Bills-Patriots Open Discussion

December 01, 2022, 7:36 pm ET

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen

Photo: USA Today Sports Images

NFL Week 13 - The New England Patriots (6-5) host the Buffalo Bills (8-3) in a key divisional matchup on Thursday night in a rematch of a blowout from last season's playoffs. Use this thread to discuss the game. You can also join Football Outsiders writers and readers on the official Football Outsiders Discord server.

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Comments

19 comments, Last at 02 Dec 2022, 12:58pm

#1 by andeux // Dec 01, 2022 - 9:35pm

Get well soon Dion Dawkins.

#2 by vrao81 // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:00pm

The pats offense is offensive. Their leading receiver is a cornerback

#3 by apocalipstick // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:04pm

Anybody still really high on Mac Jones?

#5 by vrao81 // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:06pm

More like Mac Jones needs to get really high to recover from this game

#7 by Spanosian Magn… // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:16pm

Speaking as someone who thought he was a dark horse MVP candidate coming into the year: no.

I'm inclined to give him one more year with a non-Patricia OC (or "senior offensive football advisor" or whatever the hell he's called), because he's clearly regressed under his "tutelage". I think he might also be injured. But if CJ Stroud or someone should slide to them in the draft, I think they'd have to seriously consider it.

#8 by anthonytwotimes // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:21pm

Lol. He’s not injured. He simply can’t throw more than 5yds down the field. He has a pellet gun arm. He sucks. No offensive coordinator will ever make him look any better than Kyle Orton.

#18 by KnotMe // Dec 02, 2022 - 12:56pm

I don't think he is THAT bad, but his ceiling is pretty low. Last year was probably about the best he could be.

#4 by Spanosian Magn… // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:06pm

The Pats managed to not block either defensive end on 2nd and goal. Call me crazy, but IMO hiring a DC-turned-hilarious-failure-of-a-head-coach to oversee the offensive line wasn't too great of an idea.

#13 by RickD // Dec 02, 2022 - 9:32am

There's a lot of blame to be spread around. The O-line is in shambles. RT Wynn is out, as is top backup Cajuste. Trent Brown is fighting an illness - he played in spite of it but was terrible.

The Bills didn't need Von Miller to collapse what was left there.

The line isn't going to be fixed in December.

MattyP is guilty of a lot of things (unimaginative play calling, lack of focus by the people he coaches, etc.) but injuries and illness also played a role.

#16 by Aaron Brooks G… // Dec 02, 2022 - 9:39am

Guys pretending to be injured to get away from Patricia was a thing in Detroit, too.

#6 by vrao81 // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:07pm

Why kick a field goal down 17 with 2 minutes left. What on earth does that accomplish?

#9 by Tutenkharnage // Dec 01, 2022 - 11:23pm

About as much as punting on fourth and 7 from your own 46 down 17.

#10 by IlluminatusUIUC // Dec 02, 2022 - 1:07am

You need three scores anyway so you might as well get one, even if it brings your win chance from .00001 to .00002. If it was 16 or less, yeah, lame call.

#14 by RickD // Dec 02, 2022 - 9:33am

I doubt there was a huge difference in win probability at that point.

Sometimes it helps just to play football. Can't always be chasing the 'W'.

#19 by KnotMe // Dec 02, 2022 - 12:58pm

IIRC the distances were decent. And it's not like the offence could convert anything anyway. Everyone knew this was going to be a blowout comming in and...we were right.

#11 by MJK // Dec 02, 2022 - 7:15am

Some people talk about “win-win” transactions. Josh McDaniels going to the Raiders was “lose-lose-lose-lose”… for him, the Raiders, the Patriots, and especially Mac Jones.

#12 by Mike B. In Va // Dec 02, 2022 - 8:40am

People going berserk over Darth Hoodie not using his timeouts at the end of the game. Does anyone seriously doubt Buffalo could've just decided not to kneel out and grind away the last two minutes instead?

#15 by RickD // Dec 02, 2022 - 9:34am

Bill didn't need to see any more. The Pats of 5 years ago might have threatened a comeback. There was literally a 0% chance this version of the Pats would.