On Sunday, the Bills (10-4) snapped the Patriots’ (11-3) 10-game winning streak, pulling off a 35-31 comeback win at Gillette Stadium that put into focus some of New England’s flaws that have been masked by the winning over the last month-plus.
After being up 21-0 with 5:53 remaining in the second quarter as well as 24-7 heading into halftime, five consecutive touchdowns on five consecutive drives for Buffalo allowed Josh Allen to pull off the type of comeback that has become routine for the defending league MVP.
Lost in that failure by New England’s defense to stop Buffalo’s offense was the Patriots’ inability to move the ball in the second half, mustering just 7 points in a little more than seven minutes of second half possession. Buffalo was controlling the pace of the game, but New England was not doing themselves any favors with a second half offense drive sequence that reads like the 2024 version of this team:
- 3 plays, -6 yards, punt, 2:11 off the clock
- 7 plays, 23 yards, interception, 2:19 off the clock
- 1 play, 65 yards, touchdown by TreVeyon Henderson, 14 seconds off the clock
- 3 plays, -7 yards, punt, 1:40 off the clock
- 4 plays, 5 yards, turnover on downs, 56 seconds off the clock
Regardless of the type of lead you have heading into halftime, a sequence like that is almost always going to put you in danger of losing the ballgame.
This isn’t the first time New England’s offense has struggled to get anything going in the final two quarters of late.
They only managed 3 points in the second half against the Giants in Week 13 and 9 points in the second half against the Bengals in Week 12.
With an MVP candidate at quarterback and with home run hitters on the roster, why can’t the Patriots sustain success on offense through the end of the fourth quarter?
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was asked about this trend for his side of the football during his regular Thursday pre-practice press conference.
“I don’t know that there’s one answer on that,” said McDaniels. “Certainly thought the guys really did a good job of executing certain things in the first half and made a lot of big plays. And then really - we never really got into a good rhythm in the second half, and that’s my job. So we’ll figure out why that was. I think there’s a lot of things you can think about and talk about - whether it’s executing a specific play better or calling a different play, I think you always look back on those things and evaluate them from both lenses.
“So honestly, at this time of the year, when you play a team like that and get an opportunity to see the type of precision and level of execution and detail that all of us need to showcase in those types of games, it can be a blessing if you learn from it. And I know that’s what I’m hard at work trying to do, and our guys are, too.”
With McDaniels’ answer being mostly focused on his team’s loss to the Bills, he was asked in a follow-up if there are any trends he’s noticing with his unit that might be leading to the second half swoons.
“No trends,” said McDaniels. “I think it’s just - you know, when you play with a lead, you fight that human nature to relax and want to have done enough. And I think sometimes that playing from behind is easier than playing from ahead in certain situations, you know?
“So we just have to - again, it’s a great opportunity to learn how you have to close out a game against a team that’s certainly been there at the end many years in a row. And so it’ll be a gift for us if we learn, and I think our guys are intent on doing that.”
While this all might sound like creative excuse making, McDaniels’ larger point about his team needing to learn how to close out games against good teams is a valid one.
While pieces of this team’s leadership group have won Super Bowls (Milton Williams, Carlton Davis, Mack Hollins) and others have gone on deep playoff runs (Stefon Diggs), this specific group of guys hasn’t done it together yet. Add in the fact that their 23 year old quarterback is experiencing all of this for the first time, and the late-game growing pains should not come as a surprise to anyone.
As McDaniels said - if his group can use Sunday’s loss to Buffalo as a learning experience, it will go a long way towards this team having a chance at doing something special in January.
They’ll have a chance to bounce back in primetime on Sunday, as they’ll head down to Baltimore to take on a Ravens team (7-7) who has won 6 of their last 8 games after a brutal 1-5 start to the season.
As of publishing, the Patriots are as high as a 3-point underdog at some sportsbooks, sitting at +135 on the moneyline.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.