FOXBORO -- The final items on the New England Patriots' regular-season to-do list were efficiently completed yesterday:
Pay back Bills.
Secure home-field advantage throughout playoffs.
Give the rest of the AFC something to chew on.
The Patriots provided the perfect symmetrical bookend to their historic 2003 season, boxing the ears of the downtrodden Buffalo Bills by the same score the Bills hammered the Patriots by 118 days ago. The 31-0 win was the Patriots' 12th straight. They finish an astounding 14-2, bettering by three wins the best record in team history while becoming just the sixth team since 1993 to finish a season 14-2 or better.
The weekend of Jan. 10, the Patriots will host the lowest AFC seed still standing after next weekend's first-round playoff games. At this point, that could be almost any playoff-bound team -- Tennessee, Denver, Indianapolis, Baltimore or even Cincinnati -- but it won't be Kansas City.
Truth be told, yesterday's game was over in the first five minutes. The Patriots walked up to the Bills and, without speaking a word, punched them square in the jaw.
The afternoon's domination was capped by a stirring, shutout-preserving interception in the end zone by reserve linebacker Larry Izzo with 13 seconds left after Buffalo had gotten to the Pats' 1.
"All 53 guys on this team wanted to keep that zero on the scoreboard," said Izzo. "It wasn't just one play. It was 60 minutes of football."
And the first minute set the tone. Working without running backs or a huddle, the Patriots spread the highly regarded Bills defense out and then shredded it, going 62 yards in nine plays and scoring on a 1-yard dart from quarterback Tom Brady to tight end Daniel Graham. Brady (21 of 32 for 204 yards and four scores) hit six different receivers and went 6-for-8 on the drive.
"We didn't decide to do it until the end of pregame warm-ups," head coach Bill Belichick said of going to the no-huddle. "[Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis] went in and talked to the team about it and I think [Brady] did a magnificent job with handling the pressures. He really did a nice job."
"They got out in the open and forced us to not be physical in the box," said Bills coach Gregg Williams, who refused to discuss his shaky future after the game. "That was their plan, and obviously it was well done."
Amazingly, the Patriots didn't even face a third down on their opening drive. They racked up 20 first downs in the first half. That's more than they had in entire games 11 times this season.
Brady, who has thrown 16 touchdowns and 5 interceptions during the team's 12-game streak, was on his way.
Then the Patriots defense took the field. This unit, which allowed just one touchdown at Gillette Stadium over the final six games, then put a match to Buffalo's game plan, whatever it was.
On the Bills' third play, a blitzing Tedy Bruschi forced Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe to throw off his back foot. The ball ended up in the arms of linebacker Mike Vrabel. Vrabel returned the pick to the Bills' 34. Bethel Johnson finished an eight-play drive by putting a spin move on Nate Clements after taking in a short pass from Brady and scoring from 9 yards out.
Bledsoe (12 for 29 for 83 yards with three sacks and a fumble) had a terrible day in his season to forget. Playing behind an offensive line that was without three of its best players (Jonas Jennings, Ruben Brown and Mike Williams), Bledsoe was under siege all afternoon. He didn't complete a pass in the first quarter. He was taken out in the fourth quarter after getting strip-sacked by Bruschi.
Just 46 seconds into the second quarter, Brady hit Troy Brown on a corner route on 3rd-and-10 from the Bills' 19 to make it 21-0. Two drives later, they made it 28-0 with Brady's fourth touchdown pass of the half, a 10-yarder on 3rd-and-9 to David Givens (7 catches, 80 yards), who has emerged as a terrific threat in the second half of this season.
A downside to the first half was when Brady and left guard Damien Woody were hurt on the same play in the second quarter. Both had their left ankles rolled on -- Brady's by Lawyer Milloy, who was blocked into the quarterback by Kevin Faulk; Woody in the scrum on the offensive line. Brady returned. Woody did not, but he said after the game it was nothing that would limit him during the playoffs. Russ Hochstein played the rest of the way for Woody.
A fourth quarter 24-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri (who also missed a 24-yarder off the left upright) was the final scoring in a game long since determined.
Even with the wraps put on this 14-2 campaign, there was precious little gloating when it was done.
"I think we know that the next team we play is going to be one of the best teams in the AFC and we are going to have our hands full," said Belichick "Everybody is 0-0 now. We all know what it is -- lose and you are out. Win and you keep going. It doesn't matter how you got here, whether you won them in a row or didn't. Teams that are in there, they are fighting. It's going to be a death match now."
So much for basking in the afterglow.
