The Buffalo Bills on Sunday made sure Tom Brady will not return from his Deflategate suspension to helm a perfect Patriots team, embarrassing New England 16-0 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The fired up Bills were pushing and shoving even before the game began, and they kept up the pressure to hand the Pats their first shutout defeat in the 15-year history of Gillette Stadium.
It was just one upset of a day that started at London’s Wembley Arena with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 30-27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Photo: Winslow Townson, USA TODAY
Jags quarterback Blake Bortles threw two touchdown passes and rushed for another and Jacksonville’s defense repelled Andrew Luck’s fourth-quarter comeback bid as Jacksonville grabbed their first win of the season after a 0-3 start.
The Chicago Bears also picked up their first win of the season, holding Detroit’s potent offense in check in a 17-14 victory.
The New Orleans Saints stormed back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to stun the San Diego Chargers 35-34 and notch their first win of 2016.
In Baltimore, Maryland, the upstart Oakland Raiders handed the Ravens their first defeat of the campaign. Derek Carr threw four touchdowns, including a 23-yard pass to Michael Crabtree with less than two minutes remaining in what would be a 28-27 triumph.
For the Patriots, Sunday’s result confirmed that Brady cannot be back soon enough.
New England’s last home shutout defeat was back in 1993, and the last time they went scoreless was in 2006.
Meanwhile, the Bills held a foe scoreless on the road for the first time since 1990, bringing the Patriots back to earth with a thump after New England managed to start the season 3-0 without Brady.
Bills coach Rex Ryan called the win “satisfying.”
“But let’s face it,” Ryan said. “They had a player out. And we had our team [at full strength]. We expected to win.”
The struggles continued for reigning National Football Conference champions Carolina, as the Panthers fell 48-33 to the high-flying Atlanta Falcons.
Matt Ryan’s 503 passing yards was a Falcons club record. He completed four touchdown passes as receiver Julio Jones caught 12 passes for a club record 300 yards and a 75-yard score.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player, was knocked out of the contest with a concussion after taking a hard hit in the fourth quarter.
The Denver Broncos, who beat the Panthers in last season’s Super Bowl, trounced the Tampa Buccaneers 27-7 to remain undefeated, but also saw their quarterback go down, as Trevor Siemian departed with a shoulder injury in the second quarter.
There were no quarterback troubles in Pittsburgh, where Ben Roethlisberger threw four of his five touchdown passes before halftime and the Steelers bounced back from a 34-3 loss to the Eagles with a 43-14 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs.
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