A sold-out, primetime crowd played virtually no factor in the Buffalo Bills' odd 14-10 loss to the rival New England Patriots on Monday night in Orchard Park. Chalk the team's poor performance up to bitter-cold temperatures and harsh wind gusts, which created a vintage yet wacky field position battle.
But the Bills' struggles existed long before a brutal December weather report. Since defeating the reigning AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs on the road in Week 5 and improving to 4-1, Buffalo has dropped four of seven games, and former NFL safety and current SiriusXM NFL analyst Solomon Wilcots believes the championship-hopeful team is traveling down a hazardous road.
"The one thing you pride yourself on is not getting manhandled, not having a team come into your home stadium on national TV and run roughshod to your defense," Wilcots told The DA Show on Tuesday. "And for Bill Belichick, it was as if he unleashed bully-ball on the Bills, and once again, he's the king of the division. This is so unexpected, if you're a Bills fan. You were expecting 2021 to be the year of the Bills -- finally dominate the division for a period of time.
"And so quickly, the Patriots have snatched it back, and they did it in front of a nationally televised audience... If you're a prideful defense, and the Bills are, you've got to feel some kind of way about that. And it leaves you searching within your own locker room and soul-searching amongst yourselves to say, 'How are we going to stop this? Because we tried last night and couldn't do anything about it.'"
Although the inconvenient weather conditions allowed the Bills to prepare for a heavy running attack from the Patriots, they were dreadful in the trenches, allowing 222 yards and a touchdown on 46 total carries. Patriots quarterback Mac Jones threw the ball just three times, and according to ESPN research, his three passing attempts were the fewest in a game in franchise history.
From start to finish, the Bills were unable to establish a similar rhythm via the ground game. Their unit was limited to just 99 rushing yards, and quarterback Josh Allen completed 15 of 30 passes for 145 yards with a touchdown and a 20.3 QBR. After the game, Bills head coach Sean McDermott described the game as "sloppy football" to reporters, and was reluctant to give Belichick most of the credit for his team's success.
Buffalo (7-5), which now owns the seventh and final AFC playoff spot, will visit the reigning champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a marquee Week 14 matchup on Sunday. According to FiveThirtyEight projections, the Bills currently have a 72-percent chance to reach the playoffs, but just a 24-percent chance to win the division.
The entire NFL conversation between Wilcots and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.
