NFL game summary for 12/09/1973:

Despite a blanket of wet snow, O. J. Simpson gained 219 yards on 22 carries and moved within 61 yards of Jim Brown's NFL rushing record of 1,863 set in 1963. The performance was O. J.'s tenth 100-yard game of the year, an NFL record. O. J. scored once and rookie QB Joe Ferguson threw two touchdown passes to Bob Chandler to keep alive Buffalo's wild card hopes. Jim Plunkett had his second best day, completing 17 of 41 passes for 292 yards for the Patriots. Bills' rookie Wallace Francis returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score, his second TD return of the season.

Team stats coming into this game (NFL ranks in parentheses):

	Rush Yds/Gm	Pass Yds/Gm	Tot Yds/Gm	Turnovers
OFFENSE	122.0 (22)	149.3 (11)	271.3 (17)	35
DEFENSE	195.5 (26)	99.1 (2)	294.6 (18)	29
OFFENSE	207.6 (1)	74.7 (26)	282.2 (15)	26
DEFENSE	138.3 (8)	136.8 (14)	275.2 (11)	29

Line: Bills by 6

Team	1	2	3	4	F
New England Patriots (5-8-0)	3	3	7	0	13
Buffalo Bills (8-5-0)	7	10	17	3	37

( 3- 0) NE Jeff White 14 yard field goal ( 3- 7) BUF Wallace Francis 90 yard kickoff return (John Leypoldt kick) ( 3-14) BUF O.J. Simpson 6 yard rush (John Leypoldt kick) ( 3-17) BUF John Leypoldt 34 yard field goal ( 6-17) NE Jeff White 12 yard field goal ( 6-24) BUF Bob Chandler 37 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) ( 6-27) BUF John Leypoldt 34 yard field goal (13-27) NE Jim Plunkett 5 yard rush (Jeff White kick) (13-34) BUF Bob Chandler 6 yard pass from Joe Ferguson (John Leypoldt kick) (13-37) BUF John Leypoldt 19 yard field goal

                     NE              BUF
First Downs:         20              13
Rushes-yards:        30-98           40-293
Yards/rush:          3.3             7.3
Comp-Att-Yd-INT:     17-41-292-2     2-7-43-0
Sacked-yards:        0-0             1-12
Net pass yards:      292             31
Net yards/pass:      7.1             3.9
Total net yards:     390             324
Total plays:         71 (42% run)    48 (83% run)  
Yards/play:          5.5             6.8
Fumbles-lost:        3-2             1-0
Turnovers:           4               0
Penalties-yards:     2-20            7-45

Attendance: 72,470

Passing:
NE: Jim Plunkett, 17 of 41 for 292 yards (2 int) BUF: Joe Ferguson, 2 of 7 for 43 yards and 2 TDs
Rushing:
NE: Sam Cunningham, 14 for 30 yards; John Tarver, 11 for 52 yards; Jim Plunkett, 5 for 16 yards and 1 TD BUF: O.J. Simpson, 22 for 219 yards and 1 TD; Jim Braxton, 15 for 70 yards; Joe Ferguson, 2 for 2 yards; Larry Watkins, 1 for 2 yards
Receiving:
NE: Bob Adams, 6 for 100 yards; Reggie Rucker, 4 for 79 yards; Mack Herron, 2 for 38 yards; Darryl Stingley, 2 for 31 yards; Sam Cunningham, 2 for -4 yards; Randy Vataha, 1 for 48 yards BUF: Bob Chandler, 2 for 43 yards and 2 TDs
Kick returns:
NE: Mack Herron, 4 for 67 yards; Bob McCall, 1 for 17 yards; John Hannah, 1 for 0 yards BUF: Wallace Francis, 1 for 90 yards and 1 TD; Ray Jarvis, 1 for 18 yards; Jim Braxton, 1 for 0 yards
Punt returns:
NE: Mack Herron, 1 for 4 yards BUF: Donnie Walker, 1 for 23 yards
Interceptions:
BUF: Donnie Walker, 1 for 22 yards; Jim Cheyunski, 1 for 0 yards
Punting:
NE: Bruce Barnes, 2 for 84 yards BUF: Spike Jones, 2 for 77 yards
Field Goals:
NE: Jeff White, 2/2 BUF: John Leypoldt, 3/3