Pats end season with dud in loss to Bills
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — After gaining so much ground during Mac Jones’ rookie season, the New England Patriots faltered at the finish.
Throttled 47-17 by the Buffalo Bills in a wild-card playoff game on Saturday night, the loss showed how much progress the Patriots still need to make to close the gap on their AFC East rivals.
“Losing is terrible,” Jones said. “None of us wanted to do that tonight. But there’s nothing we can do about it now. There’s a lot to look forward to and positive and learn from.”
Jones and the Patriots made strides turning around their season following a 2-4 start, putting together a seven-game win streak to make the playoffs for the first time in two seasons since Tom Brady left New England for Tampa Bay.
But their progress stalled after a 14-10 win at Buffalo in Week 13 put them atop the division standings. The Patriots struggled coming out of their bye week, losing three of four, before suffering their worst postseason defeat since a 46-10 loss to the 1985 Chicago Bears.
The loss was the most lopsided in the playoffs during Bill Belichick’s tenure, which began in 2000, and second-worst overall after Buffalo opened the 2003 season with a 31-0 victory.
Suddenly, the tables have begun turning on a proud Patriots franchise which won 17 division titles and six Super Bowls under Belichick, and was 35-5 against Buffalo from 2000 to 2019. New England has now dropped four of the last five meetings with Buffalo, which has staked its claim to the division by winning two straight titles.
The Bills dominated the Patriots in this one, much like they were once dominated by New England.
Buffalo became the NFL’s first team to score touchdowns on each of its seven possessions not ending with a kneeldown. And the 47 points scored were