Nobody thought that the New England Patriots even stood a chance against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Especially considering the Patriots had to play in the freezing cold in front of Bills Mafia.
But, New England proved everybody wrong in the first few minutes of the game. And before anyone knew it, they led 14-0.
The Bills came back and benefited from numerous mistakes by the Patriots. But, when the game ended, New England only lost by three points.
And Bills quarterback Josh Allen sent a firm message about the Patriots after the game
“That’s a better team than their record shows,” Allen told reporters. “And these division games are tough. It’s someone that we’re used to. They’ve seen us quite a bit over the last few years. They came out ready to play today.”
This echoed what Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo said about what he saw from the team prior to the game that contributed to the fast start.
“The guys were ready; in the locker room, I felt like the guys were ready to go,” Mayo said. “They went out there and started fast. Now, we’ve got to do the same thing in the second half and put them together.”
With this loss, Mayo and the Patriots are officially 3-12 on the season with only two games remaining. And one of those includes a rematch against the Bills.
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But, to hear that they are a ‘better team than their record shows’ from someone of Allen’s status should put things in perspective.
The Patriots have made many bad mistakes, and there have been times when the coaching decisions and play calling was questionable. But, it’s also worth looking at how many one-score games they have been in this year.
Plus, everyone talks about the Year 1 to Year 2 jump with players, so it applies for coaches as well. Mayo will learn a lot from what the Patriots have gone through and will come into next year even more prepared.
Allen had high praise for a team that everyone counted out weeks before this matchup even began, and that says a lot.