Patriots vs. Bills: Full Report Card Grades for New England

The New England Patriots were shut out at home for the first time since 1993, when Bill Parcells was the head coach and Foxboro Stadium was standing in place of Gillette Stadium. 

The Buffalo Bills destroyed the Patriots in all aspects of the game despite the score only showing 16-0 at the end of the game. 

In a game where the Patriots should have been prepared and well-rested coming off a mini-bye week where they had 10 days to get ready for Rex Ryan's Bills, they were flat right from the beginning. 

Quarterback Jacoby Brissett didn't look like the player we saw against the Houston Texans, despite the team deploying the same game plan against the Bills. It didn't work at all. 

The Patriots were pathetic, and it was a showing that fans haven't seen since the days of Pete Carroll. The lack of energy, the miscues and the penalties all piled up, leading to a really poor loss at home. 

The silver lining for the Patriots is that despite the loss, they made it to week 5 with a record of 3-1 and sitting atop the AFC East. And they did all of that without Tom Brady. 

With Brady returning next week against the Browns, since his suspension is lifted on Monday, this team is in great position to get a major boost of energy. Look out, NFL. 

Quarterback

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Brissett had 10 days to get ready for this game. Actually, the Patriots had 10 days to get Brissett ready. He just wasn't ready to play. 

Brissett completed all of his pass attempts in the first half—but there were only three. He was off for the rest of the game, failed to find a rhythm and took some pretty big hits. 

Brissett's biggest blunder came when the team was in striking distance and he took off running. Brissett failed to secure the football and fumbled on a scramble, which stymied any chance of getting back into the game. 

The Patriots were shut out and Brissett missed a few big throws that could have swung some momentum back to New England. 

But it's time to look at the positives. The Patriots won't be starting a rookie quarterback, hopefully, for the rest of the season. It will be all Brady next week against the Browns. 

Grade: F

Running Back

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

The NFL's leading rusher entering Week 4, LeGarrette Blount, probably knew he was going to be heavily featured in this game. But the Buffalo Bills also seemed to know this.

Blount was constantly hit in the backfield and looked slow to get to the line of scrimmage, and while credit is due to the Bills for stacking the box and minimizing the Blount Force Trauma, he didn't look too great. 

Blount had two good runs all game long, with one going for 16 yards. He did have a nice leg kick at the end of the game, but his 13 rushes for 54 yards weren't enough 

James White was decent, but most of his production came in garbage time, other than a nice conversion on a 4th-and-2. 

Brandon Bolden was the dud of the group, as he dropped what should have been a touchdown on a wheel route. 

Grade: C-

Wide Receiver

Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images

Were there even wide receivers on the field? 

To be fair, Brissett was off the mark all game long and the Patriots didn't even attempt to throw the football much, as seen by Brissett's three passing attempts in the first half. 

On a few occasions, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola were open, but Brissett misfired. 

Regardless of the offensive play-calling and the lack of production, the wide receivers just didn't do anything to help this team win. Yes, it is reflective on the quarterback, but this was just bad. 

Grade: D

Tight End

Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

If there was one area of the game in which the Patriots were not horribly below-average, it has to be at the tight end position. 

Martellus Bennett has been a true joy to watch so far this season, and he was great against the Bills. Bennett breathed life into the team when he went for 58 yards on a catch to put the Patriots in scoring territory. Though a Brissett fumble squandered that opportunity. Bennett had five catches for 109 yards, and it's always a joy to see the big 6'6", 275-pound tight end barreling down the field and being shifty. 

Rob Gronkowski was on the field for a majority of the game, but he was basically a sixth offensive lineman. Gronk did haul in his first catch of the year, though, and his blocking was adequate. 

Grade: A

Offensive Line

Jerome Davis/Getty Images

The Bills still don't have Marcell Dareus. They are banged-up, but the Patriots managed to make them look good. 

Outside of a Nate Solder block on the edge to spring Blount free for one of his only good runs on the day, the offensive line failed to establish the previously effective run game. Blount couldn't get going on the ground other than two nice runs, and that's a result of poor blocking up front. 

Jerry Hughes, who is a very good pass-rusher, was in the backfield far too many times, and the Patriots gave up three sacks. 

Grade: C-

Defensive Line

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Yikes and boring. 

Those are the best two words to describe the performance by the Patriots defensive line.

The "yikes" is solely for the lackluster play on snap after snap of poor tackling and getting manhandled by the Bills offensive line. There was no energy or push at the line of scrimmage. 

The pass-rush was actually non-existent for the entirety of the game. Chris Long, who had been so good in the first three weeks of the season, failed to produce any pressure. Long also picked up a lousy roughing the passer penalty. 

The "boring" description was because the defensive line literally did nothing. There wasn't a great play. There wasn't a consistent presence. It was all-around awful for the defensive front. 

Grade: F

Linebacker

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Maybe the Patriots were a little too hasty with the return of linebacker Dont'a Hightower. When Hightower is healthy, he's one of the best in the league with his stout run-stopping, ability to drop in coverage and to blitz, especially in the A-gaps and on delays. Against the Bills, Hightower was a shell of himself. 

He definitely wasn't 100 percent and didn't look like he was even 75 percent. He was slow, hobbled and indecisive. Overall, it was a bizarre sight to see Hightower struggle for the first time in who knows how long. 

Meanwhile, Jonathan Freeny is absolutely clueless when it comes to gap assignments. He was missing them left and right when trying to stop the run. The linebackers were missing tackles and LeSean McCoy was able to make mincemeat of the defense thanks to the running gaps.  

Grade: F

Secondary

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Logan Ryan might be two different people on the football field, or maybe it's just a product of the scheme set up by the coaches for each game. Ryan was torched, beaten and toasted by Robert Woods all game long.

Ryan was so bad in coverage because he was giving huge cushions to the Bills' weak wide receivers. Woods, who has hardly had any success in the NFL, had one of best days of his career thanks to Ryan. Ryan ended up with 17 total tackles, which is a travesty for a defensive back, let alone a cornerback. 

The safeties didn't allow any major plays as a whole, but the defense was flat and it started with Ryan's pathetic outing. 

Grade: D

Special Teams

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Is there something wrong with Stephen Gostkowski? Ghost may have only missed two missed field goals so far this year, but he hasn't really looked himself. Should we sound the alarms? Not yet, but there is reason to be concerned, because Gostkowski is normally money. 

The first play of the game set the tone when rookie Cyrus Jones was indecisive about coming out of the end zone on the kickoff. Jones hesitated, crossed the goal line and the Patriots had to start their first drive on their own 10-yard line. 

Later on, Amendola muffed a punt, though he did fall on the football right away. 

The lone bright spot of the special teams was Ryan Allen and the gunners who did a good job getting down the field in coverage. 

Grade: D+

Coaching

Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Bill Belichick smashed a Microsoft Surface tablet over a table on the sideline. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels had enough confidence to call about five different plays on offense and only let his quarterback throw three times in the first half. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia failed to make adjustments to help the Patriots recover in the passing game and generate even the slightest pass rush or containment on Tyrod Taylor. 

McCoy ran all over the Patriots and eluded tackles left and right. 

And don't even get me started on the penalties. It was totally unacceptable and a reflection on the coaches. 

The Patriots also had 10 days to prepare for this game against the Bills. 10 days! They throttled the Texans 27-0 on just three days rest with little time to prepare their rookie quarterback.

Belichick and the staff failed to adequately get Brissett ready to play the Bills, and it clearly showed in a lackadaisical, weak performance in all areas of the game. 

Grade: D-