The Patriots season ended in disappointment after a season ending 35-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills. With the loss and the Miami Dolphins win over the Jets, the 2022 season officially ended in Buffalo.

Here are seven thoughts on today’s game.

1. Came to play: Give the Patriots credit. They came to play. They knew they were walking into an emotional buzz saw but to their credit, they came to play and hung with the Bills for most of the game.

2. Kickoff return misery: The Patriots not only gave up an opening kickoff return touchdown they then proceeded to give up another one in the third quarter. Nyheim Hines was the first player to have two kickoff return touchdowns in one game since Leon Washington in 2010.

According to Aaron Schatz of Football Outsiders, the Patriots finished 32nd this season in Special Teams DVOA. They were 18th last season. Something needs to change. There is no changes aren’t made to this unit this off-season.

3. Up and Down Mac: It the best of times and the worst of times for quarterback Mac Jones. He went 17-of-17 on the Patriots first three scoring drives and looked like an elite level starting quarterback. He also threw three interceptions and continued to make bad decisions. Matt Patricia called arguably his best game of the season. Unfortunately, Jones inconsistency proved to be the difference in the second half and the reason they couldn’t keep up.

4. Matty P Shines: Ok, shines is a stretch but if this was Matt Patricia’s last game as the offensive play caller, then let’s give him some credit. He did a good job. I thought he called a good game. The Patriots had the Bills on a yo-yo for three quarters. New England was balanced and aggressive and they made some big plays.

It is too bad we couldn’t get something that resembled this for most of the season. We saw it in spurts but the Patriots offense was just too inconsistent for the majority of the season.

5. Big plays were the difference: The Bills ability to make a big play when they needed it was the difference in this game. The two kickoff returns, Josh Allen’s two long touchdown passes to Stefon Diggs and John Brown. When Buffalo needed to recapture the momentum, they simply made a big play and took the game over.

6. Emotional scene: Hat tip to both the Patriots and Bills for the way they represented themselves yesterday. It was an emotional around the NFL but especially in Buffalo. Both organizations represented themselves with class. It was an amazing day that illustrated just how strong the brotherhood is in the NFL.

7. End of the road for McCourty and Slater: All signs point to today’s game being the final game for both Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater. If it is, then it is the end of an era as two of the most important players of the second half of the dynasty will be hanging them up.

Both reflected on their careers after the game. Neither confirmed that they were retiring but it was an emotional scene.

Both are sure fire Patriots Hall of Famers and I think both will end up in Canton eventually. You can certainly make a case for both of them.