FOXBOROUGH — Stunned.
That would be one word to describe my reaction to the Patriots taking a 24-7 halftime lead against the Bills, being just 30 minutes from the AFC East championship, and losing 35-31.
What the heck just happened? How could one team look so good on both sides of the ball in one half, and look completely inept in the other? My ultimate answer will have to wait for the review of the game film, but I don't know what else to do other than to go through the TV copy to start the process of breaking down this debacle.
But before I get to that, I thought Hunter Henry pretty much said it all.
"This definitely can be a kind of kick in the butt," Henry said. "We’ve had things go our way and everything go our way the last 10 weeks, so this is definitely a reality check. That’s a good football team. We went toe to toe with them in every aspect, but we have to give them credit. We’ve got to get a lot better from this fast.”
With that, let's go through the plays on defense (five straight TDs allowed), offense (one third down conversion in the second half) and special teams that handed the Patriots their first loss in nearly three months to see if we can draw some conclusions.
DEFENSE
1-10-NE 44 (14:52) J.Cook left guard to NE 33 for 11 yards (C.Woodson)
First play is an easy 11-yard run as Khyiris Tonga and Christian Elliss get washed out, and Jack Gibbens misses the unblocked tackle.
3-3-NE 26 (12:44) (Shotgun) J.Allen left tackle pushed ob at NE 6 for 20 yards (C.Gonzalez).
In what would be the theme of the second half, the Patriots can't get off the field or hold the Bills to a field goal as the designed Allen run is way too easy.
2-4-NE 4 (11:34) J.Allen pass short right to D.Knox for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Bills' opening drive ends with a relatively easy touchdown as Marcus Jones falls a little too much for the run fake, and Dawson Knox is wide open. Not a good start.
2-10-BUF 30 (9:09) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass deep right to J.Palmer to BUF 46 for 16 yards (C.Woods)
No pass rush allows Allen to wait all day for Palmer to uncover against Charles Woods while Carlton Davis is out with an injury.
1-10-NE 39 (7:12) (Shotgun) J.Cook up the middle to NE 31 for 8 yards (J.Hawkins).
Interior DL (Tonga and Cory Durden) and inside linebackers get owned by the Bills' offensive line for Cook's second big run on this drive.
2-2-NE 31 (6:37) J.Allen pass short right to R.Davis pushed ob at NE 18 for 13 yards (M.Jones) [C.Barmore].
Jones doesn't look right. Davis just kind of runs around him. Jones was in a lot of pain after the game.
3-5-NE 13 (5:04) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass incomplete short middle to J.Palmer.
PENALTY on NE-C.Woodson, Defensive Holding, 5 yards, enforced at NE 13 - No Play.
Another opportunity to hold Buffalo to a FG goes to the wayside as Woodson and Woods are flagged for holding on this play. It was pretty ticky-tack.
3-3-NE 3 (3:51) (Shotgun) J.Cook left guard to NE 1 for 2 yards (J.Hawkins).
Buffalo challenged the short of the goal line ruling, and the play was REVERSED.
(Shotgun) J.Cook left guard for 3 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Another third down ... Tonga can't quite get Cook down, and now the Patriots' lead is down to 3.
3-7-BUF 12 (:40) (Shotgun) J.Allen pass deep middle to D.Kincaid to BUF 36 for 24 yards (M.Jones)