Nobody gets a pass for yesterday's performance.I would not give the defense a pass. Poor play on D was a major factor in putting them in a 13-0 hole, and the D let Buffalo control the ball all game. They forced only one three-and-out and zero turnovers. Buffalo only had nine drives - they scored on four of them, missed a FG on a fifth, and had two drives where they dominated clock (running 4 of the last 5 minutes off in Q2 and running 6 minutes off in Q4) before punting.
The offense was the bigger problem yesterday, but that should be expected with Brissett (who might not have been healthy). They needed the D to step up like it did against Houston, and it fell flat on its face.
But as crappy as it was, keep in mind that:
- The Bills were playing their "Super Bowl".
- No Brady, no Ninkovich, and basically no Gronk.
- No JG either, when most of us thought he was going to start.
- Brissett playing with an injured right thumb, which got whacked several times yesterday.
- Some very, very bad reffing that really hurt the Pats.
- Lost opportunity for like 17 points (7 on the 90 yard play that got called back, 7 or at least 3 on the bad spot/refs out of position/Pats penalty/Brissett fumble sequence, and then Ghost uncharacteristically missing a FG).
- Holding Buffalo to just 16 points despite shaky defense.
The Pats had basically everything going against them yesterday and the result *easily* could have been different.
I'll take 3-1 with Brady returning. I really hope Gronk gets better. I'm dying to see him and Bennett on the field together.