The Bills are still the bullies and other leftover Patriots thoughts

BOSTON -- "Yeah, thought it's, you know, stay in the game."

That was Bill Belichick's answer when asked why his Patriots punted the ball back to the Bills early in the fourth quarter when facing a makeable fourth down near midfield in a game in which they trailed by 17 points.

Stay in the game.

It was a curious answer, to say the least, because ... the Patriots weren't really in the game.

Short of catching the Bills by surprise by using a rookie returner/defensive back on offense and instantly capitalizing with an explosive play, the Patriots' offense could do next to nothing against Buffalo. The Bills' offense took things easy, opting to run the ball and kill clock over taking deep shots and piling up points. When needed, the Bills could dial anything up that they wanted, as Stefon Diggs was just about uncoverable for the majority of the evening.

And at the moment of the punt from the 46-yard line, the Patriots trailed by 17 points, after scoring just seven points in the first 46 minutes of the game. Was a defensive shutout and a burst of New England scoring really in the cards for the home team?

Most people watching that game would tell you no. The way the final 12 minutes played out would also tell you that, as the Patriots managed to muster just a field goal on their final drive to nowhere, eventually losing 24-10.

Distilling the game down to one moment and one decision isn't really necessary after a game like that. Going for it and failing to move the chains on that fourth-and-7 would have only sped up the inevitable, and given the offense's struggles all night, there's reason to believe they'd have come up short anyway. A moot discussion all around.

But the quote about making a decision to punt to "stay in the game" just doesn't feel right after a night like that. The Patriots weren't really in the game, and taking the ultra-conservative path in the fourth quarter certainly wasn't going to get them into the game.

This is kind of where the Patriots are at the moment. The flop vs. Buffalo was a sobering reality check for a team that just a week prior looked like it might have figured a thing or two out.

Let's hit the leftover thoughts from the latest loss to the Bills.

--Tom Brady went 32-3 against the Bills during his Patriots career. Matt Cassel went 2-0. Jacoby Brissett went 0-1. Taken together, it was a 34-4 record for the Patriots against the Bills from 2001-19. Absolute dominance.

Yet since Brady left town, the Bills are 5-1 vs. the team that used to bully them with ease. 

The composite score is now 176 for Buffalo, and 92 for New England.

The lone Patriots win came in the midst of an insane wind storm that killed both teams' passing games and turned the contest into a rock fight. On level ground, it's not even close.

That's probably partly why the boo birds were out so often on Thursday night. The Patriots just aren't nearly good enough to stand toe to toe with the Bills, and everyone who follows the team knows it.

--Here are some examples of what the Patriots are at the moment.

This:

And this:

And this:

That's what the Patriots' offense is. Snap the ball, and hope for the best. It's not a recipe for success, and it's tough to watch.

--Last week in Minnesota, the Patriots had 409 yards of offense, their second-highest total of the year. This week, they had 240 yards of offense, their second-lowest total of the year.

In their last two home games, they've scored 20 total points. Seven of those were on a punt return, and seven came from that same punt returner popping in on offense and surprising the defense. 

In their last five home games, they've scored five total offensive touchdowns. Some quick math says that's one per game.

This isn't working. That's been clear for a while, but the rest of the nation got a better look at what the Patriots are this week, compared to what they got last week.

--The other issue? Despite Bill Belichick's assertion in training camp that No. 1 cornerbacks aren't really necessary ... they absolutely are. After getting toasted by Justin Jefferson last week, the secondary -- and de facto No. 1 corner Jonathan Jones -- had no answers for Stefon Diggs. 

His numbers were modest by his standards -- seven catches for 92 yards and a touchdown -- but the Patriots had no solution for him. He also had another touchdown -- this one a 41-yard job -- nullified by a holding penalty. It didn't count, but the man was open.

And here's why this is relevant: After getting torched by Jefferson and beaten by Diggs, in games where it's unclear exactly how the opponent would have competed without those performances, the Patriots now face DeAndre Hopkins and Davante Adams twice in six days, in games that we all kind of had marked down as winnable. I do think the inability to prevent game-breaking plays by all-world receivers changes that equation a bit.

Adams has 71 receptions for 999 yards and 10 touchdowns in 11 games this year, and he's topped 125 yards in three of his last four games. He's caught five touchdowns since Week 9.

After that? Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Then it's Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill. Then it's the Bills again in Week 18.

Based on the way the Patriots' defense has looked against top-flight receivers, there's not a single game that can be penciled in as a win right now.

--Let's break things up with some TRIVIA. Who doesn't love trivia? If it's you, well, then, you can just move to the next thing. But here's this: Marcus Jones became the first defensive back in the NFL to score an offensive touchdown since the 2000 season.

