New England Patriots dream run dies after disaster in Buffalo
A 24 point halftime lead proved to be too much for the New England Patriots to overcome against the Buffalo Bills as they end their season with a thud.
Frigid, Frightening, and Failure. Three “F”‘s headline the New England Patriots report card portraying their performance against the Buffalo Bills.
On a night where the temperatures added to the definition of cold, the team that spent the most lost the most. A 47-17 loss against the back-to-back AFC East champions sends New England home for the offseason and back to the drawing board.
All that money spent in the offseason and a wild-card playoff berth that resulted in a nightmare. Almost $160 million. Not exactly what Robert Kraft had in mind when making such an investment and certainly not what Mac Jones and Bill Belichick are used to, given their pedigrees. Speaking of the rookie quarterback, he looked like one, and frankly, what other way can you describe it?
You can talk about how this is the most points Belichick’s boys have ever surrendered, and also the most lopsided playoff loss of the Belichick era. Those are valid points to bring up and frankly, need to be brought up.
However, signal callers that enter the playoffs in their first year normally don’t perform so hot, and Jones is no exception. His final tally? 24-38 for 232 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions for a QBR of 75.8. Running back Damien Harris rushed for 30 yards on nine carries, and free-agent receiver Kendrick Bourne had seven catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
Tight end Jonnu Smith, a member of the offseason spending spree, had no catches and was essentially a disappointment. Sometimes, a big contract doesn’t automatically mean hitting paydirt.
On the other hand, Buffalo has a quarterback that’s not a rookie. As a matter of fact, he’s pretty good. Josh Allen‘s 21-25 for 308 yards and five touchdowns performance, along with a 157.6 QBR has the Bills mafia marching on. Devin Singletary showed that he’s not just good against the Jets; he’s just good, rushing for 81 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Dawson Knox had two scores in the first half.
Speaking of marching, whatever happened to the Patriots defense that was opportunistically marching through the regular season and helped spawn a seven-game winning streak? Pro Bowler linebacker Matt Judon, a big piece of the offseason haul, was nowhere to be seen, red sleeves and all.
Additionally, All-Pro cornerback J.C. Jackson and the rest of the crew did little defending the run and the pass against Allen, who essentially had Orchard Park looking like War Memorial Stadium but with blue and red. By night’s end, it was the Bills defense doing most of the flexing, racking up three sacks and two turnovers compared to New England’s zero.
The New England Patriots have so much to fix in the offseason after the loss to Buffalo
After one half, New England was down 27-3, the largest postseason deficit ever under Belichick. 28-3, for those who want to bring that up, was during the third quarter, not during intermission—nonetheless, two completely different rosters and two completely different situations.
At one point, the game was 33-3, and you could just tell that it was over. For a team that at one point was the No.1 overall seed in the AFC, that reality eroded faster than Tom Brady‘s relationship with Antonio Brown. Speaking of No.12, he’s still in the playoffs, at least for now. The Patriots are not.
Gone is the dream of New England vs. Tampa Bay in SoFi Stadium. That was a dream and story headline booming idea come true. But not now. New England was not built to play from behind, and personnel-wise, it’s tough to ask that from them, even their seasoned veterans.
Furthermore, they could not beat Buffalo in the regular season when the opportunity arose to secure a home playoff game or even the Colts for that matter, and Indianapolis lost to the same Jaguars team that New England demolished to help ensure a postseason berth. Maybe that bye week was at the wrong time?
Even though New England eventually found the endzone against Buffalo, it was too late to bat an eye. The Bills had already begun making preparations for the divisional round. From the looks of it, Sean McDermott’s troops will likely be on the road against Tennessee unless something unexpected goes down at Arrowhead.
It just wasn’t in the card for the Patriots. The hand given wasn’t a winning combination. No matter the draw, fortunes did not favor the Foxborough faithful.
Shame that the season ended on a sour note, but there’s always next year, right? Right?