Blount sets team record as Pats defeat Bills

FOXBOROUGH – It was a day made for the likes of LeGarrette Blount.The big running back goes 6-0, 250, and when he plants his foot on the turf — regardless of what kind of shape it?s in — that foot?s going nowhere. And Sunday, even on a turf field, the conditions were about as bad as they could get.?Well, he?s big,” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said after Blount ran for 189 yards, ripped off kick returns of 83 and 62 yards, and led New England to a 34-20 win over the Buffalo Bills to sew up the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming NFL playoffs. “And when he gets going downhill, he?s just a big guy … bigger than anyone who?s trying to tackle him.”Coach Bill Belichick, never overly effusive in his praise, couldn?t help himself Sunday.?He carried the team on his back most of the day,” he said.Between the running yardage and kick returns, Blount had 334 all-purpose yards, the most in Patriots history, eclipsing Larry Garron?s mark of 273, set in 1962. He had touchdown runs of 36 and 35 yards.?He had a tremendous day,” Belichick said. “It was the best day of all time for Patriots for total yardage.”Blount wasn?t having any of the superlatives. He didn?t think he carried the team on his back.?On the two kick returns, I wasn?t touched for 30 yards,” he said. “So I tip my hat to (the blockers) … it was our offensive line. All we have to do is find the holes. They blocked tremendously. They had an amazing game.”Blount was an afterthought when the season began, obtained in a trade with Tampa Bay as a situational big back who could perhaps pick up short yardage. But he grew in stature as the season wore on, especially after Stevan Ridley had fumble problems and Shane Vereen fought injuries. But while Patriots fans may not have known what they had, his former teammate in Tampa Bay, Aqib Talib, did.?I have to tip my cap to our personnel guy … Aqib,” Belichick deadpanned.?I just told him that he?d never have a problem with LeGarrette in the locker room … that he?d be a great teammate, and he?d go all-out,” Talib said.The Pats took a 6-3 lead, with field goals accounting for all the scoring, until Blount ripped off his first run … a 36-yarder that made it 13-3. Another Stephen Gostkowski field goal as time ran out in the first half made it 16-3.?Those weren?t easy kicks in this kind of weather,” said Belichick.Buffalo pulled to within 16-10 on a Thad Lewis-to-T.J. Graham pass, but Blount ran back the kick 83 yards. The Pats stalled, but a Buffalo penalty as New England was lining up for a field goal gave the hosts a fresh set of downs, and this time they converted on Brady?s short pass to Vereen. Julian Edelman caught the two-point conversion and it was 24-10.Buffalo scored again, this time on Fred Jackson?s 5-yard run, but once again Blount had a big return, and the Patriots got a fourth field goal by Gostkowski. After the Bills hit a field goal, the Patriots recovered the onside kick and Blount ran it in from 35 yards out.