2011 Week 3 · Sun, Sep 25, 2011 · Ralph Wilson Stadium
Final
New England Patriots 31 at Buffalo Bills 34. Final.
Buffalo Bills 34–31 — decided on the final possessions.
The Game Day Roster
Who was out, who dressed and never took a snap, and who was on the field how much. Snap counts begin in 2013. For this season the feed gives the game-day list and who was inactive, but not how many snaps each man took.
New England Patriots
43 dressed
Snap counts do not go back to this season — the game-day list below is what the feed carries.
Buffalo Bills
42 dressed
Snap counts do not go back to this season — the game-day list below is what the feed carries.
Who moved the needle
Top performers
Passing · NE
30/45, 387 yds, 4 TD, 4 INT
11.6 expected points added · +9.0% completion over expected
Passing · BUF
27/40, 369 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT
9.4 expected points added · +8.7% completion over expected
No opportunity read for this era
Snap, route and expected-points data starts in 2021. This game is older than the usage record, so there is no opportunity read for it — the box score above is the complete picture we hold.
Full stat lines
Box score
New England Patriots
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Brady | 30/45 | 387 | 4 | 4 | 0 | +11.6 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stevan Ridley | 6 | 42 | 7.0 | 0 | +2.2 |
| Danny Woodhead | 6 | 21 | 3.5 | 0 | −1.3 |
| Wes Welker | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | +1.3 |
| BenJarvus Green-Ellis | 10 | 18 | 1.8 | 0 | −2.7 |
| Tom Brady | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | +1.3 |
| Julian Edelman | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 | −1.0 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wes Welker | 16 | 20 | 217 | 2 | 44% | +25.5 |
| Rob Gronkowski | 7 | 9 | 109 | 2 | 20% | +6.6 |
| Chad Johnson | 2 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 9% | −4.9 |
| Danny Woodhead | 3 | 5 | 20 | 0 | 11% | −4.7 |
| Stevan Ridley | 1 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 2% | +0.5 |
| Julian Edelman | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 7% | −8.9 |
| Deion Branch | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7% | −2.4 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin McCourty | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kyle Arrington | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 2 | 3 |
| Leigh Bodden | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Brandon Spikes | 1 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Guyton | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Barrett | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sergio Brown | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andre Carter | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Woodhead | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerod Mayo | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Buffalo Bills
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 27/40 | 369 | 2 | 2 | 0 | +9.4 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fred Jackson | 12 | 74 | 6.2 | 1 | +2.8 |
| Brad Smith | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | −0.4 |
| C.J. Spiller | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | −0.3 |
| Donald Jones | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 | −0.4 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 4 | -6 | -1.5 | 0 | −2.1 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Jones | 5 | 10 | 101 | 0 | 25% | −3.7 |
| Steve Johnson | 8 | 10 | 94 | 1 | 25% | +7.1 |
| Fred Jackson | 5 | 6 | 87 | 0 | 15% | +4.2 |
| David Nelson | 6 | 8 | 84 | 0 | 20% | +2.1 |
| Scott Chandler | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 8% | +1.9 |
| Brad Smith | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3% | −0.8 |
| Naaman Roosevelt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3% | −0.1 |
| C.J. Spiller | 1 | 1 | -7 | 0 | 3% | −1.4 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Wilson | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Nick Barnett | 4 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jairus Byrd | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bryan Scott | 2 | 5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Leodis McKelvin | 2 | 3 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Aaron Williams | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reggie Corner | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris White | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drayton Florence | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Chris Kelsay | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 |
Take it with you
Every number on them comes from the same read as this page, and each one says in words where it came from.
The market number, who both clubs have been, and the one question this matchup asks.
/football/games/2011_03_NE_BUF
The cards are drawn from the charted play-by-play, not live, and each one says so on its face.
Closing number vs result
Betting context
- Closing spread
- Patriots -7
- Closing total
- 54
- Patriots moneyline
- -310
- Bills moneyline
- +273
Patriots closed -7 and lost outright — an upset against the closing number.
Total closed 54; the game landed 65 — over by 11.0.
Conditions and crew
Game environment
- Venue
- Ralph Wilson Stadium
- Roof / surface
- outdoors · a turf
- Kickoff weather
- Mild, 76°F at kickoff; a light breeze at 6 mph out of the south-east; mainly clear.
- Referee
- Carl Cheffers
- Rest
- Patriots 7 days · Bills 7 days
- Coaches
- Bill Belichick vs Chan Gailey
Division game — familiarity tightens these matchups; closing numbers tend to be sharper.