It wasn’t that long ago when the Buffalo Bills would get regularly manhandled by Tom Brady and Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots. Well now Vrabel is just as annoying as a coach as he ever was as a player for the Patriots.
If it were any other team I’d be less suspicious, but it makes me wonder if Mike Vrabel tanked his last season with the Tennessee Titans so they would fire him and he could become the head coach for New England. He’s such a perfect fit there to perpetuate their ‘dynasty of the past’ to the next generation.
Whatever.
I’ll probably go to my grave with that granite boulder on my shoulder regarding the Patriots. And, adding Stefon Diggs to the roster makes the contempt even stronger. Diggs’ 10 receptions for 146 yards was a mic drop for fans at Highmark Stadium on Sunday Night Football. Good for him. He deserves the high praise he will receive for how he played. I personally hold no ill will toward Stefon Diggs.
It was a statement game for New England. They went to Buffalo on national TV and made it clear they are going to contend for the AFC East title this season. Or so they think.
So what did the Patriots really say with their ‘statement game’?
They said with their actions they are a team on the rise with a solid defense, franchise quarterback in the making and a head coach who believes it’s his destiny to carry on the ‘BellyBoy’ way… with his own touches added for extra flavor.
The ‘Patriot Way’ is back again.
However, the Bills did it to themselves on Sunday night as much as New England triumphed.
Buffalo fumbled and lost the ball twice, Allen had one interception, and there were 11 penalties for 90 yards. The defense looked completely inept trying to contain QB Drake Maye, who looked more like Josh Allen than Josh Allen with his 22/30/273/0TD performance.
Suddenly the Bills look like the old guys trying to keep up with a young and more hungry team. Sugar coat this game however you wish, but I can no longer look away from aging Matt Milano, Tre White and Taron Johnson any longer. Taylor Rapp looks over the hill as well. Even Terrel Bernard is not making the kind of impact you would hope to see in the middle of the defense.
Is the 4-2-5 dead?
I don’t believe it’s a coincidence we are seeing more of the 4-3 base defense this season. Teams are running the ball efficiently against a porous defensive line, an undersized set of linebackers, and a secondary consistently exposed at the CB2 position. I love Tre White, but essentially red-shirting Maxwell Hairston with an injury purported to only take a few weeks to heal is a real head scratcher. Makes me wonder if there is a back story to this injury we don’t know about.
Buffalo certainly has a potent offense, scoring more than 30 points/game prior to the game against the Patriots. But I’m also sure OL Coach Aaron Kromer has a few choice words for the offensive line after having what appeared to be one of its worst outings in some time. James Cook was hemmed in and Allen had to run around a lot. Josh also took a few nasty hits.
Get used to these kind of games from the Patriots, folks. Mike Vrabel will pose large problems for the Bills in the years ahead. All is certainly not lost at 4-1, but Buffalo better clean up the sloppy play and penalties soon.
Editor’s babble: Time to go out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather instead of focusing on things we can’t control… like how the Buffalo Bills play on any given week. If you want to holler at me, you can find me on Xwitter @RobynMundyWYO.
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