Buffalo Bills Shoot Themselves in the Foot, Lose To New England Patriots

Shot in the foot, and the Bills are to blame.

No, this isn't Bon Jovi. It's not Plaxico Burress, either.

The Bills were poised to win this game.

They abused the Patriots in the early-goings, giving Fitzpatrick all the time in the world to throw. They ran the ball all over the Patriots, and assembled a nine-minute drive all the way inside New England's five yard line.

On 3rd-and-goal, the Bills set up in the Big I formation with three tight ends and two backs. Clearly in a run formation, the Pats were blown off the ball and couldn't stop Fred Jackson from reaching the end zone.

So instead, the Bills stopped themselves.

Little did we all know that the false start penalty that took away the Bills' touchdown would be the game in a nutshell.

Although the Patriots were largely the benefactors of the Bills' insurmountable penalties (they drew 11 flags for 124 yards), the Patriots did what they have historically done - just enough to win.

The defense looked stout throughout. They only allowed 241 total yards, a 70-plus-yard improvement over their season average. In all, they generated 6 sacks on the quarterback.

But it's just the Bills.

Up to Sunday, the Patriots averaged 1.7 sacks per game, tied for fifth lowest in the league. By far one of the biggest issues the Patriots will (hopefully) address in the post-season has to be their inept pass rush.

Outsiders love to judge Johnathan Wilhite and Leigh Bodden for poor play, but the reality is that even Asante Samuel couldn't cover a top-flight receiver with the unacceptable amount of pressure we've been getting on the quarterback - none.

Perhaps that's why Wilhite was able to snare a spectacular interception off Ryan Fitzpatrick midway through the 2nd quarter.

The offense, on the contrary, looked a little limp at times. Averaging over 398 yards per game (2nd), they only netted 224 total yards against a Bills defense which has allowed an average of 350 yards per game (21st).

Brady was a fantasy team's playoff spoiler this week, going only 11 of 23 for 115 yards. He threw an ill-advised interception to accompany his lone touchdown lob to Randy Moss.

The Patriots' rushing attack continues to lack consistent production. The rushing attack, however, was overall unimpressive, with 34 rushing plays amounting to 109 yards for 3.2 yards per carry.

Perhaps instead of risking it all with Brady slinging the ball, they've decided to play ball control and clock manipulation to keep their defense rested. Although they lost the time-of-possession battle to the Bills 33:32 to 26:28, they ran the ball 11 more times than they passed it, an impressive statistic for the Patriots of recent.

Most of the damage to the Bills' inept defense has come in the running game. I commented repeatedly during the game about how Maroney seems to be running very hard. It's a contract year for him, so he's playing for money, but he has a purpose out there. He's finishing runs, he's making moves and hitting holes with conviction for once.

Dan Dierdorf commented several times about how Maroney and Belichick have been reviewing film of all of his runs and going over what went well, what didn't work, and it seems to have benefited Laurence quite nicely.

After a week in which every media outlet and sports writer (including myself) questioned Moss' heart and determination, he fired back with 5 catches for 70 yards and the aforementioned touchdown.

But it's just the Bills.

Moss didn't give a press conference after the game, simply reading a rather blunt and direct statement. "I've been in this league 12 years, and these shoulders that I have on my body, you could put the earth on it. So just to let you know, I bounce back."

Rodney Harrison commented that Brady was forcing the ball to Moss to prove a point.

That was definitely the case on a 46-yard pass attempt in the 2nd quarter, where Brady threw to Moss in double coverage. We've seen Moss make that catch before, and the effort was definitely there.

Bills safety Donte Whitner was flagged for interference on the play, bringing the ball all the way to the 1-yard line, resulting in New England's first touchdown of the game.

Once bitten, twice shy? The Bills don't want to adhere to 80's rock lyrics, apparently.

Brady threw the ball to Wes Welker in the end zone. Reggie Corner was flagged for pass interference on that one, and the ball was placed at the one yard line yet again, resulting in the other.

When the Bills cut the lead to seven with 3:07 to go, I must admit I got a bit nervous. The Bills have a great special teams unit, and I even scoffed that the Bills could easily win a game where every team was a special teams play.

They recovered the onside kick, like a great special teams unit should, but like an inexperienced young team, they kicked themselves in the crotch yet again with a penalty.

On the next try, they settled for a deep kick.

The Patriots pulled off a good win for the team, because it was a gritty win by their defense and run game.

It's made bigger because it's their first domestic road win (they played a "road game" against the Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium). It was important that the Patriots learned to play and win on the road, especially heading into January.

But once again, it's just the Bills.

The Patriots will have road games in Indianapolis and/or San Diego. Both of those stadiums will be fully charged (no pun intended) and ready to welcome the Patriots in with more noise than Tom Brady's audibles can handle.

The Chargers are playing the best football they've played since 2006, now standing squarely in the 2nd seed in the AFC. The Colts, meanwhile, are only threatening to blemish the Patriots standing as the only team to go 16-0...no big deal.

The Patriots still haven't beat anyone. It's just the Bills.

But how many times this decade has New England been the underdog? They always seem to get counted out. Remember 2006? The pathetic Patriots were supposed to be no match for the powerhouse Chargers. Then, they put it together and make a great run until the Colts came up from behind and dragged them to the ground.

Perhaps the Patriots had to get knocked off their pedestal to go back to the gritty, gutsy team they've been for most of the decade, at least before the 18-1 record or 50 touchdown passes ever happened.

Back when they had a 9-0 record in the postseason.

It's not the same team, but the same head coach and quarterback can lead that team and use the same guiding principles that helped those teams reach such great success in the first half of the decade.

Even if it was just the Bills, it's still the New England Patriots.