Thoughts & Reactions: Patriots Lackluster Play Leads to 16-0 Loss

Flooded with sloppy play, the New England Patriots fell to 3-1 with a 16-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

It was a game the New England Patriots would like to forget. With Tom Brady now just a week away from returning to the field, Sunday’s 16-0 loss to Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills was a reminder of just how important the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback is to the team.

The offense simply couldn’t get anything started or sustain a drive. Led by rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett, who played the entire game with a wrap on his injured right thumb, the Patriots suffered their first home shutout in the Bill Belichick era in Foxboro. Brissett finished the game completing 17 of 27 passes for 205 yards, but committed a critical turnover deep in Bills territory that halted the Patriots best chance to score in the first half.

The Bills, on the other hand, were able to take advantage of the Patriots sloppy play. Tyrod Taylor threw or a touchdown to LeSean McCoy and kicker Dan Carpenter added three field goals to lead Buffalo to the victory. It was the elusiveness of both Taylor and McCoy combined with miss tackles that made the game even more frustrating for Patriots fans.

All in all, it just didn’t appear to be the Patriots day. Penalties, a crucial turnover, sloppy special teams play and a missed field goal by the usually reliable Stephen Gostkowski all contributed to the team’s first loss of the season.

My Thoughts

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The Patriots weren’t able to get things done offensively, but still had a chance to pull out a win if a couple of plays went the other way. The Patriots also let the Bills set the tone by coming out pretty conservative offensively and soft defensively. Buffalo was able to dink and dunk down the field on the first drive of the game. The quick lead really put the pressure of Brissett and the offense.

Rob Gronkowski hauled in his first reception of the season, but it is still apparent that the big tight end is still not 100 percent. Martellus Bennett continues to pick up the slack offensively. In Sunday’s game, Bennett caught five passes of 109 yards. With Brady returning, it is a scary thought to think how explosive the offense can be once Gronkowski is back to full force and he and Bennett are both running routes.

Martellus Bennett. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports /

In summary, despite the loss, the Patriots finished the Tom Brady suspension with a 3-1 record and atop the AFC East. The team will now focus on the Week 5 matchup against the Cleveland Browns and Brady’s return. As limited as the offense has been the last couple weeks, it is a sure bet things will look quite different when one of the best quarterbacks in the game is back under helm.

Player reactions

Julian Edelman on team’s lack of execution via Patriots.com: “We just got out-played; we couldn’t execute today. Anytime we have penalties, it just puts you behind down in the count. So, it’s tough to overcome those types of things – negative plays – it’s hard to establish a rhythm. We turned the ball over, we didn’t do well on third down… That’s what the game comes down to, is staying ahead in the count, especially against a defense like that, they played well.”

Devin McCourty on defensive play: “We didn’t’ play well from the start – the opening kickoff, defensively not being able to get off the field, [the Bills] moving the ball up and down the field on long drives – we just didn’t play well. A lot of times, you’re flat because you’re not making plays, you’re not playing well and there’s nothing to get you going, so obviously we’ve got to keep working. It wasn’t a good performance, but we’ve got to keep working and play better next week.”

Rob Gronkowski on Tom Brady’s impact when he returns: “I mean, I don’t even have to answer that. You’ve got to give hats off to Jacoby [Brissett] today going out there. Much respect to him going out there and doing what he did today as a rookie, so hats off to our quarterbacks. They did a tremendous job the first four weeks and obviously it’s exciting to get Tom back tomorrow.”

Next: Patriots To Start Jacoby Brissett, Garoppolo Inactive

The New England Patriots will look to get back in the win column next Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns as Brady returns to the field after serving a four-game suspension.

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