FOXBOROUGH — It didn't go down the same way that it did in the playoffs in January, but the New England Patriots were on the wrong end of another beatdown from the Buffalo Bills on Thursday, losing 24-10.

A week after it looked like they might have turned the page on offense, the Patriots took at least a step back in their loss to the Bills. They had just 242 yards of total offense and four three-and-outs in the first half, punting the ball twice more in the second half.

As the offense continues to put up lackluster performances, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked why they still haven't figured things out on that side of the ball this season.

“Well, I'll just say tonight, like I said, we just didn't do enough,” Belichick said. “Had some opportunities and weren't able to take advantage of them.”

The Patriots' performance on offense this season is puzzling considering how well they played a year ago with a rookie at quarterback. They were efficient, ranking ninth in yards per drive and sixth in scoring offense. Despite having many of the same players on offense from last season, Belichick didn't have an answer when asked why there's been a downfall in the offense's performance this season.

“Just got through with the game here,” Belichick said.

With the Patriots going three-and-out the number of times they did, that, of course, means they struggled again on third down. They went just 3-of-12 on third-down conversions. Belichick, again, didn't really have an answer as to why they've struggled so much in those situations this season.

“Yeah, combination of things,” Belichick said when asked what he sees the issue has been with the Patriots' offense on third down.

Belichick expanded a bit later that the Patriots could “do better” on first and second downs to make third down easier for them.

One of the more peculiar decisions by Belichick and the Patriots' coaching staff came in the final moments of the first half. After Josh Uche stripped-sacked Josh Allen, the Patriots got the ball back at their own 42-yard line with 1:11 left and two timeouts. They moved the ball well on their first few plays, getting to Buffalo's 35-yard-line with 45 seconds left.

The Patriots' momentum appeared to die on the next two plays, though, calling two run plays on second-and-1 and third-and-1 consecutively to pick up just one yard to get the first down. While they got a new set of downs, they had to burn their last two timeouts, limiting what they could do with 32 seconds left before halftime.

New England eventually had to settle for a 48-yard field goal — which Nick Folk missed.

Belichick didn't seem to regret the way they played out the two-minute drive before halftime.

“Kind of short on a third down, cost us another [timeout] – we didn't pick it up on third down, so we had to use a timeout there,” Belichick said. “I mean, in the end we should have had a field goal at the end of the half and we ended up not getting it.”

The Patriots' problems on offense, at least in terms of performance, started with the offensive line on Thursday. Mac Jones was sacked once, but was pressured a handful of times and was constantly running around in the pocket, looking to make plays when they seemed dead.

There were multiple injuries and issues plaguing the Patriots' offensive line. Starting right tackle Isaiah Wynn and backup right tackle Yodny Cajuste were both out due to injuries. while starting left tackle Trent Brown was dealing with an illness.

Belichick seemed to imply that the Patriots had to dial down their aggressiveness because of the issues.

“We were definitely working round some things there,” Belichick said. “But, yeah, we just need to do a better job.”

Starting right guard Mike Onwenu might have been someone who could have helped the Patriots issue at right tackle on Thursday. He has been the lone bright spot on the Patriots' offensive line this season and has played right tackle in the past effectively. However, he hasn't played right tackle this season despite all the issues they've had there, and it doesn't sound like any change for him is on the horizon.

“It's not always moving one or moving two,” Belichick said. “Moving two is always harder than moving one. We looked at our options, felt like we did the best thing we could do. If we thought moving Mike was out there, we would have done that.”

Belichick and the Patriots' offense have some major issues to fix with just five games left in the season. They'll have some extra time before their next game as they don't play again until Monday, Dec. 12, against the Arizona Cardinals.