It wasn’t pretty and the 2009 Patriots clearly have a lot of work left to do, but it was a win in classic Patriots fashion none the less.

For the better part of three quarters they played as if half-asleep. The Bills offense was able to push down the field, the Patriots offensive line had trouble giving Brady time to throw and even when they brought in an extra lineman, the Bills were still blowing up run plays. Brady looked uncomfortable, Welker was dropping passes – things looked bad.

Until the fourth quarter. All of a sudden Brady, Moss, Welker, and Faulk are connecting and driving down the field as expected. The defense started to play with some intensity. And then there was: The Fumble. The Bills kick returner brought the ball out of the end zone and Merriweather and Woods stripped the ball, allowing the kicker, Gostkowski, to pounce on it. Brady connected to Watson twice in the span…