Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images


After putting up some impressive numbers and scoring totals during a six-game win streak, all the talk surrounding the huge Monday night matchup in Buffalo was about Mac Jones and whether or not he could handle the elements and pressure of his first Monday night game.

So naturally, Bill Belichick decided the best option with 45-50 MPH wind gusts was to run the ball 46 times, throw it three times and let the defense do the rest while Mr. Automatic Nick Folk added two field goals.

It worked.

New England prevailed 14-10 in one of the most memorable regular season games of the Bill Belichick era, moving the Pats to 9-4 and solidifying their spot at the top of the AFC heading into a much deserved bye week. This was another masterclass from Belichick – perhaps one of the best performances of his career – as he continues to show just how good he still is.

“Good to get the win, really proud of our players,” Belichick said after the game. “These guys did a good job in all three units. We played kind of the way we felt like we needed to play to win and in the end we scored enough points. There was a lot of situational football that I thought – for the most part – we handled it well.

“Just got to give the players a lot of credit for being tough, being disciplined, being resilient and dealing with a really good football team and conditions that were somewhat challenging.”

The offensive line, Damien Harris (10/111/1), Rhamondre Stevenson (24/78) and Brandon Bolden (4/28) held the ball for 32:01 and racked up 222 yards on the ground. Jones attempted three passes, completing two of them for 19 yards. Meanwhile, the defense held Buffalo to 10 points and 230 yards total.

In a year that continues to push for the title of Bill Belichick’s best coaching job yet, Monday night’s win was another reminder that he’s still got his fastball. According to NextGen stats, the Patriots ran the ball on 94% of their plays, which is the highest “run rate” in a game this millennium. The three pass attempts were the fewest in franchise history and the fewest since the Bills attempted three against the Jets in Week 3 of the 1974 season. It was just the third time the Pats had two completions in history, with the other two coming in 1992 and 1969, both against Miami.

“I haven’t seen that much wind, probably ever,” said Jones. “It’s just a learning experience. If I could practice in it once a week that would be awesome, so hopefully we’ll get a chance to throw into the wind like we do in practice, but hats off to the offensive line doing what they did. Knowing that we were going to run the ball and just putting their noise in there every play and making it happen was incredible. I’ve never been part of something like that, so that was really cool.”

The only Patriots touchdown came with 5:28 left in the fist quarter when Harris got loose for a 64-yard run. That TD run was the longest for the Patriots since Curtis Martin broke a 70-yarder in 1997. Bolden added a two-point run for an 8-0 lead. Buffalo got a huge gift late in the first when N’Keal Harry had a punt graze his face mask when he was back to receive it and Buffalo recovered at the New England 14. One play later, Josh Allen (15-30/145/1 TD, 6 rush/39 yards) hit Davis for a 14-yard TD and the PAT with the wind at Tyler Bass’ back was good to make it 8-7.

Folk banged home a 41-yard field goal with 11:31 left in the half for an 11-7 lead the Pats took into halftime. With offense hard to come by and Buffalo facing 4th-&-7 at the Patriots’ 17-yard line late in the third, the Bills settled for another field goal to make it an 11-10 game.

With 13:05 left in the fourth quarter a 34-yard field goal from Folk made it a 14-10 game. From there, the Patriots allowed Buffalo to drive down inside the New England six on the ensuing drive, but a Matt Judon sack (No. 12.5 on the year) on second down pushed the Bills back to the 15 and after an incomplete pass on third down, Bass missed a 33-yard field goal with 7:28 remaining.

Two of Jones’ three pass attempts on the night occurred on the next Patriots possession and both of them fell incomplete. The Bills got the ball back on the Buffalo 20 with 5:47 remaining and proceeded to drive down to the Pats’ 13, but eventually on 4th-&-14 at the 18, Myles Bryant came up with a pass break up to seal the deal.

For the remaining 1:55 Jones and the offense executed clock management to perfection, eventually ending the game with a kneel down on fourth down as the clock hit zeros.

On national television Monday night, Bill Belichick showed the world he not only still owns the Buffalo Bills (2020 aside) but more importantly, he still knows how to have his team prepared for whatever situation they may find themselves in. With such a big roster turnover and a rookie quarterback driving the bus, the NFL’s worst nightmare is still very much a reality.

“It was awesome, that’s why I think I love playing here,” added Devin McCourty. “This team isn’t about one person, isn’t about egos, isn’t about ‘this is what we do so we’re going to do it,’ it’s about winning. We’re going to adjust and we’re going to find a way to win.

“I think everyone will look at this game and say they played to their defense, but we ran the ball. We broke out a long run, when we needed to run the ball and take the clock down and drive it and kick two field goals that’s what we did. To me, that’s a team performance.”

The Patriots are back and Bill Belichick may be having the best year of his career.

Uh oh.