in the second quarter. His first two tackles of the 2021 season resulted in sacks. He sacked New York Jets QB Mike White for an 8-yard loss on the last play of the first half on Oct. 24, 2021.
MAC JONES TIED MARK FOR MOST ROAD WINS BY A ROOKIE QUARTERBACKS
Mac Jones has won his first six road games, joining Dak Prescott (6 in 2016) and Ben Roethlisberger (6 in 2004) as the only rookie quarterbacks to win each of their first six road games in league annals.
JONES IS FOURTH ROOKIE QB TO LEAD HIS TEAM TO A 7-GAME WINNING STREAK OR MORE
Jones has helped lead the Patriots to seven straight wins. He is the fourth rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era to lead his team to win at least seven consecutive games.
ROOKIE QBS TO WIN 6+ CONSECUTIVE GAMES / SB ERA
PLAYER YEAR WINNING STREAK
Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsbugh) 2004 13
Dak Prescott (Dallas) 2016 11
Kyle Orton (Chicago) 2005 8
Mac Jones (Patriots) 2021 7
Mike Kruczek (Pittsburgh) 1976 6
Vince Young (Tennessee) 2006 6
Robert Griffin III (Washington) 2012 6
FOLK EXTENDS STREAK
K Nick Folk extended his streak to 52 straight field goals under 50 yards with a 41-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. It is the second-longest streak in NFL history behind 56 straight field goals from inside 50 yards by Ryan Succop from 2014-2017 while with Tennessee. Folk's last miss from inside the 50-yard line was a 45-yard field goal attempt in the 2020 season-opener vs. Miami on Sept. 13.
CODY DAVIS IS SPECIAL – SETS CAREER-HIGH IN SPECIAL TEAMS TACKLES
Cody Davis had one special teams tackle against Buffalo to push his totals to a team-leading and career-high 11 special teams tackles. It is the third time in his career that he has reached double-digit special teams tackles. Davis had 10 special teams tackles in 2015 with St. Louis and 10 special teams tackles in 2018 with Jacksonville.
MATTHEW JUDON TIES FOR HIGHEST SINGLE-SEASON SACK TOTAL UNDER BELICHICK
Matthew Judon increased his 2021 sack total to 12 ½ after a 9-yard sack of Josh Allen in the fourth quarter. Judon joins Chandler Jones (12 ½ in 2015) and Mike Vrabel (12 ½ in 2007) for the most sacks in a single-season by a Patriots player under Bill Belichick.
PATRIOTS 12-PLUS SACK SEASON UNDER BILL BELICHICK
Sacks Player Year
12.5 Matthew Judon 2021
12.5 Mike Vrabel 2007
12.5 Chandler Jones 2015
GODCHAUX REACHES 10 TACKLES
DL Davon Godchaux set a career-high with 10 total tackles.
LINEUP NOTES
- LB Jamie Collins made his return to action after missing three games while on injured reserve.
- DL Daniel Ekuale played in his third game with the Patriots after being elevated from the practice squad.
- DB Sean Davis played in his first game with New England. It marks the third team he has played for in 2021. He played in one game with Indianapolis and two games with Cincinnati.
- DB Myles Bryant made his first start when the Patriots opened in a nickel defense.
