It took until the 4th quarter, but the New England Patriots put a beatdown on the Buffalo Bills in Week 8. They will need a much better effort in Week 9.
Monday Night Football was a bore for New England Patriots fans. Even though the Patriots walked away with a win, it was not a pretty game.
The New England Patriots struggled to get points in Week 8. The offense was discombobulated on offense and somehow managed to make the Buffalo Bills offense look somewhat good.
Overall the Patriots will need a much better effort in Week 9. If they continue to play like this I am not confident that they will make it back to the Super Bowl.
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So here are my 3 takeaways from The Patriots 25-6 victory over the Bills.
1. The Patriots offense needs to perform better.
New England may have covered the spread, but that is more because of the defense. The Patriots only scored one touchdown on the night and it came late in the 4th quarter.
Tom Brady didn’t have his best game. He made multiple poor throws which almost led to some turnovers.
Also the Patriots running game was nonexistent. When Cordarrelle Patterson is your leading rusher that isn’t a good sign. Now this was to be expected thanks to Sony Michel being out due to a knee injury.
Monday night’s game showed just how talented Michel is. I think the Patriots have a really talented running back on their roster. Hopefully, they take their time bringing Michel back and make sure he is 100 percent.
If the Patriots want to win games versus some actual NFL teams they need to put up touchdowns, not field goals.
2. The Patriots pass rush is legit
One of the only things that was a positive on Monday night was the New England Patriots pass rush. Throughout the entire night, New England found its way into the Bills backfield.
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Buffalo tried to confuse New England by running the Wildcat, but the Patriots defense didn’t fall for their tricks.
The Patriots pass rush was led by two players. Trey Flowers had 6 tackles (2 tackles for loss) and almost had an interception.
Also, Kyle Van Noy had a great night with 8 total tackles, 2 sacks, and forced a fumble. With Dont’a Hightower a healthy scratch, Van Noy was the main guy the Patriots relied on, and he did a great job.
If the New England Patriots defense can continue to cause pressure as they did in Week 8, they will be just fine. Hopefully, the Patriots offense will stop slacking and improve greatly as the season progresses.
3. The Patriots need to stop playing down to their competition
The New England Patriots have a bad habit of playing down to their competition. At least once a season we see the Patriots struggle against opponents they should dominate.
The Patriots had plenty of player missing due to injury, but they should have played better. New England finally decided to show up in the 4th quarter.
If the Patriots want to be succesful this season they need to constantly play well. They can’t think that teams will just roll over and let them win.
Now even though the Patriots defense held Buffalo to 6 points they could have played better. At times Derek Anderson actually looked like a capable NFL quarterback. But in the 4th quarter, the Patriots finally decided to show up. The best play came when Devin McCourty brought an interception back to for a touchdown.
Even though I had no doubt that the Patriots were going to win on Monday night, I expected a much better performance.