A win from the ground up

Once again, the rushing attack plays crucial role

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - Yesterday's season-ending 13-0 victory over the Buffalo Bills was quite a rush for the Patriots.

With the windy conditions dictating offensive play-calling, the Patriots ran 47 times for 168 yards and a 2-yard touchdown by LaMont Jordan. Sammy Morris led the way with 24 carries for 85 yards, giving him a team-high 727 yards on the season.

The Patriots gained 2,278 yards on the ground, the team's most since 1985 (2,331) and the sixth-highest total in team history. For the season, the Patriots averaged 4.4 yards per carry, the team's highest since it averaged 4.8 yards in 1983.

Yesterday's effort followed the 183 yards last week against the Arizona Cardinals and 277 the week before against the Oakland Raiders.

"I think in November and December you need that," said Jordan, who had 20 rushes for 64 yards. "Especially in the elements we've been playing in you need to have a solid run game, and our offensive line, I can't say enough about the job they've done. The most important thing is that they're consistent.

"I think for the most part all year long they've been able to stay healthy, which I think is a huge part of those guys playing as consistent as they have. I think we can be a passing team and a running team. We're a team that does whatever it takes to get the job done."

Jordan's rushing touchdown was the team's 21st of the season, the most since 1981 (23) and tied for fourth most in team history.

Like the running game, Jordan, who returned for the final four games of the season after missing eight straight games with a right calf injury, finished strong, scoring in three straight games and finishing with four TDs.

"It only makes me wonder what I could have done if I played a whole season," said Jordan.

Safety James Sanders was in the lineup after missing the last two games with an abdomen injury that cropped up against the Pittsburgh Steelers Nov. 30.

He started and finished with eight tackles.

Sanders was involved in one of the game's controversial plays. With 22 seconds left in the first half, Buffalo's Fred Jackson ran 3 yards to the Patriots' 9. Bills center Duke Preston got in a shoving match with Sanders as the Bills' field goal team ran onto the field, and other players joined the skirmish, allowing the final seconds of the half to expire.

Sanders said he wasn't aware of the time ticking off.

"It's football, things happen," said Sanders. "You get out there and it gets emotional and you start wrestling and tussling. It was one of those things that worked in our favor. Those guys did a poor job of clock management."

After the game, referee Gene Steratore explained the decision.

"A member of the Buffalo offense was downfield in another situation after the play had ended with two New England players. We were breaking that up. The Buffalo player was not being restricted in any way to not be able to get back to the line to set up for the next play. Therefore there would be no foul for delay of game on the defense for not allowing an offensive player to get back to get set for the next play."

Despite windy conditions that stopped his second-quarter field goal attempt from 26 yards in its tracks and almost caused him to miss an extra point, Stephen Gostkowski set a Patriots record - post the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 - for points in a season.

Gostkowski connected on a 33-yard field goal in the first quarter (with the wind), made a third-quarter extra point, and hit a 23-yarder in the fourth quarter (with the wind) to give him 148 points on the season, bettering the 141 Adam Vinatieri had in 2004. The club record is 155 points by Gino Cappelletti in 1964, playing in the AFL.

"I'm not worried about any of that stuff," said Gostkowski. "It's cool, but I have no control over how many points I get to score really."

Left tackle Matt Light appeared to aggravate his injured right shoulder on the final play of the third quarter, a 16-yard rush by Morris. He did not return and was replaced by Mark LeVoir.

And already thin at defensive line without Richard Seymour, who was unable to go after injuring his back last week against Arizona, the Patriots lost end Mike Wright late in the fourth quarter following an incomplete pass from Buffalo quarterback Trent Edwards to tight end Robert Royal.

The team did not give an injury update on Wright.

The Patriots set an NFL record for fewest penalties in a 16-game season with 57 accepted penalties. The record was 59, set by the Seattle Seahawks last season. The Patriots had two penalties for 10 yards yesterday, a first-quarter false start by Nick Kaczur and an illegal contact infraction on linebacker Jerod Mayo in the fourth quarter . . . Buffalo was without left tackle Jason Peters (knee), running back Marshawn Lynch (shoulder), and wide receiver Roscoe Parrish (knee). Replacing Lynch, Jackson had a career day with 27 rushes for 136 yards. The absence of Parrish, the NFL's leading punt returner with an average of 15.3 yards, almost cost the Bills. Leodis McKelvin failed to catch the first punt he tried to field in the windy conditions as it went off his fingertips. Matthew Slater couldn't come up with the ball for the Patriots and Buffalo recovered it in the end zone for a touchback. After that, Jackson returned the punts . . . Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss had one catch for 13 yards, giving him his ninth 1,000-yard season. Moss finished the season with 69 catches for 1,008 yards. The catch also moved Moss past Bills great Andre Reed for ninth place on the NFL's all-time receiving list with 13,201 yards . . . The Patriots' eight pass attempts were the second fewest in franchise history . . . Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi missed his third straight game with a left knee injury. The other New England inactives were Seymour, Lewis Sanders, and Ray Ventrone; running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis and offensive linemen Billy Yates and Wesley Britt were healthy scratches. Matt Gutierrez was the third quarterback.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.