Loss to Bills Hammers Home Tom Brady's Importance to Patriots' Super Bowl Hopes
After the New England Patriots started the 2016 season 3-0 following a 27-0 whitewashing of the Houston Texans, there was a lot of chatter about "The Patriot Way." That given Bill Belichick's mastery of the art of coaching, the Pats could win with just about anybody under center.
On Sunday in New England, another whitewashing unfolded. This time, however, the Patriots were on the receiving end. In getting waxed 16-0 by the Buffalo Bills, the Patriots showed they are indeed mortal.
And they demonstrated just how badly they need their superstar quarterback back on the field.
With Tom Brady serving the last game of his suspension and Jimmy Garappolo nursing a sore shoulder, rookie Jacoby Brissett made his second career start against the Bills. While the youngster was something of a Cinderella story against the Texans, Brissett turned back into a pumpkin against the Bills.
The day got off to a weird start for Brissett, who was involved in a pregame shoving match with some Bills players prior to kickoff. Then, on the game's first play, what first appeared to be a 90-yard catch-and-run by wide receiver Julian Edelman was called back due to a penalty.
Things went downhill from there.
With the Bills completely selling out to stop tailback LeGarrette Blount (who entered the day leading the NFL in rushing), it fell to Brissett to try to move the ball through the air.
Brissett finished 17-of-27 for 205 yards, but the New England offense sputtered all day long. The young signal-caller also fumbled twice, losing one that killed New England's best scoring chance of the day.
It wasn't all Brissett's fault. The Bills held Blount in check, limiting him to just 54 yards on 13 carries. Tight end Rob Gronkowski and Edelman combined for two catches for 27 yards.
New England's defense, which played masterfully against Houston, had its issues as well. The Patriots allowed Tyrod Taylor to have perhaps his best game of the season, and after completely stymieing Houston's Lamar Miller, LeSean McCoy gashed them for 108 total yards and a score.
On a day where the Patriots had fewer than 300 yards of total offense and possessed the ball less than 24 minutes, the defense was in an untenable position. In today's NFL, a team will gladly take giving up 378 total yards and 16 points. But with the Patriots unable to generate any offense, those numbers equated to something that hasn't happened in Brissett's lifetime:
Given the day's happenings, it's not exactly a surprise that Edelman said afterward that the Patriots are eagerly awaiting the Golden Boy's return:
That return is the reason why Sunday's outcome, while unfortunate, doesn't mean much for the Patriots in the long run.
Yes, it was a big win for a Bills team that was reeling a couple of weeks ago. But at the end of Brady's ban, the Patriots are in first place in the AFC East, as usual.
With Brady and defensive end Rob Ninkovich returning from suspension and Gronkowski getting healthy, the Patriots are finally ready to get down to business.
Had you told Belichick before the season that his team would go 3-1 during Brady's suspension, defeating a pair of 2015 playoff teams along the way, you might actually have gotten Darth Hoodie to smile.
OK, maybe not. But still, things went as well for New England as they could dare hope. They even get a tune-up of sorts next week when the Patriots travel to Cleveland to face the winless Browns.
From there, things get interesting quickly. Over the following four weeks, the Pats face three playoff teams from last year in the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks. There's also a rematch in Buffalo with the Bills looming in the final weekend of October.
In other words, a team whose aspirations lie a fair bit higher than just making the playoffs (say, at Reliant Stadium in Houston) needs to have all hands on deck for the months of October and November.
Yes, Belichick and the Patriots did a phenomenal job weathering the storm of Brady's absence. But after the game, he conceded Sunday's result was a wake-up call for the team, telling reporters:
"Every week is a challenge in this league. We all know that. We just have to perform better. We have to coach better. We have to play better in all three phases of the game. It's like that every week in the National Football League. If you don't perform well, you don't do well. Every team is good in this league.
"
That wake-up call could be a good thing. The Patriots are going to be fine. They will all but certainly win the AFC East. Most would call them the favorites to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LI.
But the Patriots are hardly unbeatable—especially at less than full strength. Not only can they be beaten, they can be shut out. Humbled.
It was a wake-up call the media and fans should also heed. Given the Patriots' long of run of success, we've gotten spoiled. Enamored with Belichick's ability to game-plan, especially after what the team accomplished without Brady early this season.
But when rumblings of Brady being a "system quarterback" emerged, the border of kooky-land was crossed.
And in that respect, Sunday's trouncing was a valuable reminder. A reminder that Brady isn't a mind-boggling 172-51 in the regular season and 22-9 in the playoffs (including an NFL-record six Super Bowl appearances) because of The Patriot Way.
The Patriot Way exists in large part because they have been fortunate enough to have had the services of a Hall of Fame quarterback for the past 16 years and change.
And they aren't sniffing trip No. 7 without him.
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