Bill Belichick's rebuilt New England Patriots team wasn't even supposed to be playing in this game at the start of the season. Yet, this team showed all year that they could make some noise in the postseason. Unfortunately, they ran into a buzzsaw up in Buffalo, as the Bills obliterated the Patriots by a final score of 47-17, and the game really wasn't even that close. All is not gloom and doom for New England, though, so let's take a look at some Patriots takeaways from this game as they head into their offseason.
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New England Patriots Wild Card Takeaways
1. Mac Jones is still a rookie, and it showed
Mac Jones is not quite ready to lead a team to the promised land by himself at this point in his career. Jones is a talented young player and has a bright future ahead of him, but he just wasn't quite ready to provide what his team needed from him in this game, similar to the last two times these teams played in late December.
The Patriots were able to beat the Bills in early December in a crazy game that featured Jones only throwing the ball three times. But in the second regular-season matchup, Jones went 14-of-32 and tossed two picks in a 33-21 loss. He wasn't as bad as that in this playoff game, but he certainly wasn't at his best and wasn't able to do nearly enough to keep up with Buffalo.
With the Patriots' running game struggling and Belichick's defense giving up a scoring barrage early in the game, New England found itself deep in a hole early in the matchup. Belichick was left with no choice but to turn to his rookie quarterback to place the pressure of winning the game on his shoulders. Unfortunately for the Patriots, Jones was unable to deliver.
Jones completed 24 of his 38 passes, which isn’t horrible, and he threw for 232 yards, which is about average. If this game went the way that the Patriots wanted, that yardage total should have been more than enough. Jones threw for two touchdowns, which again should have been enough … if the game went the way the Patriots wanted it to go.
The real problem, however, was when it came to protecting the football. Jones gave the ball away too many times for this team to be successful, throwing two interceptions to match his two touchdowns.
On a night where the Bills scored touchdowns on all seven of their drives, New England giving two extra drives to Josh Allen and company proved disastrous.
2. New England's defense picked a bad time to have an off night
Speaking of the spectacular offensive performance Buffalo put on in this game, the once-stout Patriots defense was badly exposed against an elite offense. This unit, which played well most of the season, shut down the Bills in that first matchup, only to get torched in the other two games.
The Patriots allowed Josh Allen to throw for 308 yards. Allen also threw more touchdowns (5) than incompletions (4). Allen did not throw any interceptions and wasn’t sacked at all.
However, the woes for New England didn’t end there.
Buffalo recorded 174 yards on the ground. Devin Singletary led the ground attack with 81 rushing yards on 16 carries (5.1 yards per carry) to go along with two touchdowns, while Allen added 66 yards on the ground. The Patriots need to find a way to get their defense back to the level they had operated at for most of the season by the start of next season.
3. The Patriots were playing with house money
There is, however, some good news for Belichick and company: They were ahead of schedule.
They weren't even supposed to be here, playing in this game. The Patriots showed off their quick rebuild, demonstrated that Belichick maintains a steady ship and earned valuable postseason experience for their key young players. This time next year, when New England is back in the playoffs with a legitimate shot at a ring, this experience will be essential in easing the learning curve and holding the team's window of contention open for as long as possible.
These young Patriots have tasted the playoffs, so expect them to put that knowledge to work as they prepare for a legitimate Super Bowl run next season.
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