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Buffalo Bills: 3 things we learned in Week 11

By The Sports Xchange
Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) avoids a sack by New England Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich (50) in the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on November 23, 2015. The Patriots defeated the Bills 20-13. Photo by Matthew Healey/ UPI
1 of 2 | Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) avoids a sack by New England Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich (50) in the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on November 23, 2015. The Patriots defeated the Bills 20-13. Photo by Matthew Healey/ UPI | License Photo

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- No team has lost more games against Tom Brady than the Buffalo Bills.

The Bills continued to be confounded by the New England quarterback in a 20-13 loss to the Patriots on Monday night. Buffalo is now 3-25 lifetime against Brady, losing both games this season.

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But Brady didn't have one of his best days against the Bills. The Buffalo defense pressured and hit him throughout, and he finished with one touchdown pass and threw his third interception of the season, completing 20 of 39 passes for 277 yards.

"It's better than some of the days he's had against us," Buffalo coach Rex Ryan said. "He's smart. He gets rid of the ball when he needs to. He doesn't take risks."

And he also called Ryan's name on an audible.

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"He likes me, I know that," Ryan quipped.

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Running back LeSean McCoy, who had 82 yards rushing and 41 receiving, scored on a 27-yard touchdown run to tie it at 10 for the Bills (5-5) in the third quarter. But he also dropped a touchdown pass.

"It's very frustrating, just thinking we had chances to win," he said, adding, "but we'll get better."

A fumbled punt by Buffalo's Leodis McKelvin helped New England get the field goal that made it 20-10 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. Dan Carpenter's second field goal of the game brought the Bills closer with 3:30 left, and Buffalo had one last chance to tie it.

New England scored in the first three quarters but came up empty in the fourth, ending a run of an NFL-record 38 straight quarters with points since being blanked in the first quarter of the season.

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Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who missed on several deep balls, was impressive under pressure and finished 20 of 36 for 233 yards. Wide receiver Chris Hogan had six catches for 95 yards. Taylor injured his right shoulder late and stayed in the game.

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What we learned about the Bills:

1. Tyrod Taylor has guts. The kid had trouble throwing the long ball and even some short ones on Monday night. But he ran for his life under pressure and made some nifty plays out of nothing. He threw for 233 yards and was sacked twice. He needs more experience, but he can make some plays.

2. The Bills are still alive in the playoff hunt. The loss, the second of the season to the Patriots, dropped Buffalo to 5-5. They entered Monday night as a wild card and head into Kansas City for a big game on Sunday.

3. The Buffalo defense made it much more difficult for Tom Brady than it did in the first game between the teams this season -- or in many games through the years. Brady took several hits and threw the ball away on several occasions under pressure provided by the Bills. "They're a good team," said Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was limited to two catches. "You got to give them credit. They got a good defense."

Etc.

--QB Tyrod Taylor had an up-and-down game in the loss to the Patriots on Monday night. He missed on some long balls but scrambled well and threw for 233 yards. He suffered a shoulder injury in the second half but stayed in the game, and actually threw one of his better long balls of the night soon after getting hurt. "I have no idea. I hope he's ready," coach Rex Ryan said of Taylor.

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--WR Chris Hogan ran open all night. The wide receiver caught six passes for 95 yards but could have added to that had Taylor hit him more often. Hogan has 26 catches this season.

--DE Mario Williams was one of several Bills to get hurt in the game. "He wasn't able to come back and that was a huge loss for us," coach Rex Ryan said. "I mean, obviously, he was playing well."

--RB LeSean McCoy had a 27-yard touchdown run in the loss. But his runs other than the TD were for just 2.9 yards per carry as the Patriots did a good job against the run.

--CB Leodis McKelvin really didn't feel much like talking about his fumbled punt that turned out to be key in the loss. "You saw it," he said. "He (Brandon King) came up from behind and pushed it out. It is the easiest way you are going to get a fumble, when somebody comes up from behind you and you don't see them. He just punched it out."

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