Masterclass: The New England Week 13 Game-Plan that Demoralized Buffalo
Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots schemed their way to a 14-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills.
93 percent of PSF users in the NFL Fanatics Vibe prefer “offensive battles” over “defensive battles,” in which total offensive output is considered more popular than total defensive output. Unfortunately for PSF users, Week 13 Monday Night Football was not an offensive-centered game, but the game still delivered. The stakes were high between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills—winner would take over first place in the AFC East, or in the Patriots case, the top seed in the entire AFC. Many thought it was going to be an offensive slugfest, with Mac Jones and the Patriots winning seven straight games, but Buffalo had the holding power thanks to Josh Allen’s emergence in 2020-21 that resulted in the Bills’ first division win since 1995. Instead, the weather was the factor that was the central focus throughout the course of the game and ultimately provided the Patriots with a blueprint to win the game and potentially the division.
Running the football has become one of the most declining elements of the NFL over the years, teams continue to prioritize the passing game because they believe throwing the ball in the air will most likely lead to a long gain. Talk to Bill Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl Champion, and he may say otherwise. In 2020-21, the Patriots relied on their rushing attack with Cam Newton under center and he was heavily criticized for not throwing the ball accurately and deep enough. However, many throughout the media did not consider Cam’s rushing ability as an inflection of total yards. Newton was not the best Quarterback in the NFL in 2020-21 but faced large scrutiny when people did not factor in his 20 combined Rushing Touchdowns, or his 4.3 Yards per Attempt. Instead, because people favor passing over rushing, Cam’s rushing totals were thrown by the wayside in favor of his below-average passing totals. The evolution of the Patriots offense, since Tom Brady left, has brought football back to its rushing roots and continuously creates a hard-nosed and physical 2021-22 team that nobody wants to play.
Moving back to 2021, some could say that running the ball was a factor for the Patriots win against the Bills in Week 13. Throwing against the wind was basically impossible; the Patriots must have determined this pregame, and their play-calling proves it. The team started the ball against the wind, rushed the ball 46 times, and only threw the ball three times all game, including just once in the first half. Yes, those are all accurate facts in an NFL game in the year 2021. By now, people are saying that anybody could have called that game, but the truth is that it was a combination of factors; a deep Patriot Running Back room, a large and physical Offensive Line, great run-blocking from Wide Receivers, Quarterback creativity, scheming against a pass-prevent defense, and obviously porous weather conditions, that lead to a hard-fought and deserving win for New England. Nobody but Bill Belichick would have the guts, the intuition, the drive for greatness, to call a game plan that ambitious and creative to demoralize an opponent.
To start with Buffalo, there wasn’t a lot that went right. Starting with the game management and coaching decisions, Sean McDermott was definitively outcoached by Belichick in this game. “The Hoodie” imposed fear on his opponent, so much so that McDermott was hoping that a Quarterback sneak from Mac Jones would be miraculously overturned when there wasn’t any evidence to prove that Jones was stopped short on fourth down. Of course, that loss of a timeout came to bite the Bills in the end, when they tried to call an injury timeout in the closing seconds, but instead the play clock was reset due to the NFL rule that if a team calls a timeout and they don’t have one, the play clock is reset. That ended the game for New England, who just needed to kneel the ball one more time to end it. Now from a scheming perspective, the Bills have not played all season with three linebackers. Instead, that was what Buffalo was forced to do the entire game to try to stop New England’s running game. It didn’t work. That’s a blend of great coaching from the Patriots and bad scheming for the Bills to not be prepared for the threat of an all-out rushing attack.
Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde, two of the best safeties in the NFL, were asked a question post-game if the loss was embarrassing, and it was a viable question given that the Bills knew for an absolute fact the Patriots were going to run the ball, and the Patriots ran it right through them anyways. Instead of answering the question like a professional, both players questioned the validity of the question, even so far for Micah Hyde saying that “we will remember that”. That is not a professional attitude and quite honestly is a sign of disrespect to a reporter who was just trying to do his job. Players are expected to be professional and treat each member of the media with respect and that’s what Hyde and Poyer came up with? The game was an important loss for sure, but that’s no right to treat a hard-working media member who was trying to do his job. Buffalo needs to take a page out of the Patriots playbook and not draw attention when it is completely unnecessary. Expect fines for both players for how they treated the media.
This game was not a knock-on Mac Jones but was instead a reflection of the Patriots superb running game, ability to out-scheme any opponent, and bully their opponents on the ground. This game will be remembered for a long-time because of Belichick’s terrific game planning and ability to wear down opponents. It’s safe to say the Patriots are back to being the best AFC team after defeating the Buffalo Bills in Week 13 on Monday Night Football. The Patriots should pass more in the future, especially against Buffalo in a few weeks in better conditions, even as they prove that it isn’t terrible to play one-sided football now and again.
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