PostGame Thread OFFICIAL POSTGAME THREAD: Patriots Fall 35-31 to the Bills

[Uptown]

Maye & McD weren’t perfect obviously, but it’s pretty evident this game was on the defense. Especially in the second half. Everybody deserves their fair share of criticism, but if anybody **** the bed it was the defense/refs. Period. On to Baltimore.

 

[Uptown]

Also, we were literally coming off of a 10 game winning streak. A 10 game winning streak…..we were due for stinker. They have to learn how to win/not to lose in playoff type atmospheres/situations. Growing pains…we still have Milton, Will & Spilly coming back to help fortify each respective unit with our playoff goals still in line. We’re fine. We’ll reset & continue to be better. IM&VWT..

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Didn’t he outplay Allen toe to toe in their first match up? Can’t win em all, can’t beat the refs and a good team. They were bound to lose another game, and it came against probably the best QB in football. Onto next week man…

He did play phenomenal in that week 5 game. Fair enough.

Common theme they were leading going into the 4th. 11-0 when leading going into the 4th quarter. 0-3 when they didn’t.

I am just disappointed missing that chance of closing the division this way. The end of the season isn’t a cake walk. Baltimore will be a tough out. I don’t see us losing against the Jets but Miami is still playing for something. Finishing 1-3 to end the season isn’t out of the possibility. The Baltimore game will tell us a lot on the makeup of this football team.

 

[uknepatsfan]

I think there’s understandably a lot of over reaction to this loss.

They will be in the playoffs and they should have key players on both sides of the ball back for that.

Refs and awful calls aside, you tip your hat to the Bills and Josh Allen for showing heart and fight. At 21-0 down on the road in the snow they could have folded the tents and given up but they didn’t.

We also know the Pats need a genuine pass rusher, something this team has lacked for years now.

This team is in a much better position than they were last year and now we have grown ups handling the draft they will get better.

The loss hurts but they’ll learn from it and hopefully it will make them better in the long run.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Also, we were literally coming off of a 10 game winning streak. A 10 game winning streak…..we were due for stinker. They have to learn how to win/not to lose in playoff type atmospheres/situations. Growing pains…we still have Milton, Will & Spilly coming back to help fortify each respective unit with our playoff goals still in line. We’re fine. We’ll reset & continue to be better. IM&VWT..

I agree it’s just that I think we missed a golden opportunity to win this division. The game was there for the taking and the entire team came up small when we needed to close it out. That concerns me a little bit.

Like I said we will see how this team bounce back against Baltimore. I just fear that this loss will unravel on the team

 

[Uptown]

I agree it’s just that I think we missed a golden opportunity to win this division. The game was there for the taking and the entire team came up small when we needed to close it out. That concerns me a little bit.

Like I said we will see how this team bounce back against Baltimore. I just fear that this loss will unravel on the team

Fair to have that view, but teams normally take on the identity of their coach; and we KNOW Vrabel isn’t a ****y by any stretch of the imagination. Missed opportunity yesterday, but I trust he’ll have this team’s focus & intensity back up to speed. Credit to Buffalo..

 

[Uptown]

Also, shoutout to Maye for his blocking effort downfield on that Hendo TD! Respect…That’s our QB. He’s still that guy..

 

[PP2]

Also, we were literally coming off of a 10 game winning streak. A 10 game winning streak…..we were due for stinker. They have to learn how to win/not to lose in playoff type atmospheres/situations. Growing pains…we still have Milton, Will & Spilly coming back to help fortify each respective unit with our playoff goals still in line. We’re fine. We’ll reset & continue to be better. IM&VWT..

That's exactly all it is- they're learning that you can't be a playoff team without playing the full 60 minutes. This happens to every young team. It's just part of the evolution.

Vrabel has been banging away on the "no napping" issue, but more often than not, it takes the spectacle of an ugly game like this one to drive home the lesson. This team couldn't handle or sustain the intensity of a playoff game and completely folded in the 2nd half.

This is the "hurr durr" game that I said was eventually going to happen, which pissed @TommyD4207 off, but this has been a glaring issue all year long.

The good thing is that this happened during the regular season, not the playoffs, so they've gotten a taste of what's coming at the end of the season. Hopefully they'll be prepared the next time it happens.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

 

[Ring 6]

Drake Maye failed in the clutch today. The reigning MVP came through in the clutch today. Maybe Maye has a good game next week and they win. We'll see. If Maye leads a come from behind win next week on the road in Baltimore it'll be the first of his career. And all the Maye can't bring a team back from behind talk will stop. As we stand here after 14 games, Drake Maye has one win vs a team with a winning record.

Maye is 11-3. Allen is 10-4.

 

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

15-2 and winning that many games in a row doesn’t happen often because every team is hard to beat in the NFL. My prediction was 13-4 six or so games ago and I’m keeping that.

 

[Silver Blue&Red]

I was very angry last night. And was being an A hole to a few posters.
My emotions got the best of me. I'm still pretty sick over the officiating.
But I want apologize to anyone I insulted. And apologize to every poster, staff and Ian.
Sorry

 

[Lagaffe_07]

15-2 and winning that many games in a row doesn’t happen often because every team is hard to beat in the NFL. My prediction was 13-4 six or so games ago and I’m keeping that.

