Reactions
Brady struggled - but he was making amazing throws with no time. That first first-down to Amendola was incredible. He had a defender on him in a second and made the right throw. He had terrible protection. Ryan did a great job of confusing the offensive line, and making 11 guys (or sometimes 10, sometimes 12) seem like 15.
Blount is pedestrian. He is not going to make yardage on his own.
White, when he was on the field, did better. He at least makes the first guy miss. Maybe not the fifth guy, like we were used to. But of the three current backs, he seems to offer the most upside.
Wide receiver depth has been an issue; with one injury it's a problem; with two it's a crisis. Imagine a single injury to a corner.
This offensive line has played poorly. I guess Belichick answered the question on who his choice at LT is. While most of us prefer Solder, anytime Cannon has been available, he has played LT. Poorly. I guess it's good that Andrews got a break. Too many penalties on the line. WAY too many QB hits allowed. Both physical and mental mistakes and breakdowns. I guess the one benefit of running Blount into the defensive line for no gain a dozen times is it does open up the fourth quarter play action pass.
Yes, Gronk's worst game this year. But Buffalo pretty much said: we will take Gronk out. Beat us some other way. They did, and we did.
Really good game from the defensive line. Really held Taylor in the pocket. Stopped the short-yardage we-know-you-know-we're-running plays. A couple pretty important sacks. Good pressure from the three-man rush when dropping into coverage. Brown and Hicks keep improving. Siliga is becoming the odd man out.
Great to see Mayo playing well. It's been over a year since we've seen that spark from him. This defense, when healthy, can make it through the playoffs. Collins-Hightower-Mayo could be as good as we hoped in the offseason. One of the most positive outcomes of the game was Mayo's performance.
Tavon Wilson and Patrick Chung covering slot receivers consistently is scary. Any high school offensive coordinator can design plays to pick on that spot. Amazing that this team is holding its breathe on an undrafted rookie's return to health.
Another impressive game from Butler and Ryan. Was Watkins a healthy scratch that I missed?
OK, on the officiating. These games are hard to watch. I think the NFL needs to work with the officials' union, with an open mind, to find a resolution. While I watch the games live with a bias, and only see the blown calls that affect the Patriots, the next day I can recognize the equally-egregious calls that hurt the other team. The best you can hope for is unbiased incompetence. The Bills suffered from several pass interference calls that were missed. That whole inadvertent whistle thing is UN-EX-CUSE-A-BLE. That officiating team should never work again. From the Pats side, they stole an obvious touchdown and caused Gostkowkski to miss his shot. From the Bills side, the corner gave up on the play, the whistle was clearly before the receiver had possession, and they screwed up the decision to award the catch. 15 yards on a coach walking along his own sideline, seriously? They blew the last play - Buffalo should have had the ball with two seconds on their own side of the field for a hail Mary. Add this to the blown batted ball, the blown false start. Just an unacceptable number of games determined by officiating errors. I don't know whether it is training, or full-time status, or performance-enhancing drug requirements for officials, or central oversight from a bunker in New York, but when the commentators and all the fans instantly know the officials made critical mistakes, it is something that can be corrected. I hesitate to use a phrase that has been equally abused by Andy Dalton and Roger Goodell. But come on guys.
