2017 Week 16 · Sun, Dec 24, 2017 · Gillette Stadium
Buffalo Bills
16
at
New England PatriotsWinner
37
NE -11 ✓O 47.5 ✓
New England Patriots 37–16 — never really in doubt late.
Pre-2018 game — box score & context only; play-by-play visuals start in 2018
Who moved the needle
Top performers
Passing · BUF
21/38, 281 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT
-5.3 expected points added · -6.5% completion over expected
Passing · NE
21/28, 224 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
2.8 expected points added · +8.2% completion over expected
Full stat lines
Box score
Buffalo Bills
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyrod Taylor | 21/38 | 281 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -5.3 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LeSean McCoy | 17 | 71 | 4.2 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Tyrod Taylor | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 0 | 0.9 |
| Travaris Cadet | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | -0.0 |
| Mike Tolbert | 3 | -3 | -1.0 | 0 | -2.3 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deonte Thompson | 4 | 5 | 91 | 0 | 13% | 4.7 |
| LeSean McCoy | 5 | 7 | 76 | 0 | 18% | 2.5 |
| Kelvin Benjamin | 5 | 7 | 70 | 0 | 18% | 5.9 |
| Charles Clay | 4 | 10 | 37 | 0 | 26% | -1.9 |
| Mike Tolbert | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 5% | 0.1 |
| Brandon Tate | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 8% | -1.0 |
| Travaris Cadet | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3% | -0.7 |
| Zay Jones | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3% | -0.3 |
| Nick O'Leary | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3% | -2.3 |
| Patrick DiMarco | 1 | 1 | -8 | 0 | 3% | -1.5 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston Brown | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shareece Wright | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ramon Humber | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Micah Hyde | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Poyer | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Tre'Davious White | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Milano | 1 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Williams | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leonard Johnson | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lorenzo Alexander | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
New England Patriots
Passing
| Player | C/Att | Yds | TD | INT | Sacked | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Brady | 21/28 | 224 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2.8 |
Rushing
| Player | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dion Lewis | 24 | 129 | 5.4 | 1 | 5.5 |
| Mike Gillislee | 6 | 28 | 4.7 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Brandon Bolden | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 0 | 1.2 |
| Tom Brady | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| Brandin Cooks | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Jacob Hollister | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Brian Hoyer | 2 | -1 | -0.5 | 0 | -3.6 |
Receiving
| Player | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rob Gronkowski | 5 | 7 | 67 | 1 | 25% | 2.7 |
| Danny Amendola | 3 | 3 | 28 | 0 | 11% | 3.2 |
| Dwayne Allen | 2 | 2 | 26 | 0 | 7% | 1.2 |
| Dion Lewis | 5 | 5 | 24 | 1 | 18% | 2.2 |
| Phillip Dorsett | 1 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 4% | 2.2 |
| Brandin Cooks | 2 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 18% | -0.5 |
| Kenny Britt | 1 | 2 | 16 | 0 | 7% | -5.2 |
| Mike Gillislee | 1 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 4% | 0.9 |
| Jacob Hollister | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7% | -1.5 |
Defense (top contributors)
| Player | Solo | Ast | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marquis Flowers | 5 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Trey Flowers | 7 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcom Brown | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Elandon Roberts | 2 | 4 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Chung | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 |
| Devin McCourty | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephon Gilmore | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malcolm Butler | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 |
| Deatrich Wise | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Duron Harmon | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
Closing number vs result
Betting context
- Closing spread
- NE -11
- Closing total
- 47.5
- BUF moneyline
- +431
- NE moneyline
- -510
Patriots closed -11 and covered, winning by 21.
Total closed 47.5; the game landed 53 — over by 5.5.
Conditions and crew
Game environment
- Venue
- Gillette Stadium
- Roof / surface
- outdoors · fieldturf
- Kickoff weather
- 35°F, wind 7 mph
- Referee
- Craig Wrolstad
- Rest
- BUF 7 days · NE 7 days
- Coaches
- Sean McDermott vs Bill Belichick
Division game — familiarity tightens these matchups; closing numbers tend to be sharper.