As long as the 4th loss comes against Baltimore I am fine with it

 

[Real fan 02]

The Pats cannot hang w Buffalo, Houston or Denver come playoff time if Maye plays like he did today. I'm actually shocked at how poor he looked considering how burrow threw for 4 Tds and 284 on them. Maye never looked comfortable in the pocket. Everyone should be concerned about this

I think we need to all let our emotions settle down and understand that Drake was the same QB in the first half that had his team up 21 points.. so for me as a fan I'm not going to place the blame on the QB who's large reason why we have the record we have. Special teams and primarily the defense not being able to stop Buffalo allowing 5 straight TD drives was the reason we lost..

All in all.. they needed a loss after 10 weeks of winning.. in my opinion as a fan this adversity is good thing for them going forward..

 

[Real fan 02]

I was very angry last night. And was being an A hole to a few posters.
My emotions got the best of me. I'm still pretty sick over the officiating.
But I want apologize to anyone I insulted. And apologize to every poster, staff and Ian.
Sorry

We all have our emotional highs and lows rooting for our team.. So no worries there.. yeah the officiating was a problem.. but allowing 5 straight TD drives was more concerning to me..

 

[Huckleberry1]

The idiots whining about " clutch" apparently haven't been paying attention all season as Maye has converted in 3rd and 4th and long to keep drives going and give them leads their defense was able to hold. He's a great young QB and Buffalo is the only team who would trade their quarterback for him right now, and even they would be wrong not too.

If I get the chance I'll be taking the names of those ****ting on him, and believe me when I say that I won't forget them, and I'll be sure to remind them for the next 15 years or so. Sam's mea culpa lasted until the winning streak ended, now he has invalidated it. What a bunch of know nothing assholes.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

The same way that to win a game the D has to held the opposing team under 23 points to win isn’t a great selling point either.

Drake Maye had opportunities to make comebacks last year and didn’t. It was put on « he is a rookie ».

He completely stunk in the second half of the raiders game after also having the lead at half time. It was put on « it’s week 1 »

Had an awful turnover driving to win the game against Pittsburgh. It was put on « he hasn’t played in a full season amount of games yet ».

There's a little truth to "putting it on" him being a rookie, then "putting it on" inexperience or it being week 1. People are being patient with a QB who took care of business against 10 straight opponents, one or two of them good.

On the other hand, there are other things we've watched him correct effectively mid-season. The one in my mind is 2 straight 6-sack games, followed by new awareness of the value of throwing the ball out of bounds. So, since he can newly acquire that tool, it seems possible that he can get better in the shootouts/comeback world too. It's also possible that the tweaks to his game to date compound challenges to "putting the team on his back." If he's still getting those things in muscle memory, if he has to pause and think when his "natural" instincts are being re-molded for the NFL, that might also influence outcomes.

How much of that is instinct/will-to-win/something else you can't coach? We watched the quintessential case of "you can't coach that," in early Tom Brady. We remember the stats as coming later, and how he always seemed to keep us in every game etc. But he did have, by Brady standards, a crappy 2002, missing the playoffs. We normally think, well, that came out ok, all things considered, and gloss over that year.

I went back and did a quick look and saw he actually lost 4 straight at one point that year.

Why bother looking at 2002? Well, his first real season at the helm was 2001. 2002 is the most comparable point in Brady's career. He certainly wasn't 11 and anything at any point that year, and didn't "put the team on his back" to win the division.

So, good point, he's not yet doing stuff he's not yet doing. nI don't mean to be flip. It would suck if he just can't win against some teams or in shootouts. Will he? I think he has a lot of time to fix that, possibly starting in this year's playoffs. I guess that's why you keep watching. Every QB's career is different, and let's hope he hasn't peaked at 23.

Note: Holy crap. That 2002 season would have happened the year he was born. Fuuuuuuu*k!

 

[Stu Pidassle]

Mvp candidates are supposed to raise the players around them. Mvps win this game with a two minute drill, or at least give the team a chance to win with a heave into the end zone. Maye did neither. Does he suck? No one is saying that. But people here get their Patriots panties in a bunch at the least bit of criticism...happened when we started on Belichick (and we were 100% correct) and now people are starting when anyone criticizes Maye. Maye has another chance next week. If he puts together another stinker he's opening himself to a ton of criticism, and rightfully so. If he plays a great game, the he'll have righted his ship until the next time he needs to generate a GW drive. God forbid Maye needs to get points to win the game next week in the 4th quarter and he comes up short again. The Maye Isn't clutch chorus will start singing pretty loudly. Let's see how he does

LOL, Maye has elevated the play of the players around him all season long. By this logic I am glad the Pats got rid of Brady after the loss in his last game against Tenn. Obviously he had lost it at that point because he could not elevate a similar set of weapons. Enjoy your moment while you can, it seems like you have a history of celebrating when the team loses.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

Yesterday was a laugher of a game for all those who like to do the coach or QB who's more important comparisons.

McDermott is a boob his defense gave up 250 yards rushing basically 10 yards a carry and none of it mattered cause his superman QB went 5 drives 5 TDs to start the 2nd half and there's nothing any of the coaches on the Patriots sideline could do about it.

 

[slash83]

I hope we see Buffalo again, we’re the better team, players will come into the game pissed. I strongly believe this.