With only 30 minutes between them and their first division title since 2019, the New England Patriots ran out of gas. They had built a 24-7 halftime lead over the five-time reigning AFC East champion Buffalo
Bills, but in the second half were outperformed in all three phases.
When all was said and done, the Bills traveled back west with a 35-31 victory in hand. The Patriots, meanwhile, were left wondering: what happened in the second half?
For head coach Mike Vrabel, the explanation is quite simple.
“We weren’t able to get any stops,” Vrabel said during his postgame press conference. “When we had an opportunity to make a play, we weren’t able to make it. Penalties. And that’s how this game goes. A few small plays make the difference. We were very prepared for this team to — we were going to need 60 minutes to beat this team. This is a good football team. We had a lot of good football in there. And we had a few plays we’d like to have back that we’ll have to learn from.”
The Patriots opened the Week 15 game in perfect fashion. They fired on all cylinders offensively and defensively, building a 21-0 advantage midway through the second quarter.
While Buffalo did manage to find the end zone once, Vrabel’s team entered the locker room at the half not just up by 17 points, but also with a clear statistical edge. New England had gained 285 yards to Buffalo’ 76, had 11 more first downs to show for, and was clearly better on third downs.
In short, the game could not have gone much better for the Patriots over the first 30 minutes. Then, the next 30 happened and the result was reversed.
In the second half, the Bills exploded to the tune of 28 points, 273 yards and 17 first downs. For comparison, the Patriots’ numbers in those same three categories were 7, 100 and 3.
The offense did not perform well in the third and fourth quarters, but the difference was made on the other side of the ball. While the Bills surged behind MVP quarterback Josh Allen, the wheels came off for the New England defense.
“They were able to get the running game going. We missed tackles. We didn’t build a good enough wall. Didn’t get off on third down. Weren’t able to create any turnovers. And weren’t getting any stops in the red zone. It’s no secret, you know what I mean?” Vrabel said. “They called the same stuff. We just have to be able to take advantage of those opportunities that we get to get the drive stopped. Whether that’s a penalty or one play or third down conversion, we’ve just got to be able to learn from it.”
As for the offense and quarterback Drake Maye, it too underperformed in the second half. And yet, with the game on the line, Vrabel still felt good about the unit’s chances of pulling out the victory.
“The limited opportunities that they had, today we hit a bunch of big plays,” he said. “The drive that we needed our offense to get, I was confident, and I thought for sure that we’d take that football and go down and score a touchdown. And we just weren’t able to.”