Can you name that player? I bet you cannot.

Answer coming later.

--It took until December, but some public complaints from offensive players are finally coming out. Mac Jones' outburst was the viral one ...

... but Kendrick Bourne's postgame comments were equally important:

Bourne tried to curb it, saying the onus is on the players to be better. But there was nothing gray about that comment. 

It seems as though the players who are putting their bodies on the line are running out of patience with Matt Patricia's offense.

--That offense, by the way, now ranks 29th in first downs per game, 27th in third down conversions, and tied for 31st in red zone offense. They're also tied for 27th in goal-to-go conversions, scoring touchdowns just 58.82 percent of the time after getting the ball inside the 10-yard line. More often than not, they move backward.

With a fourth-down conversion on Thursday, they actually made a huge leap, from a 25 pecent success rate to a 33.33 percent success rate. They now rank 29th in that category.

--It doesn't help that Nick Folk's leg is busted. Did kickoff duty for a couple of weeks really drain his leg of all of its power? This guy was perfect inside of 50 yards for two years. Now suddenly he can't get the ball to the goalposts from 44 yards out.

A team that kind of relies entirely on its kicker to score points can't really have that.

--Trivia answer: Marcus Coleman caught a touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde for the Jets (against the Bills) in 2000. You'd think one of those fast guys would have been utilized on offense to score a touchdown in the past 22 years, no? Alas. 

--Make no mistake: That young man is fast.

He turned this ...

... into this:

Useful.

--Third-and-7, second quarter, 17-7 game. And the Patriots ... send Jakobi Meyers on a 5-yard out to the sideline.

It was a missed PI call, but still. Why run a receiver out of bounds for a 5-yard gain on third-and-7? Especially when we know there's no fourth-down attempt that will follow.

--Third-and-15, fourth quarter, 24-7 game. The Patriots need some chunks. Instead it's ... a throw to Meyers, who's 1 yard beyond the line of scrimmage.

If the Patriots were treating that 15-yard chunk as a two-play affair, then this was OK. But as we know, facing a fourth-and-7, they punted. So. That's the Patriots' offense. I think that's been made pretty clear here.

--To any Patriots fans who felt weird seeing Josh Allen in Gillette commercials during football games this year, just know he took that sponsorship just to bug you.

--Doing this was much more offensive:

Still can't believe that one.

--Here is a photo of Bill Belichick sporting an enormous sideline coat:

Yup. That sure was what I said it was.

--The Patriots called timeout after converting a QB sneak on a third-and-1 before halftime, thus costing themselves a shot or two at the end zone. It was the second straight week they've cost themselves end zone shots before halftime. Their execution has been lacking.

They also had an incredible stretch of four penalties in five plays. A hold on a kick return, a hold/intentional grounding combo near the goal line, and a delay of game ... in punt formation. For reasons unknown.

Penalties. Poor clock management. Poor execution. Bad situational football. It continues.

Last week, the Patriots dealt with all of that, but there was the distraction of officiating and replay overturns to kind of create different story lines. No such luck this week.

--Hunter Henry DID get out of bounds before halftime this week though. Baby steps, people.

--This has nothing to do with the Patriots, but the Amazon Thursday night broadcast is rough. Al Michaels might be cashed out, which ... good for him. He's earned it. And the Thursday slate has been brutal in terms of quality matchups this year. Kirk Herbstreit doesn't bring any energy. In this game, they both felt like changing the pronunciation of "Judon," while Michaels wondered if Josh Allen was over the line of scrimmage before releasing a pass (he was a full yard behind the line of scrimmage).

And did you catch this moment, after Damar Hamlin delivered a dangerous cheap shot on Jakobi Meyers?

Herbstreit: Terry, that's a defenseless player, right, and an ejection?

Rules expert Terry McAulay: I don't think they're going to eject him.

Referee Shawn Hochuli: Personal foul, unnecessary roughness, number three of the defense. Number three of the defense has been disqualified. 

Thank you so much, rules expert Terry McAulay.

--But the bigger issue is that with everybody watching at different moments, the communal experience of watching the game has been taken away. Some people get caught buffering for 10 seconds and never catch up. Some people watch on a Roku or Fire Stick. Others watch in native apps. Some are on tablets, or watching via app on their cable box. Others have the game on their phones and laptops.

As a result, when you're getting texts during games, you never know exactly where that text sender is in the game. That may seem small, but the whole draw of live sports is that they're live. Disrupting that balance by even 30-60 seconds makes the whole situation less of a communal experience. 

Perhaps that's a way of me kicking and fighting and clawing to not move into the future. Or perhaps this game was so non-competitive that there was plenty of time to ponder what streaming has done to the NFL viewing experience.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.