MORSE: 15 Observations of Patriots Close Loss to the Bills

The Patriots came to play today, and the players left it all on the field today. They stunned Buffalo with a quick start and a 14-0 lead and dominated the 1^st Quarter, allowing Buffalo just 3 minutes of possession on 6 plays for just 11 yards.

However, there are no moral victories, and it is a 4-quarter game. Buffalo showed why they are a contender for the League Championship.

Drake Maye played well again going 22 of 36 for 261 yards, 2 passing TDs and an INT. He was also charged with a fumble on the botched catch by Rhamondre Stevenson on a backward pass. Maye was under constant pressure and was great during that 91 yard, 16 play drive for the 2^nd score, Maye overcame two penalties to keep the drive alive. His 28-yard dime to Kayshon Boutte in stride in the end zone was a thing of beauty. However, his INT in the endzone took 3 points off the board, the difference in the final score. The Patriots Offense won the Time of Possession 30:57 to 29:03, 1st Downs 28 to 19, and in total Offense 379 to 324 yards.
Turnovers were the difference in the game. The Pats fumbled 4 times and lost 2. Maye threw an interception when Austin Hooper got his legs tangled with Cam Lewis and fell down. Maye threw the ball off his back foot. Marte Mapu had an interception and a stupid play to try and run it out and out the ball on the one. Mapu had his hands on another pass and dropped it. That play may have been the difference in the game.
Buffalo had two Fumbles and didn’t lose either of them. The Bills runningbacks (Cook, Davis and Johnson) have not lost a fumble all season.
Rhamondre Stevenson has to make that catch on a ball that hits him in the hands. That fumble got charged to Maye, but that was on Stevenson. He also had his 7^th fumble of the season. Are there any repercussions for this turnover machine? That play was absolutely the game-changing play.
Alex Van Pelt overall play-calling was better but that call for a backward pass (it should have been a swing-pass, but the defender was in on the play). You don’t make that call inside your own 10. Demontrey Jacobs missed the cut block allowing the defender to get in on Stevenson.

(PHOTO: Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

It took 9 plays inside the 10 to get into the End Zone at the end of the game. Maye fumbled the snap on one play and that took 33 seconds off the clock. Granted there were 2 Defensive Pass Interference calls (Elam could have been charged with rape in some states).
Poor tackling by Mapu, Takitaki and Tavai allowed the 1^st Buffalo TD, a 46-yard run by Cook. That play got Buffalo back in the game and changed the momentum.
The Patriots Defense held Jared Allen to 16 of 29 for 154-yards, a passing TD and an INT. Allen ran for 30 yards on 6 carries, the same numbers for Drake Maye. Buffalo was 4 for 11 on 3rd down.
Buffalo ran for 172 yards rushing and a 6.1 average. Cook ran 11 times for 100 yards including the big 46 yarder.
Marte Mapu had a nice Interception in the end zone but a really stupid decision to try and run it out. He got tackles at the 1-yard line and put the Offense in a big hole. Later Mapu dropped an Interception that was right in his hands. That play may have been the game-changing play of the game. For the game he was credited with 2 PBUs and 7 Tackles. Alex Austin had a beautiful Pass Breakup on Buffalo’s 1^st series, getting his hand right in there and knocking the ball away.
Kyle Dugger led the team with 8 Tackles with 6 of them solo tackles.
Buffalo had 13 penalties for 78 yards but two of them were in the end zone (Interference) which put the ball on the 1 and another offsides from the 5 which is just halfway to the goal line. Also, Buffalo’s Offensive linemen were hitting well after the whistle had blown, but no calls.
Loved the fake punt run by Dell Pettus, but didn’t like the decision to punt with 8:33 from the 45. That play was 95 Percentile in the 2024 Surrender Index and since 1999 it was 99 percentiles. It was like raising the white flag. Maye had a key delay of game penalty from the 50. Was it a rookie mistake by Maye? Was it AVP not getting the play into the game?
The decision by Jerod Mayo to try the onside kick with 1:13 left on the clock and holding all three timeouts was the right decision. Because of the dropped snap by Drake Maye on the play prior to Hunter Henry’s TD catch ran 33 seconds off the clock. That forced Mayo to try the onside kick (which almost worked).
Great game by Kayshon Boutte with 5 catches on 7 targets for 95-yards and a TD. Hunter Henry was great in the 1^st Quarter with 3 catches but didn’t have another catch until the final TD. He was targeted 9 times.

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About Mark Morse

Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.

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JimK

1 year ago

NBC Boston pregame (Curran, Holly, Phil Perry, Ted J) admitted the media contrived the whole coaching blame drama-fest where Mayo and AVP, Covington are “on notice” for firing. The media decided on a “blamee” for the team being bad in week 3,4 and rolled with it. Despite any source other than themselves. They admitted the issue is player/roster talent. This past week Kraft confirmed he expected “a bumpy road” with the team this year given coaching plus systems changes and more so roster challenges. Kraft backed that Mayo will be given time. The players also said the locker room is… Read more »