Buffalo Bills crumble late, suffer series of injuries, as they fall to the Patriots
The Buffalo Bills suffered another debilitating and ill-timed loss vs the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The Buffalo Bills loss to the Pats drops them to 6-6 on the season.
Buffalo only scored three points as the Bills lost their second straight home game.
3. 16. Final. 23 . 47
Injuries are not why the Bills lost. New England is the better team, however, the Bills got banged up and it is something that can hurt their playoff chances even more.
Tyrod Taylor went down on the first play of the game. He did grind through it for a while but was eventually carted off late. Nathan Peterman took reps in his place, thankfully, with no interceptions this time.
He is day-to-day. His knee is injured and his status for next Sunday against the Colts will depend on his pain tolerance.
McDermott: “Tyrod Taylor has a patella contusion and he is day to day. When healthy, Tyrod is our QB.” pic.twitter.com/JAPMXHo0Ks
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 4, 2017
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Shaq Lawson, Travaris Cadet, Leonard Johnson, and Tre’Davious White also suffered injuries.
White’s injury made national headlines because he suffered a concussion after a late/cheap hit by Rob Gronkowski.
The hit landed him a one game suspension which he appealed, and has been upheld.
White is in the concussion protocol and has no timetable on his return.
Lawson has since been placed on IR.
Buffalo ran the ball with ease but had a miserable time in the passing game.
The Bills gained 183 yards on the ground but an abysmal 85 yards in the air.
85 passing yards, more likely than not, will cost you football games.
Buffalo only gained three passing first downs all game. The offense was one-dimensional and easily predictable all game.
Buffalo’s three points is not good enough the beat a time like the Browns. It is definitely not enough to beat a team led by Tom Brady.
The Bills went into the half only down 9-3, but had no answer in the second half en-route to a pointless second half.
Zay Jones, who we just did a piece on, was the teams leading wideout with a lackluster and uninteresting 22 yards. Jones had seven targets but a mere two catches.
Jordan Matthews, who would be a top WR on pretty much every other team only got three targets.
He too has been battling injuries and is now on IR, ending his season.
Buffalo’s lack of depth, and inefficient use of its talent once again backfired.
Only targeting Charles Clay three times is not ideal.
The Bills’ offense could be more efficient when Kelvin Benjamin returns, but having seven different receivers haul in a catch and only having 85 yards is worrisome.
Especially against the Patriots who do that better than anybody.
Buffalo’s defense was not that sharp either. After coming off a game where the Bills bottled up the Chiefs’ offense, it seemed as if the Bills strong run defense was back.
Nope.
The Pats ran for over 190 yards. Buffalo had no idea how to stop the bleeding which wasted a 90+ yard day from LeSean McCoy.
Perhaps it is time to start re-assessing the Marcell Dareus trade? He was not trying or playing much before the move but clearly the Bills have a systematic gap in their run defense that can be exposed with the right game plan.
New England is the current Super Bowl Champion and perhaps that above all is why the Bills looked lost on Sunday.
However, the offensive play calling is getting worse, the talent is thin, and the defense is hit or miss.
At 6-6 the Bills are on the outside looking into the playoff picture. With a relatively favorable schedule (Colts and Dolphins twice still) they are not out of it.
If the team steps up and they get healthy, maybe winning out will get them to the promise land.
Next: Why Jones is so fascinating as a player
Having already faced New England once, Buffalo might be more prepared when they meet again Week 16 (or the Pats can have nothing to play for.)
After Sunday, the Bills do not look like a team who has a ton of wins left in them.
That’s what the Patriot games do to the Bills and their fans year after year.
But thankfully, the game is over and it is time to move on.
The Buffalo Bills are very down, but not technically out.