It鈥檚 hard to quantify all the ways in which Greg Rousseau鈥檚 6-foot-7 height and 83录-inch wingspan impact plays on the football field.
Rousseau didn鈥檛 get an official statistic for the pivotal play in Sunday鈥檚 game, but his massive frame helped create a touchdown in Sunday鈥檚 24-21 victory by the Buffalo Bills over the New England Patriots.
The Bills鈥 fourth-year defensive end was so quick to recognize a swing pass early in the fourth quarter that he forced running back Rhamondre Stevenson to muff the pass at the Pats鈥 3-yard line. Rousseau then pancaked Stevenson to the ground, the backward throw bounded into the end zone and Taron Johnson recovered for a touchdown.
Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau, left, chases a loose ball that Taron Johnson fell on for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the Patriots.
鈥淕reg made an incredible play, and he couldn鈥檛 get on the ball fast enough,鈥 Johnson said. 鈥淎ll the credit goes to him. He made an amazing play and I was just there to finish it.鈥
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The touchdown gave the Bills a 24-14 lead with 10:10 left.
鈥淚 got cut-blocked, so I knew it was a screen,鈥 Rousseau said, referring to a low block from tackle Demontrey Jacobs that he avoided. 鈥淚 went straight to the running back and got a hit on him. I should have recovered it, but Taron got it.鈥
The pass on the second-and-8 play clearly was backward, and Rousseau was trying to scramble to fall on it in the end zone.
鈥淚t looked incomplete but it was play a live ball to the whistle,鈥 Rousseau said. 鈥淲e had hella bodies all over the place. I was trying to damn near crawl to it, but the end zone was so slippery. The end zone and the logo in the middle of the field were more slippery, I guess because of the paint.鈥
鈥淲e鈥檝e been running that play all season,鈥 Patriots quarterback Drake Maye said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unfortunate that we didn鈥檛 get the (defensive) end. That鈥檚 a big dude, and a tough player to cut. That鈥檚 a tough break. It鈥檚 a tough play on Mondre to catch it and get blown up. Maybe either I鈥檝e got to throw it at somebody鈥檚 feet or do something different.鈥
Here鈥檚 a review of key plays from the Bills鈥 victory over the Patriots, leading with Rousseau:
Momentum turner
Rousseau helped turn the tide toward the Bills in the third quarter when he forced a Stevenson fumble on the Pats鈥 second play from scrimmage.
The Bills had tied the game, 14-14, with a TD early in the quarter.
Stevenson ran a second-down off tackle play that was bottled up, and Rousseau set the edge and batted the ball out of the running back鈥檚 arms.
鈥淚 just got my gap and a half,鈥 Rousseau said. 鈥淚 had the outside and turned him back inside and got my hand on the ball.鈥
It was the third forced fumble of the season for Rousseau to go along with 7.5 sacks and one fumble recovery.
It also was Stevenson鈥檚 league-high seventh fumble of the season. The Patriots did not give him another handoff the rest of the game.
Cook to the house
The Bills came out in a heavy formation on their second drive to set up another explosive touchdown run for James Cook.
Third tackle Alec Anderson lined up on the left and fullback Reggie Gilliam was in the backfield on the left.
Josh Allen audibled to the run play at the line of scrimmage and handed off to Cook for a power run off left tackle. Anderson and Gilliam shoved defensive end Keion White way out of the way toward the sideline. Cook cut back, getting a block from O鈥機yrus Torrence on linebacker Sione Takitaki and a seal block on the back side from center Connor McGovern on defensive tackle Davon Godchaux.
That was all Cook needed on a 46-yard touchdown run. He blew through the hole and was too fast for speedy safety Kyle Dugger, who tried to catch him from behind.
鈥淲e had been working that play a lot this week,鈥 Gilliam said. 鈥淚t was really cool to see it happen. It was just like it had looked in practice. ... When I looked up, I knew he was gone because I had my face buried in the dude鈥檚 chest (White). I was driving, driving, I was like, this hole鈥檚 gotta be gigantic.鈥
鈥淭he guy came up and I chopped his arm, pushed him past,鈥 Torrence said of Takitaki. 鈥淎nd Jimbo cut behind me. It was outside zone, but we block it to where he can cut back.鈥
It was Cook鈥檚 fourth rushing TD of 40 or more yards this season, the most in a single season by a Bills running back. O.J. Simpson had three in 1973, 1975 and 1976.
Missed tackles
Missed tackles by Dawuane Smoot and Cam Lewis allowed Stevenson to rumble 14 yards for a touchdown to give New England a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
The Patriots had just been penalized 10 yards for a holding foul, giving them a first-and-goal situation from the 14. Stevenson took a quick hitter off right tackle. Smoot was unblocked but took an angle that forced him to dive at the running back鈥檚 legs, and he didn鈥檛 make the play. Linebacker Baylon Spector got blocked by Jacobs. The 227-pound Stevenson ran over the 183-pound Lewis at the 4-yard line.
Fade pattern TD
Maye鈥檚 arm talent was on display early as he threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kayshon Boutte to cap the first possession of the game.
Kaiir Elam was in coverage and was in good position, but he could not get a hand on the ball on a straight fade route up the right sideline.
The Bills switched the pass rush, sending both linebackers (Terrel Bernard and Dorian Williams) up the middle while dropping both defensive ends (Von Miller and Rousseau) into coverage. But it didn鈥檛 matter because Maye lofted the ball as soon as his back foot hit the third step of his drop. It was a pinpoint throw from Maye.
