Sunday I wrote about the keys to beating the Bills. Well, it turned out being pretty much a checklist for what the Patriots wouldn't do on Sunday.
One of the biggest ouches of the game was special teams. Taking kickoffs out of the endzone, muffing punt returns, missing field goals. Who were those crazy imposters at Gillette Stadium?
Another huge ouch of that game, and actually all but week three is the defenses inability to get off the field. Heading into Sunday's game the Bills offense was successful only 28% of the time on third down. Sunday they made it look easy and went 7 for 15. With four games under their belts, Matt Patricia's defense is barely keeping opponents from cashing in on third down 50% of the time.
Another huge ouch of that game, and actually all but week three is the defenses inability to get off the field. Heading into Sunday's game the Bills offense was successful only 28% of the time on third down. Sunday they made it look easy and went 7 for 15. With four games under their belts, Matt Patricia's defense is barely keeping opponents from cashing in on third down 50% of the time.
Missed tackles was also a huge part of the loss. The tweet that Jeff Howe sent yesterday pretty much says it all.
When you have a cornerback with 14 tackles in a game, it could mean one of two things: other people are missing tackles in front of you or you are letting your guy catch a lot of passes. In this case it was a healthy combo of both.
While former players always speak about how prepared Belichick always had his teams, I'm not so sure about this time. Personally I feel the charade of who was going to start at quarterback might have gotten in the way of preparation. Of course not having healthy quarterbacks in practice might have caused some serous problems as well. Either way, Rex apparently threw the dice and prepared his team for a young, injured Brissett and it paid off.
While we don't even get any style points for this shutout loss, well maybe the black unicorn from The Imagination Agency does, a loss now stops us from hearing the team get asked about having a perfect record.
Moving on to Cleveland, the other city in Ohio.
When you have a cornerback with 14 tackles in a game, it could mean one of two things: other people are missing tackles in front of you or you are letting your guy catch a lot of passes. In this case it was a healthy combo of both.
While former players always speak about how prepared Belichick always had his teams, I'm not so sure about this time. Personally I feel the charade of who was going to start at quarterback might have gotten in the way of preparation. Of course not having healthy quarterbacks in practice might have caused some serous problems as well. Either way, Rex apparently threw the dice and prepared his team for a young, injured Brissett and it paid off.
While we don't even get any style points for this shutout loss, well maybe the black unicorn from The Imagination Agency does, a loss now stops us from hearing the team get asked about having a perfect record.
Moving on to Cleveland, the other city in Ohio.
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