The New England Patriots may not have enjoyed the flashiest of victories against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Byron Cowart NFL Jersey , but at the end of the day they still defeated a division rival on the road by three scores. The 25-6 victory wrote plenty of stories – from the defense playing one of its best games of the year to Josh Gordon not seeing his snap count reduced for disciplinary reasons – what is arguably most encouraging is the team accomplishing some season firsts along the way.The Patriots did not give the ball awaySo far this season, the Patriots have been uncharacteristically sloppy when it comes to ball security: the team’s offense and special teams units turned the football over a combined 13 times through their first seven games – the most for a Bill Belichick-coached team since 2004. And while one game is not enough to proclaim that New England has officially turned the corner, it still is encouraging to see the team finally not give the ball away for a full game.Buffalo failed to reach the end zoneYes, the Bills have one of the worst offenses in the NFL. And yes, New England played against a third-string quarterback. But you can only play who you line up against, and versus the group Buffalo fielded yesterday Byron Cowart NFL Draft , the Patriots defense did its job very well. While the home team was able to gain 333 yards of offense, it failed to reach the end zone even once and had to settle for two field goals – the first time all season that an opponent did not score a touchdown against Brian Flores’ unit. Furthermore, New England’s defense allowed just 4 of 14 third down attempts to be converted and also registered two takeaways. Devin McCourty’s interception broke a 40-game streakThe second of the team’s defensive turnovers was a 84-yard pick-six: safety Devin McCourty read quarterback Derek Anderson perfectly, undercut the pass, and returned the interception to the end zone to ice the game in New England’s favor. Not only was it the Patriots’ first defensive score of the season, it also broke a 40-game drought – the longest in the NFL – and served as the icing on the cake that was yesterday’s performance.While not all worked well yesterday – just look at the running game’s ineffectiveness Byron Cowart Buffalo Bills Jersey , or the continued inconsistency on special teams – the Patriots are still trending in the right direction in some areas. All that needs to be done now and heading into the bye week a little further down the line is build on those developments. Monday night was a first step. The NFL’s owners will get together later this month, and they’ll revisit the proposal from the Chiefs to guarantee a possession for the team that kicks off to start overtime, even if the team that gets the ball first scores a touchdown. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, a member of the Competition Committee, addressed the proposed change during a Thursday visit to #PFTPM.“We hadn’t had our [Competition Committee] call yet, which we will Infant Jacob Bailey Jersey , so it’s tough for me to know where the Committee’s leaning,” Jones said. “I certainly tend to lean toward the new rule. . . . I certainly watched every play of that Kansas City-New England game, and you kind of would have liked to have seen what would have happened if Kansas City got another shot at it, and then how the thing would have ended up. It was football, in my mind, the game at its best. I certainly don’t have a problem with guaranteeing each team a shot at it. . . . It’s certainly something that had some traction there in the room Jacob Bailey Jersey Draft , and certainly saw some people who were very interested in it. But we’ll get on a call there, take a long, hard look at it, and I’m sure membership’s gonna get to see it.”Jones mentioned the potential change as something that would be adopted for the playoffs. Although initially proposed for the regular season as well, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt suggested during a late-March visit to that the rule, if adopted Jacob Bailey NFL Jersey , would apply to the postseason only.And that would be acceptable. Regular-season games already are long enough. Besides, a rule guaranteeing a second possession would incentivize milking the clock on the opening drive with the goal of leaving the opponent with little or no time to match a touchdown.