|
|
 |
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE | |
FOXBORO, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- Antowain Smith was released by the Buffalo Bills last May. On Sunday, he haunted them. Smith ran for a one-yard score in the third quarter and a 42-yard touchdown with 1:52 left in the game as the New England Patriots posted a 21-11 victory over the Bills in a battle of AFC East rivals. Smith totaled 100 yards on 20 carries and is averaging 108.5 yards in each of his last two games. He ran for 117 yards last week against Atlanta on 23 carries and has 574 yards and six TDs this season. Smith became the first Patriots running back to rush for two touchdowns in a game since Terry Allen on October 24, 1999 against Denver. "I feel good," Smith said. "It was an ugly game but the main thing is we got the win. To get 100 yards and two touchdowns is icing on the cake. I stayed away from all the hype and interviews this week. When you try to do too much, that is when you get into trouble." It was the fifth win in the last seven games for the Patriots (5-4) since Tom Brady replaced injured starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe. Brady completed 16-of-21 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown and threw one interception. "Last year, these are the types of games we would have lost," Brady said. "It's always good to get a 'W,' that is what I'm concerned about." Buffalo (1-7) scored just their second offensive touchdown with 2:43 left in the game when backup Alex Van Pelt threw a 17-yard pass to Peerless Price and passed to Eric Moulds for the two-point conversion. Van Pelt replaced Rob Johnson, who suffered an injured right shoulder when safety Terrell Buckley sacked him on a third-down play. "It is a (right) shoulder injury and will be re-evaluated when we get home," Bills coach Greg Williams said. Buffalo was just 2-for-12 on third conversions. "Our protection was good," Williams said. "We just have to make plays on third down." "We mixed things up pretty well using the blitz and the zone," Buckley said. Brady helped New England open the scoring with 3:09 left in the first quarter when he hit running back Kevin Faulk with a six-yard pass in the end zone capping a six-play, 35-yard drive. Buffalo came within 7-3 just over three minutes into the second when Jake Arians booted a 24-yard field goal. Arians tried to bring the Bills within one later in the quarter but he missed wide right on a 49-yard attempt. Smith scored his first touchdown of the game with 7:27 left in the third quarter, completing a five-play 40-yard drive that was aided by a pass-interference penalty on Bills' linebacker Kenyatta Wright on a 3rd-and-2 play at the Buffalo 34. Neither team could get a scoring opportunity in the fourth quarter until Price's score that was set up two plays earlier when linebacker Jay Foreman recovered a fumble by Brady at the Patriots 17. New England recovered the ensuing onside kick at Buffalo's 45 and Smith scored two plays later to cap the scoring. "The defense was trying to get a strip of the ball," Williams said. "That was the cause for the TD run." Bills fullback Larry Centers became the second player at his position, joining Ronnie Harmon, to eclipse 6,000 yards receiving when he caught a four-yard pass from Johnson with just over 11:50 left in the third. It was the Bills' final visit to Foxboro Stadium, where they won 14 of 31 games played since 1971. The Patriots will move into a new stadium in 2002.
|
