Patriots-Bills Game Observations
A few observation from the Patriots last regular season game:
- As mentioned in some of Bill Belichick’s conferences before the game, teams with nothing playoff-wise to play for call much riskier plays than they would otherwise. This was evidenced in the first quarter with the Bills going for a fake punt on the very first possession, and going for it on 4th and 4 in the first quarter.
- The Patriots defense had a lot of problems with the Bills spread 5-wide offense in the first quarter. This was especially between LB Dane Fletcher, who was beaten on man coverage a number of times in the Bills’ third drive, including a TD pass to RB CJ Spiller. The spread offense wasn’t as successful later on when the Bills were forced into some longer third downs.
- Good to see the Patriots coming up with 4 interceptions (and 1 called back) in this game, giving some of the Patriots secondary some much-needed confidence coming into the playoffs.
- There were four dropped passes in this game by the Patriots, three by Wes Welker, and one by Rob Gronkowski. It has to be noted that these guys, plus Aaron Hernandez, had the lion’s share of targets in the game.
