Game Rewind: The Patriots earned a sloppy 16-10 win over the Bills. It was the Patriots eighth straight win in Buffalo. Tom Brady and the offense struggled to get into a rhythm and the Patriots committed eight penalties for 58 yards. It was a forgettable performance for the offense. Luckily, the defense turned in another dominate performance.

Here are five thoughts on the game.

1. Defense dominates again: The Patriots defense was once again fantastic. They finally gave up their first touchdown of the season but other than that, they played well despite missing Dont’a Hightower. This group is playing at a historic level defensively and they should continue to play at that level next week in D.C against the lowly Redskins.

2. Offense struggled badly: The Patriots looked out of sync offensively. Part of it was the performance of the Bills defense but the other issue was play calling. Josh McDaniels did not do a good job. The Patriots didn’t run the ball enough and McDaniels didn’t do enough to protect Brady while slowing down the Bills pass rush. The Patriots finished with 224 total yards of offense. That is pathetic.

3. Pressure affects Brady: The book on Tom Brady around the league is to get inside pressure on him. If you do that consistently, you can throw Brady off his spot. The Bills did that today and really rattled Brady. He was uncomfortable and skittish. It didn’t help that Brady made an uncharacteristically bad decision in the red zone by throwing an interception. Brady needs to be better. He knows that. He will be fine.

4. Patriots block a punt: The Patriots blocked only the second punt for a touchdown in the Belichick era. J.C Jackson blocked it and Matthew Slater turned it into a scoop and score for his first career NFL touchdown. It turned out to be the biggest play of the game.

5. Gostkowski misses another extra point: Gostkowski missing extra points has been an issue for a while. He missed another one yesterday. At some point it needs to be addressed. How Belichick addresses it remains to be seen.