Courtesy of USATI

FOXBOROUGH – There is an old adage in coaching when you lose to a rival. “Don’t let them beat you twice.” The Patriots cannot afford to lose to the Ravens next week after losing a heartbreaker to the Bills today.

Putting this one behind them as quick as possible is key. The Patriots have to watch the film tomorrow, correct the mistakes this week and move on.

After the game, Mike Vrabel and his players talked about the importance of watching the film and moving on from this loss.

“We have an opportunity to improve like we have when we won, the same as today when we lost and came up short” said Vrabel. “There’s a lot of good stuff in there that I’m proud of and that we’ll be able to use as a positive, and a lot of stuff that we have to correct and make sure that we fix. And we’ll do that tomorrow and try to get as healthy as we can and put a plan together for Baltimore.”

The Patriots did have a fair amount of positives. They played well in the first half, jumping out to a 21-0 lead and taking a 24-7 lead into the half. The second half however was a different story. The Patriots got outscored 28-10 with Buffalo scoring on five straight offensive possessions.

The defense in particular struggled, giving up 168 yards rushing, including 107 yards to James Cook. With both Milton Williams and Robert Spillane out, the Patriots were vulnerable against the run and it showed. The absence of Spillane was especially notable. Vrabel said after the game that Spillane warmed up but couldn’t go.

” We felt like after going through the warmups and everything that that was what was going to be best for him today. We need everybody, and certainly Robert. We’ll have to try to get as healthy as we can as quickly as we can.”

Offensively, the Patriots sputtered in the second half. Drake Maye had one of the worst outings of his career as a passer. He completed 14-of-23 passes for 155 yards and one interception. He had a 62% completion percentage. After the game, he owned his performance and the Patriots inability to move the ball consistently enough in the second half.

“Came out in the second half and just gotta make a play, pick up the first first down, I think that’s the biggest thing. Were some throws I wish I had back, but at the end of the day gotta keep the foot on the pedal and keep it going and kind of don’t let them dictate. It starts with me. And we kind of felt during the week that we had a chance this was going to happen, and just gotta keep our foot on the pedal. It happened in the first game, they came back, came back. Just gotta make a play and do my part when we had the ball and a chance to win the game, go win the game.”

Maye also talked about the importance of the Patriots moving on from this loss and it not having a ripple effect next week.

“Just don’t let it beat you twice. Move on to the next week and learn from it and take what we can. And know that we’ve got some football ahead of us that’s important, still very important. And don’t just hang our hat and keep your head up and know that we had a chance and we’re there, just they made more plays and credit to them.”

Moving on is the name of the game this time of year. Contending teams don’t have time to feel sorry for themselves in December and January. Another big challenge awaits next Sunday night in Baltimore. The Patriots have to bounce back and answer the call. The game will be a test of just how mature this team.

Cornerback Marcus Jones echoed that sentiment after the game.

“It starts with tomorrow, getting the corrections and everything. We have a mature team, I will say that. Learn from it and everything, and then get back to the basics that we need to get back to. I would say we have lost before, and we know the things that it takes and everything. Like I said, we have a mature team, so we are going to dial in and get right.”