Belichick explains late-game timeout flap with official
There was some confusion in the closing minutes
Sunday as Bill Belichick got into an animated discussion with referee
Carl Cheffers after officials reversed the call on a supposed Fred Jackson touchdown.
With the ball now at the 1-yard line, Belichick
wanted to use a timeout to stop the clock with 1:43 remaining in a tied
game.
"I went down to call a timeout," Belichick said.
"They were waving me back, and I was going down there to call it, so I
called it."
Belichick got his wish, but the Bills took two
knees to run the clock down and then kicked the winning field goal as
time expired.
Turnover City
The Patriots committed eight penalties for 93 yards
Sunday, some negating big plays and others continuing drives.
"The turnovers really killed us in the end,"
receiver Wes Welker said. "We were able to do some good things out
there, move the ball pretty well and things like that, but when we get
in key positions, we can't turn the ball over and make some of those
mistakes and pick-sixes.
"We didn't play good complementary football with
each other, and the Bills came out there and played hard and kept
fighting. They were definitely a tougher team than us."
Mankins vs Merriman
OL Logan Mankins exchanged words with Bills defensive end
Shawne Merriman after Merriman allegedly hit Brian Waters following Tom Brady's third interception.
"It's just the passion of the game," Waters told
the Boston Herald. "I'm glad my guys definitely came to my defense, but
it's not their job to make sure to protect me; it's other people's jobs
to protect us. Hopefully, (the NFL) will go back and review the film
and maybe they'll understand they didn't protect me on that play."
PLAYER NOTES
-- K Stephen Gostkowski was one of several bright
spots in Sunday's loss, drilling six kickoffs into the end zone for
touchbacks.
-- WR Wes Welker set a new franchise single-game
record with 16 catches and 217 yards Sunday; he also had two touchdowns
in the loss to Buffalo.
-- DB Kyle Arrington finished with two
interceptions in an otherwise putrid effort by the defense and now
leads the league with three picks.
-- WR Chad Ochocinco had two catches for 28 yards,
but he also dropped a sure touchdown in the end zone.
-- QB Tom Brady finished with 387 passing yards
and has 1,327 yards (517, 423 and 387) through the first three games to
set the NFL mark for the most passing yards ever in a three-game
stretch. Drew Brees (1,257 yards -- 398, 510, 349) set the old mark in
2006.
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