The New England Patriots became locked into a defensive battle with the Buffalo Bills. But the visitors suffered a big loss from Antonio Gibson.
The running back took a fierce hit to his knee during the first half. NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reported that Gibson is officially ruled out with the knee injury.
Gibson got helped off the field and visibly had tears in his eyes. His departure placed Mike Vrabel in a new bind.
Vrabel witnessed his ground attack struggle at Highmark Stadium. Rhamondre Stevenson settled for -2 yards on one carry. Rookie TreyVeyon Henderson carried the ball three times for 19 yards.
Gibson, meanwhile, finished with 21 yards on six carries as his Pats led 6-3 at halftime. New England was already dealing with one notable injury from Milton Williams.
Antonio Gibson, Patriots witnessed lack of offense with Bills
The only offense came from field goals.
New England mustered only 50 rushing yards total before the third quarter. Vrabel is aiming to reignite the ground game especially after years of riding the strength and power of Derrick Henry.
The Pats struggled with third downs as well — hitting just one conversion out of five attempts. Drake Maye even took two sacks and settled for just 89 passing yards.
Buffalo, however, dealt with a physical Patriots defense.
Josh Allen and company delivered 165 total yards only — featuring the reigning NFL Most Valuable Player throwing only 92 yards. Allen added 32 rushing yards to tie RB1 James Cook.
Buffalo also lost the ball twice on fumbles, featuring an early botched handoff.
