Last week did not quite go as planned for the Patriots. The so-called hat and t-shirt game produced neither, and the awarding of the AFC East title will have to wait. New England won’t be able to clinch
the division this week either, but a win in Baltimore will officially secure them a playoff berth.
I’m not here to beat a dead horse. This was a tough, heartbreaking loss to a rival, but New England still controls its destiny for the division title and a high seed. They’ve been one of the hottest teams in the league all season under Mike Vrabel, and one bad half doesn’t erase that. After all, this same Bills team lost to the Miami Dolphins, 13-30 in Week 10 and that’s not holding them back.
The question going forward is how the Patriots will respond in Week 16 when they travel to Baltimore for a flexed-up, hyped-up Sunday night matchup. Opening odds put the Ravens as 2.5-point favorites, even though the Pats have won every road game and every night game so far. This will be a tricky one – Baltimore always plays New England tough. I have no money on this game, but I do have confidence Mike Vrabel will have his team raring to get out there to make up for all the breakdowns that happened last week. A win fixes everything.
GO PATS!!
Around the AFC East:
New England Patriots (11-3) at Baltimore Ravens (7-7)
Buffalo Bills (10-4) at Cleveland Browns (3-11)
Miami Dolphins (6-8) vs. Cincinnati Bengals (4-10)
New York Jets (3-11) at New Orleans Saints (4-10)
AFC Matchups:
Denver Broncos (12-2) vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4)
Pittsburgh Steelers (8-6) at Detroit Lions (8-6)
Los Angeles Chargers (10-4) at Dallas Cowboys (6-7-1)
Houston Texans (9-5) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (2-10)
Indianapolis Colts (8-6) vs. San Francisco 49ers (10-4)
Kansas City Chiefs (6-8) at Tennessee Titans (2-12)
3rd – Vinnie Iyer (Sporting News): The Patriots have cooled off a bit with Drake Maye’s passing and revved up their running game. Blowing a 21-0 lead at home to the Bills with the division on the line is a little bit worrisome. [-2]
4th – Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports): The Patriots lost after leading 21-0 against the Bills, and that’s not great. Let’s not overreact though. New England is 10-1 in their past 11 games. The Patriots have a quarterback in Drake Maye who can still win MVP if they win the division. New England outgained Buffalo on Sunday, it just couldn’t close out the win. The loss wasn’t great, but every team behind the Patriots in the rankings has lost more than one game over their last 11. Don’t give in to recency bias. [nc]
4th – Ralph Vacchiano (FOX Sports): It’s not just that they blew a chance to clinch the AFC East. It’s that they led 24-7 at halftime and blew it. It’s exactly why I’m worried about how good this unproven team really is. [-3]
4th – NFL Nation (ESPN): Extension candidate: Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga. The No. 3 player on the depth chart behind starters Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, the 6-foot-2, 335-pound Tonga, who signed a one-year, $2.7 million deal with the Patriots last March, has been a solid role player and power fullback. He has totaled 21 tackles, two QB hits and two passes defended, often doing the dirty work that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. “Great teammate, first and foremost,” coach Mike Vrabel said. “Plays square, plays with his hands, tries to control the blocker. Plays with great effort, and so those things usually help you at the line of scrimmage.” — Mike Reiss. [-2]
4th – Pete Prisco (CBS Sports): Blowing a 21-0 lead to the Bills will sting. This week won’t be easy either as they head to Baltimore to play the Ravens. [-3]
5th – Eric Edholm (NFL.com): The Patriots were 30 game minutes away from the AFC EAST CHAMPIONS hats and T-shirts being ripped out of the boxes, leading 24-7 at the break following a dominant first half against a Bills team they’d already beaten. That’s what made Sunday’s 35-31 loss so devastating. New England managed just three first downs after halftime, and the defense allowed five straight touchdown drives by the Bills. Drake Maye played a strong, efficient first half, and the pass protection held up remarkably well, but it was a 180-degree turn after halftime. Maye completed just five of his 12 passes for 47 yards with an INT and three sacks after halftime, including only one completion (for 5 yards) on his final seven throws. That hurt Maye’s fading MVP chances. And the loss certainly slowed the Patriots’ division-title quest and their hopes for the AFC’s top seed. The former still feels possible, if not likely, but the latter might have been kissed goodbye. [-1]
5th – Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk): They’ll need to put that choke job behind them, quickly. [-4]
6th – Conor Orr (SI): Mike Vrabel casually dropping an officiating conspiracy theory next to a half-finished pint of Dunkin Iced coffee after the Bills game is absolute peak Boston. [-1]
6th – Diante Lee (The Ringer): I wrote “don’t overreact” on my whiteboard 1,000 times after the Week 15 loss. New England is fine. That’s not me coping with a loss; It’s an objective truth. Although it may be highly unlikely for the Pats to attain the No. 1 in the AFC now, they could afford to drop this game to Buffalo and not endanger their chances of winning the division. QB Drake Maye was excellent in the first half of Sunday’s loss and has played well enough to win MVP this season. I think that we’ve seen enough from Maye to trust him to lead a run in the playoffs. As long as the Patriots don’t lose to Baltimore this week, there’s no reason to be overly concerned. [nc]
6th – Nate Davis (USA Today): The loss to Buffalo with a division crown on the line was a reminder that this is a young and inexperienced team, and one that’s only beaten a single opponent this season that currently has a winning record … though it was the Bills. [-4]
AVG RANK: 4.7 [+1.9]
