If you wanted to see what taking out two decades of frustration on a rival looks like, all you had to do was watch the Buffalo Bills dismantle the Patriots in their AFC Wild Card matchup on Saturday night.

The second playoff meeting ever between the two franchises was supposed to be a 12-round fight between two hard-nosed AFC East teams. Instead, it was the Bills taking the Pats to the woodshed, blowing New England out 47-17.

The loss was the worst postseason loss of the Bill Belichick Era, easily the worst defensive performance under The Hoodie and it closes the Patriots’ season at 10-8. After winning seven straight and holding the No. 1 seed with a record of 9-4 at one point, the final month of the season was truly stunning and the finish in Orchard Park was equally as mind boggling.

“Congratulate Buffalo on the win tonight. Obviously, they did a great job and we just couldn’t keep up with them,” said Belichick. “They certainly deserved to win. Well coached, came out and executed well and we just couldn’t do much of anything. We’ve got to pick up the pieces, go back to work here and need to find a way to be more competitive.”

This one was over at halftime as Buffalo built a 27-point lead and took a 24-point lead to the break.

Dont’a Hightower whiffed on a Josh Allen third down run while Matt Judon and Ja’Whaun Bentley – who was brutal both in the run game and in pass coverage before leaving with an injury later in the game – were also burned in space by a running Allen earlier in the game’s opening drive. The Bills chewed up the first 5:15 with the nine-play march and capped it when Allen (21-for-25, 308 yards, 5 TD) floated a ball to the back of the end zone for Dawson Knox after buying a ton of time while rolling to his right. The ball fluttered up and Kyle Dugger – playing with one hand clubbed – couldn’t make a play on it while Knox made a great catch and got two feet down.

It looked as if Mac Jones was growing up before our eyes on his very first postseason possession before Micah Hyde had an incredible pick in end zone to halt the drive. Hyde sprinted and made a diving grab to catch a ball intended for Nelson Agholor after Jones had just made a huge throw to Henry on third down and also scrambled for a first down 3rd-and-10 during the drive.

Knox ran a perfectly executed skinny post over the middle against Adrian Phillips and hauled in a TD catch from Allen to make the turnover really hurt. Worst of all, it was another repeat of the December 26th meeting as Buffalo was methodical, running 10-plays to move 80 yards in five minutes, making it 14-0 with 40 seconds remaining in the first.

“Just not a very good throw,” said Jones. “I’ve got to make a better throw, that’s pretty much it. It’s the first drive of the game you don’t want to do that.”

The Pats punted on the ensuing drive after a 3rd-and-4 toss to Harris was short of the marker by a full yard. Buffalo took over at its own 19 and moved right back downfield with ease. Singletary was the catalyst, bowling over unwilling tacklers. He eventually plowed into the end zone from the three to finish off another emasculating 10-play drive that lasted 7:06, putting the Bills in complete control at 20-0 midway through the second. The only negative thing to happen to Buffalo at that point was the fact that the extra point was blocked.

After a Patriots punt (following a sack and delay of game that set up a 3rd-and-20) Buffalo took over at its own 12 but had no trouble getting out of the shadow of its own end zone. Diggs grabbed a 45 yard catch over JC Jackson to the Pats 25 after Isaiah McKenzie blew by McCourty for a big gain on a short little screen. Allen also broke the ankles of recently added De’Vante Bausby on a run just before the two minute warning before Buffalo added to the humiliation with a far-too-easy 17-yard touchdown run by Singletary for the 27-point lead with 1:53 to go. The touchdown run also gave Buffalo 300-yards off offense in the half. The Bills ended up with 482 yards total.

“It is what it is,” said Devin McCourty, who may have played his final NFL game. “Obviously not our best game. It sucks to end the season that way. Credit to them obviously, I don’t think we got a stop on defense tonight, so…I mean, just not how you want to end any season. Not how you want to play a playoff game. Every time you step on the field in a playoff game it’s the last chance that team has to be on the field. That’s what’s at stake every time you go out there.”

Things continued to spiral when Jerry Hughes sacked Mac Jones near midfield on a fake spike attempt. Impressively, Jones bounced back and found Jakobi Meyers on a pretty back shoulder throw on 4th-and-5. The play set up a Nick Folk 44-yard field goal to give New England a tiny bit of life at the half down 27-3.

After a few positive run plays and a screen to Stevenson to open the third quarter, Levi Wallace picked off Jones on a tipped ball by Matt Milano at the Bills’ 41. Moments later, Allen threw a dart to Emmanuel Sanders after he blew by Joejuan Willaims for a 34-yard touchdown. The PAT was wide left but was basically irrelevant with the score at 33-3. The touchdown was Buffalo’s fifth in five possessions, making them the first team in NFL history to accomplish that feat in a playoff game.

A couple chunk plays to Kendrick Bourne got the Pats inside the red zone for the first time on the next drive. Meyers had a big third down catch down inside the five but he dropped a wide open TD catch on third-and-goal from the four. Jones ended up hitting Bourne in the back left corner on fourth and goal for the first touchdown of the night and Jones’ first career playoff TD, cutting it to 33-10 with 4:12 left in the third.

A sixth touchdown came with 13:22 left in the game when Gabriel Davis caught a 19-yard laser from Allen for a 40-spot on the scoreboard. A short Allen TD pass minutes later to lineman Tommy Doyle added even more shame for the Patriots. The seventh TD on seven possessions actually made it 19 straight possessions without a punt vs. the Pats for the Bills combined in the last two meetings. The streak finally ended when the Bills kneeled out the clock following a meaningless 4-yard touchdown catch from Bourne in the final two minutes.

So, now what? Well, things are going to look very different next season. Coaches and players will be exiting for new roles or retirement. Bill Belichick needs to fix his defense (if he doesn’t get shown the door by the Krafts or leave for the Giants) and Mac Jones desperately needs help in terms of weapons.

These are no longer the Patriots we’ve all loved the last 20 years. Everyone knew that, but the Bills are now the superior team in the division and the Patriots are probably a lot further away from competing with the best teams in the NFL than we all thought they were.

We’re on to 2022.