Last modified: Monday, December 29, 2008 12:48 PM EST Patriots’ linebacker Junior Seau celebrates a big defensive play during Sunday’s season finale in Buffalo. (Staff photo by Keith Nordstrom) Despite win, Patriots home for the playoffs BY MARK FARINELLA SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. - They gave it a good run. No, a great run. But all good things must come to an end, and so did the Patriots' heroic quest to return to the playoffs for the sixth straight year - not because of failings of their own, but because other teams could not provide the necessary help to push them higher in the AFC pecking order. The Patriots did what they needed to do Sunday, winning their fourth straight game and 12th straight in the month of December by overcoming gale-force winds to defeat the Buffalo Bills, 13-0. But they were the only ones who took care of business. The Jets lost at home to Miami, 24-17. The Baltimore Ravens shrugged off the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-7. Miami won the AFC East and Baltimore earned the No. 6 seed in the playoffs because of their tiebreaker edges over the Patriots, and thus the lights will go out at Gillette Stadium before the new year for the first time since 2002. "I'm proud of what they did today," Patriots' coach Bill Belichick said of his 11-5 team's effort at Ralph Wilson Stadium. "It was difficult conditions, to say the least. I know it was the same for both teams, but I'm just saying it was very difficult for the skill people to handle the ball. Execution was a problem, but I thought our guys hung in there and did a great job, like they have here the last month of the season." Despite playing in a constant west-to-east wind of 40 mph, with occasional gusts in the 60s, the Patriots approached the game with the resolve of champions, prepared for just about every eventuality - from Belichick pulling a page out of his memory and making the decision to take the wind early in the game because his former boss, Bill Parcells, did it under similar circumstances in the 1986 NFC Championship Game, to quick-kicking on third down to bury the Bills deep in their own territory with just 5:01 left to play. Having the wind early enabled the Patriots to get an early edge on a 33-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski with 3:01 left in the opening quarter. Having had one series to get used to the conditions, Matt Cassel (6-8, 78 yards, 105.2 passer rating) completed the first two passes of the game to fullback Heath Evans for gains of 19 and 12 yards to get to the Buffalo 21. "The first one was a great ball, and the second one was a great ball, too," said Evans, whose two catches tied him with Wes Welker for the team lead on the day. "Matt did a great job of getting me out into space and getting me a catchable ball and the rest is easy." Evans' two catches told the Patriots that a passing attack - at least with the wind - was not going to be impossible to execute as long as the choices were to be made wisely. "We just figured when we got the wind with us and we were able to throw the ball, we'd do that," Cassel said. "But the offensive linemen and the running backs really stepped up today and we played a different style of game than what we've been the last few weeks. Those guys did a great job and we were able to execute and come out of here with a win." The Bills didn't exactly roll over and die. Running back Fred Jackson, stepping up with Marshawn Lynch out because of injury, carried 27 times for 136 yards. But his efforts couldn't prevent the wind from taking a 47-yard field goal attempt by Rian Lindell in the direction of Tonawanda with 11:21 left in the second quarter. The Patriots' running tandem of Sammy Morris (24 carries, 85 yards) and LaMont Jordan (20-64), also aided by Cassel's fourth-and-5 scramble for 7 yards to the Buffalo 28, got Gostkowski in position for another score - but after a brief delay in the game to re-align the tilting goalposts, Gostkowski's 26-yard attempt was caught by a gust and deflected in the direction of the original tilt. That preserved the 3-0 lead, but that appeared in danger as time was running out at the end of the half. The Bills drove from their 20 to the Patriots' 12 and were facing third-and-5 at the Patriots' 12 when Jackson got the next handoff with 22 seconds left. Jackson picked up a yard or two before the play was called dead, but center Duke Preston started jawing and pushing with a couple of Patriot defenders away from the play, and a scrum ensued. Unfortunately for the Bills, who had no timeouts left, that commotion stopped them from getting the field goal unit onto the field in time to attempt a kick from about 27 yards out. The pushing and shoving continued until the clock expired, and the Patriots ran off the field in obvious glee over their opponents' lack of poise in a crucial situation. "We had plenty of time, we had 22 seconds, we just let the clock run out on us," Bills' coach Dick Jauron said. "(The officials) never set the ball ready for a play." Beyond that, the Patriots' poise was their strength - something as simple as punter Chris Hanson getting the team out of trouble after the second half's opening possession with a perfectly executed 46-yard punt that soared under the gales and bounced fortuitously. On that Buffalo possession, Jarvis Green buried quarterback Trent Edwards (14-25, 128 yards) for a 6-yard sack and stripped him of the ball. Mike Vrabel recovered at the Buffalo 43. Morris and Jordan carried eight times in the 11-play drive, but the big plays were a spinning 6-yard gain by Cassel on fourth-and-2 at the Bills' 25, and a fourth-and-5 throw to Welker for a 12-yard gain to the 2. On the next play, Jordan followed Benjamin Watson's block into the end zone with 4:39 left in the quarter, putting the Patriots up 10-0. Gostkowski added the insurance field goal from 23 yards out with 10:15 left to play, ending a 15-play, 80-yard drive kept alive by Randy Moss' only catch of the day, a beautifully-thrown 13-yarder to the Bills' 26. And even when it appeared there might still be trouble in store for the Patriots? Cassel quick-kicked and buried the Bills at their own 2. "Earlier in the game, Buffalo rushed all 10 guys, so protection was going to be an issue," Belichick said. "The quick kick saved us there, with the protection problem. Matt did a great job there." They all did a great job, especially over the last month of the season - but unfortunately, that will have to be their only reward. MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com. Read Farinella's blog, "Blogging Fearlessly," at thesunchronicle.com/farinella.