FOXBOROUGH – For the first six weeks of the season, the Patriots had little to hang their hats on. The way they came out in some games, it seemed like they were already beaten before the first drive.
They were a dead, lifeless team.
Sunday against the Bills, it was different. The mood was different. The energy was different. There was a spark. And it never dimmed throughout.
So what changed?
How did the Patriots morph into a good football team, instead of one that just couldn’t get out of its own way? How were they able to take down a quarterback – Josh Allen – who had pretty much owned them the past three seasons?
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Speaking with several players in the room following the 29-25 upset of Buffalo, much of it had to do with their mindset going in.
“It just felt different in the locker room today,” said safety Jalen Mills. “Nobody knew what it was, but it was a sense of good energy . . . it was just different in here.”
Safety Adrian Phillips agreed.
“The biggest thing in football is having that energy,” said Phillips. “And that’s something we were lacking the last four to five weeks. Today, you could just feel it in the locker room. People came in, and it was like go-time. The energy was just different. People were ready to go. And you get out there, and you see our offense driving, and for us, it was like, let’s go, let’s get it.”
Watching injured Matthew Judon cheerleading like a madman on the sidelines helped. But there was more to it.
A switch up on the offensive line was certainly part of all that good energy, and a catalyst for the win.
Moving Michael Onwenu to right tackle, having Cole Strange back, and Sidy Sow at right guard to start turned the offensive line from turnstiles, into a force up front.
Maybe the thought of not having to run for his life also contributed to Mac Jones having “good energy” before the game, and getting his first signature win as Patriot, as he engineered a come-from-behind final drive to take down the Bills.
The return of Pop Douglas was another booster. All he does is create sparks every time he touches the ball, and Sunday was no different. Or maybe it was also the return of Jack Jones, who gave the secondary a little more punch out on the boundary.
Or how about being ready from the get-go, and jumping out to a lead for a change? That hasn’t happened too often this season.
Whatever it was, this was the best the Patriots have looked in quite some time all across the board. The players were completely engaged from start to finish. And instead of feeling a sense of gloom and doom when the Bills took their first lead after a Kendrick Bourne fumble late in the fourth quarter, the Patriots showed resolve.
“We fought hard,” said Bourne. “And played through adversity well.”
Jones didn’t undermine himself or the team by making mistakes. He just calmly put the ball where it needed to be, and took what the defense gave him. Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien also called a very good game. In the end, the Patriots had more passing yards (272 to 265) and rushing yards (96 to 81) than the Bills.
That might not seem like much of a difference, but the Patriots weren’t winning those battles the previous six weeks. The Patriots made plays in big moments, whether it was Douglas (4 catches, 54 yards), Pharaoh Brown (2 catches 51 yards) or Rhamondre Stevenson (6 catches, 51 yards), who jump-started the final drive with a 34-yard catch and run.
On the defensive side, Jabrill Peppers picked off Allen the first series and was all over the field making plays. The Patriots disguised their blitzes well, and while they only had one sack, pestered Allen the whole game with six quarterback hits. And, they got a ton of pressure rushing just four up front with Christian Barmore leading the charge.
Phillips said the unit just trusted that the guys up front would get pressure, and the back end would do the rest.
“Everybody just trusted one another. I think that was the biggest difference,” he said. “We didn’t really care what they did. We really wanted to play our game. It feels like this is the first time since ‘21 that we really played our game. We played it well in the past, but today, it was like ‘screw it’ we’re doing our own thing.”
And, as mentioned, the Patriots managed to play from ahead for a change, and rode that lead most of the way.
“When we needed it, the entire team stepped up,” said corner Jonathan Jones. “From the offense coming out, driving down the field, getting three points. Defense, turning around and getting a turnover. We built off that the entire game.”
The question now, is where they go from here? Can they bottle up the energy, and the rest of it, to get a winning streak going?
“I think this gives us the confidence we need to go out and compete against every team,” said Jack Jones. “Personally, I feel like the Bills are one of the top teams in the league, so if we can compete with one of the top teams, we can compete with anybody.”
Phillips put it another way.
“We know we have the right guys on this team to get the job done. We just haven’t put the tape together the way we wanted to,” he said. “Today just showed what we’ve been working toward in the offseason, what we worked toward in camp, the foundation is still there, we just have to execute it.
“I mean, we haven’t figured out the puzzle yet, but I think we’re trending in the right direction. We learned a lot about ourselves today, and it’s something we can build on.”
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