The Patriots got smashed in their Wild Card playoff game against the Bills on Saturday night, losing 47-17. Almost nothing went right for New England and although the Patriots had a good season and took a step forward in their rebuild, they are not on the level of the Bills and that showed on Saturday night. The Bills were faster and executed better than the Patriots from start to finish. Their gameplan, especially offensively, kept New England off balance throughout the game.
The Bills scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions of the game and did so however they wanted. Josh Allen threw for 308 yards and five touchdowns. He also added six rushes for 66 yards. Devin Singletary rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries and scored twice. The Bills offense averaged a staggering 8.9 yards per play for the game and gained 300 yards of offense in the first half alone.
Without number two corner Jalen Mills, the Patriots were forced to put Joejuan Williams opposite JC Jackson and he got burned multiple times. Jackson did not have a great game matched up against Stefon Diggs, either. The Patriots sacked Allen zero times and created very little pressure. Against the run, New England’s front seven put up minimal resistance and gave up just over six yards per carry.
The Patriots were able to move the ball on several of their drives, but mistakes and turnovers stalled them. On their first drive, Brandon Bolden dropped an open pass that would have set up the Patriots in the red zone. That was followed by a Mac Jones interception on a would-be deep touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor that Micah Hyde did a fantastic job of tracking and intercepting.
The Patriots allowed three sacks, including one on a fake-spike near the end of the first half that caught most of the Bills defenders off guard except Jerry Hughes who blew by Trent Brown for the sack.
Jones threw another interception on the Patriots first drive of the third quarter. However, Jones played well overall and the chief complaint in the passing game was a lack of separation. Jones threw two touchdown passes to Kendrick Bourne, but it felt like Bourne was the only receiver that could win his matchups consistently. Jones was constantly throwing into tight windows. Compare that to the Bills who have Diggs, Isaiah McKenzie, Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis getting open for Allen.
Overall, the Patriots had a good season and made the playoffs with a rookie quarterback. However, the gap between themselves and the true contenders remains and it showed against the Bills. The Patriots need to add more speed at every level of their defense and are sorely lacking another playmaker on offense besides Bourne. The biggest question now is if the Patriots can close that gap in offseason.