The New England Patriots and the Bills met for the third time in six weeks on Saturday night in Buffalo. Intra-division games are usually tight and hard-fought, so we had every right to expect a good show. The suspense was over in the middle of the second quarter.
Updated at 12:30 a.m.
The first seven times Josh Allen and the Bills had the ball, they scored a touchdown. The eighth, Allen put the knee on the ground to run out the last seconds of this disputed meeting in a Siberian cold (-22 Celsius).
Conversely, the two times the Patriots offense seemed poised to give the troops some hope, Mac Jones threw an interception. End result: Patriots 17, Bills 47. Ouch. The Pats’ worst playoff game since being coached by Bill Belichick? Without a doubt.
Yet solid for the majority of the season, the Pats’ defense had no way of slowing down Allen, who was flawless. The imposing Bills quarterback completed 21 of 25 shots (84%) for 308 yards and threw for five touchdowns. Dawson Knox (two), Emmanuel Sanders, Gabriel Davis and Tommy Doyle grabbed the scoring passes, while running back Devin Singletary, who ran with great conviction, netted the other two rushing touchdowns.
All of the Bills’ offensive players excelled, including all five of the league, who abused the Patriots’ defensive front all night.
The Patriots defense didn’t seem too interested in playing and you come to that conclusion by taking a look at the final stats. In addition to allowing seven straight touchdowns, the unit had no turnovers, no sacks, and only one pass defense. She was flat from the first to the 60and minute. Such performance from a defense led by Belichick is hard to believe.
After a strong professional start, Jones delivered another performance that left something to be desired to end his first season. He’s lost four of his last five starts and the Bills defense had no trouble dictating his tone on Saturday. Jones gained 232 yards, threw two inconsequential touchdowns and was the victim of two interceptions.
Honorable mention to receiver Kendrick Bourne, who scored both of the Patriots’ touchdowns and was their only player to play with intensity. The Pats have taken a step in the right direction this season, but they clearly still have a lot of work to do before they can become legitimate contenders again.
The Bills can aim for top honors right away. If they continue to play like they did on Saturday, they will be extremely difficult to eliminate.
Head coach Sean McDermott, offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier had prepared their lineup very well and squarely served a correction to Belichick and his assistants. Daboll and Frazier are both candidates for the position of head coach of the Chicago Bears and will be interviewed by them on Sunday.
The Bengals, finally
Fortunately, the first game played on Saturday was much more interesting than the massacre in Buffalo. The Bengals held on and preserved a 26-19 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders, who saw their season come to a halt when Derek Carr threw an interception on a fourth down at the Bengals’ goal gate in the final seconds.
When Germaine Pratt intercepted Carr’s pass, the Bengals and their fans celebrated their first playoff win in 31 years, which was the longest active streak of its kind in the NFL. It is now the Detroit Lions who hold that unenviable mark, having not won in the playoffs since the 1991 season (30).
The game was marred by a major error from the officials, who awarded a touchdown to Tyler Boyd even though one of them had blown the whistle before the Bengals receiver caught the ball in the area goals. Joe Burrow was heading for the sidelines, but fired his pass before leaving the field to everyone’s surprise.
After consulting on the field, the referees awarded the touchdown. The Raiders’ interim head coach, Rich Bisaccia, could not challenge the play since the rule book did not allow it. Normally, when there is a whistle before the end of a game, it is cancelled. Officials, however, ruled that the whistle sounded after Boyd caught the ball, which was incorrect.
But it is not because of this blunder of the referees that the Raiders bowed. Clearly annoyed by the noise of the crowd, their offensive line was penalized three times for false starts in the first half. Carr was the victim of a fumble deep in his territory. Returns specialist Peyton Barber had a brain cramp and picked a ball that was heading for the sidelines with both feet in the playing area. If Barber had put one foot outside the game before recovering the ball, the Raiders would have started their series at their 40 line instead of the 2 line… Too many mistakes to win a playoff game.
We can also wonder about the choice of games of the Raiders. Although he had 83 yards on 13 carries (average of 6.3), Josh Jacobs was used very little in the second half. In addition, defensive linemen Trey Hendrickson and Larry Ogunjobi had left the game due to injuries, which would normally have favored the Raiders’ running game. Carr attempted 54 passes… A ratio of four passes to a run? Bad idea.
On the side of the Bengals, Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase continued to make the pair. Burrow completed 24 of 34 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns and made no mistakes. Chase finished the game with nine catches for 116 yards. The two former LSU have not finished making fun of opposing secondary.