Bill Belichick was asked a question about his team's defensive performance considering the nearly 40 minutes they were on the field following Buffalo's 24-10 victory on Thursday night.
"I thought actually we played pretty competitively," was Belichick's response.
I sure hope his answer had to do with the time of possession, because if he's saying his defense was actually competitive against the Bills, he's delusional.
The Patriots were not competitive in this game. Period. The only team that stopped the Bills in this game was the Bills ... and the Patriots' pathetic offense.
The Bills had four offensive penalties for 35 yards that held them to two field goals and wiped an incredible 41-yard touchdown from Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs off the scoreboard. Allen was too loose with the ball and fumbled two plays after the touchdown was taken off the board.
The Bills dropped FIVE passes.
They also started a player at left tackle who was a turnstile and allowed Josh Uche to accumulate pressures unfettered — once when David Quessenberry fell on his backside for no reason (ok, maybe this is a draw with Patriots' right tackle sub Conor McDermott).
And Bills coach Sean McDermott is no idiot. He took one look at Matt Patricia and the Patriots' offense (maybe the third snap of the game when they couldn't get a handoff right on 3rd and inches) and knew once the Bills led 17-7 midway through the second quarter — and still hadn't punted against the Patriots in over a year — that the game was over. No reason to press the issue. Let's get out of here healthy, and we might as well give our punter some practice.
If the Bills cut their mistakes in half, or the Patriots threatened to ever get to double digits, the Bills could have put the pedal down and put 40 on the board again with relative ease. Instead, with an open highway in front of them known as the Patriots' defense, the Bills put the cruise control on 55 with driver assist in one of those new-fangled cars, and barely had their hands on the wheel for the second half.
The Bills scored on their first three possession to clinch this game. On what planet is allowing the opponent to average 10.7 plays on their first three drives, "competitive"?
At halftime, the Bills had run 41 plays for nearly 200 yards. They had converted 62.5 percent of their third downs. Their running backs had combined for 13 carries and 71 yards (5.5 average). And the score was 17-7.
That's competitive? Maybe Belichick was referring to the second-half score of 7-3. I get confused because he moves the bar so much now. Last season's defense, which couldn't stop a decent QB, was good statistically. Yards are the new points if it suits Belichick's arguments. Punting on 4th and 6 from your own 46-yard line with 12:17 left trailing 24-7 is now Belichick trying to "stay in the game."
Here's how Belichick should have described his defense's performance ... flaccid ... unimaginative ... and embarrassing — considering the time they had to prepare and personnel moves they could have made in an effort to in any way stop these Bills better after being run off the field twice.
And they had nothing.
Outside of cornerback Jalen Mills and Christian Barmore (who wasn't exactly lighting the world on fire in his sophomore season), the Patriots (unlike in the 47-17 shellacking) were at full health defensively. Nearly all of the players responsible for this defense being No. 2 in DVOA entering the game were on the field. Did it look any better, really?
Judon was handled again. The trio of Jahlani Tavai, Mack Wilson and Raekwon McMillan were probably worse than Dont'a Hightower. Jonathan Jones (two TDs allowed) was probably worse than JC Jackson vs. Diggs - and that's saying something. Jack Jones continues to be exposed as the rookie he is by good QBs. Kyle Dugger is supposed to be an impact player but keeps vanishing against good offenses. Deatrich Wise suddenly disappeared against better units. In the front seven, they largely ran it back with the same group and again there were zero plays. And the secondary got exposed as a mostly young, overmatched group.
And the thing is, the Bills aren't even all that loaded. The offensive line is OK. Gabe Davis is an average No. 2 at best. Isaiah McKenzie is inconsistent. The Bills didn't even use Dawson Knox in this game. Their running backs haven't done much.
It's basically the Allen and Diggs show, and the Patriots' braintrust of Belichick, Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo couldn't come up with any new pitches to throw at them? Another week, another No. 1 receiver killing the Patriots on the way to victory.
Much has been made of the Mac Jones frustration video. There should have been one from the defensive side as well because the Patriots just sat back, prayed the Bills would make a mistake or not score a touchdown. Very little blitzing. Nothing all that creative against Diggs although leaving Jones against him alone for a touchdown was some sort of choice.
How about pressing the issue? How about making Allen and the Bills uncomfortable at all?
It's almost like Belichick's plan was, "Let's not make them angry ... maybe we can keep the score respectable and people won't notice we have zero impact players outside of Judon on this team despite drafting 11 defensive players the past three years, and signing/trading for a handful of guys ... oh, and we gave Tavai an extension."
Like the offense, this showing was pathetic. A year has passed and nothing has changed except the score was a little closer.
Here are the positional ratings against the Bills:
DEFENSE
Defensive line (3 out of 5)
The line, despite the Bills' ability to run the ball in this game, was actually the least of the defense's worries. ... Thought Davon Godchaux played an excellent game for the most part, although he was turned around on the Bills' final TD run. ... Matthew Judon was OK in the first half although he whiffed holding the edge on a 17-yard run. This team can't afford OK from him against the good teams, and he was non-existent after halftime. ... Deatrich Wise and Lawrence Guy were largely non-factors, and both did not do well closing gaps on Allen scrambles.. ... Josh Uche did what he should have against a non-NFL LT. He's getting production, but I wouldn't go nuts. Layups aren't the same as 3-pointers. ... Probably could have used Carl Davis (inactive) to help force the Bills into more passing situations.
Linebackers (0 out of 5)
This is now two straight games — hmm, wonder what has changed — when the second and third levels of this defense has been exposed. Patriots played four linebackers at various points (not including Dugger, who had his own issues) and they total 1 plus play, and 8 minus plays. They were a day late and a dollar short on runs and any playaction. ... This group is as nondescript as you can get against real NFL offenses.
Secondary (0 out of 5)
Outside of a few pass breakups (Dugger, Myles Bryant) and stuffed runs (Jabrill Peppers, Jack Jones), this group was basically non-competitive against the Bills' receivers, and they really only have one good one. ... This was by far the worst game of Jon Jones' career, and he was kind of hung out to dry by his coaches. He should have gotten benched for giving up on the Gabe Davis score. ... The smarter teams are using Jack Jones' aggressiveness against him with double moves. He is lucky Gabe Davis lost that deep pass in the lights, and a TD by Diggs was called back due to a penalty. ... I did like Marcus Jones on some important reps. It's clear Marcus is the headier of the Jones' boys, and Jack has the natural talent. If you combined them right now, you'd have a heckuva corner. ... Unlike Jon Jones, Myles Bryant wasn't heard from much after he inexplicably failed to tackle McKenzie on the ground. What is going on out there?
TWO UP
Josh Uche: Two sacks are two sacks, even against inferior competition ... and there weren't many other options.
Davon Godchaux: Don't put the run game on him in this one. He was engaged during this game.
THREE DOWN
Mack Wilson/Raekwon McMillan: So if their fastest linebackers weren't brought here to impact this game, why are they here again?
Jonathan Jones: He should call JC Jackson, they can commiserate about how the coaches did nothing to help them. This is what you get when you don't threaten Josh Allen (20 percent pressure) and get left one-on-one with Diggs. Same song, different verse.
Jack Jones: The rookie learned a hard lesson his first time facing Allen — Patriots defensive coaches are scared to death to give up big plays and suffer a potentially embarrassing defeat on the scoreboard, so they won't give you much help with the pass rush and make you cover 10 yards off all day. The days of dictating the game or throwing curveballs at a top QB are long over. It's sit back and pray for a miscue. Corners get sacrificed.