Knee Jerk Reactions to Week 4: Patriots vs Bills
Things to consider while wondering how you go about awarding a game ball to Community Notes:
--We went through a stretch of a few years where the best we could hope for week to week was the occasional moral victory. With a dubious win mixed in here and there. Last season featured a lot of wins the rest of the world thought were questionable. They called them lucky wins. We've seen more than our share of Pyrrhic victories. Which makes this one so gratifying. Because without a doubt, this was the best kind of victory there is. A Statement Win. One that can leave no doubt in anyone's mind that, whatever else happened in the first three games, this Patriots team has figured it out and is capable of beating anyone. More to the point, Drake Maye is back to being one of the best tackle football players alive. And just outplayed Josh Allen, the consensus MVP going into this game.
--On the road. In a stadium that has already gained a reputation as being one of the loudest in the league. Against the No. 1 team on everyone's power rankings. With a depleted roster that lost more Christians this week (Gonzalez, Barmore) than the Siege of Malta. And with the officials doing so much to help the Bills they could've registered as a 501(c)(3). (Oh, I'll have more on them. You can count on that.) And still they came away with a win. And a reminder to everyone that they are fully BACK and competing for the AFC title once again. Which should come as a shock to everyone:
--There are many reasons for this. But the SparkNotes version is that they put the ball in Maye's hands and trusted him. Not just to avoid mistakes, but to take risks. Not just to avoid turnovers, but to be aggressive and put an opposing defense on its back foot. From the opening drive, when after a bad center exchange, Maye didn't turtle. He secured the ball, got his eyes upfield, and hit Hunter Henry ran a Pivot, getting noted NFL personnel expert CJ Gardner-Johnson to flip his hips, and Maye threw it to him like he was turning a double play:
To the last possession. Where, instead of pounding it into the line three times to burn all of Buffalo's timeouts, they told Maye to get them a 1st down and end this thing. And he found Henry again:
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It was a little hard to notice all the intricacies that went into this play design while I was jumping up and down on my couch like Tom Cruise freaking out on Oprah. And it was hard to hear the play-by-play over the deafening sound of Josh McDaniel's cast iron testicles in this situation. But it was a brilliant, gutsy call. The Bills sold out on the run, with all 11 in the tackle box. So McDaniels went with boot off of play action. Henry only chipped Gregory Rousseau to sell the run before releasing, and it was all up to Maye to get the ball out before Rousseau could make a mess of things. Cole Bishop hesitated just enough on the play action, then got bumped by Efton Chism. TreVeyon Henderson upended CJGJ blitzing the back side B-gap. And to the dismay of Bills fans X accounts, Maxwell Hairston used none of his 4.28 speed to stop Henry short of the line to gain. Ball game.
--And that's just one example of Maye doing exactly what was called for in the moment. Among the remarkable 72 offensive snaps the offense took, it's hard to find examples where he didn't get the maximum out of what was available to him. I suppose the strip sack, when he found himself in the middle of a pocket crowded like the 5:15 Braintree train out of South Station and probably should've just tucked it. And while the ball Romeo Doubs flipped into the air was an off-target throw, it was the kind of low ball that's designed to be uninterceptable (I'll keep using that word until spellcheck learns to accept it) and keep your receiver out of the blue medical tent. The turnover was just a freak accident. (And if this were baseball, the Mathletes would've figured out a way for interceptions like that to not count them against the quarterback's stats.) Credit to Jared Wilson on that one to truck a good 25 yards back upfield to haul Dee Alford down short of the end zone. A 4-point play that pulled a "Well that sucked," out of the jaws of "This game is over, Honey. I need you to drive me to Ulta to pick up some makeup for work this week." Never forget that our center showed 25 times more hustle playing defense just before the half than Buffalo's safety did on the play that effectively ended the game.
--There are other examples where Maye played like … well, Maye. Like the one we were accustomed to before half of Pats fans and most of the Boston sports media started fighting for seats in the lifeboats. And I don't want to go another paragraph without showing the touchdown to King of the Practice Squad, Efton Chism. It was an incredible catch on the end of a perfect throw. Like a football peanut butter cup; two great tastes that taste great together. Maye setting up his protection. Flipping his receivers on the field side. Short motion by Chism. A double move to create separation. Maye rolling away from a backside corner blitz. Strike. But since everyone has already watched it a hundred times, let's make it even better by hearing the Buffalo radio call:
Not even your girlfriend singing along to some tender, bittersweet Zach Bryan ballad at Gillette this weekend cried the buckets the way these Bills announcers did. They thought they were done calling dramatic Patriots victories in their own stadium for another decade or so. But now the nightmare has returned. It would take a heart of stone not to laugh.
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--On the first touchdown to Doubs, his first read was a Bubble screen to Pop Douglas, but he saw Alford had it sniffed out. So he turned back to the boundary side, saw Doubs had inside leverage on a Skinny Post, reset his feet, and delivered a sniper round:
--But to me, the most encouraging sequence was the one that led to Doubs second score. That possession was the first in recent memory where they got the ball to start the second half and put an impressive drive together. He hit Doubs on an Out route for nine on a 4th & 3. There were two bad center exchanges in goal-to-go downs, but he didn't lose either of them. He attempted a Fade to Eli Raridon, but put it where it was either going to be a spectacular grab or a nice, safe, harmless incompletion. And on the touchdown, he had one receiver, defended by one guy, and knew exactly where he was going with it before the snap. The ball was already in the air before Doubs had gotten off the line, and long before Hairston could react:
--That was one of at least 20 times when they sent Caleb Lomu in as a third tight end, which got Buffalo into their base defense. And while I don't have the numbers, I'd be willing to guess they threw the ball half the time out of that set. So much for McDaniels being predictable. And even when he tried some trickerization that the Bills saw right through, the play still worked thanks to Henderson's speed and Maye's John-Hannah-like run blocking:
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--Since an impressive, unforgettable road win gives me the moral authority to complain about the officials without sounding like I'm making excuses like a loser, let's get to it. Beginning with a non-call that if it's not the absolute worst these vision-corrected eyes have ever seen, is certainly in the conversation. If this isn't Intentional Grounding in the end zone, two points to New England and the ball, then nothing is:
Unless Orchard Park is some alternate dimension where the natural laws as we know them don't apply, then this was the easiest flag to throw imaginable. But they didn't even discuss it. The only explanation that makes any sense is that the Bills in general and Allen in particular, are now in that Benefit of the Doubt stage of their development where the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes have stood since about 2018. The fact the Pats beat them and the officials makes this win all the better.
--Before I get back to the officiating, let's not gloss over the fact that bizarre play only happened because Gabe Jacas put Dion Dawkins - 320 pounds of USDA Prime Pro Bowl left tackle - flat on his ass with a combination of hand-fighting, getting his arms extended, and pure blunt force trauma. While Cory Durden over powered O'Cyrus Torrance to create middle pressure. I didn't know what we could expect out of Jacas after he missed all of the spring while they worked out his contract. But he's playing like a veteran. And earning whatever they ended up settling for. He took just under half the snaps yesterday. I can't wait to watch that number go up every week.
--Remember that aforementioned fumble by Maye? Do you think this might have contributed to the pocket being so messy? The officials didn't:
--They did, however, catch this little moment. Which somehow, in a world of testosterone-fueled rage monsters fighting each other for three-plus hours, constitutes a penalty:
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If officiating crews really assessed penalties every time they get F-bombed, they'd lead the league in all purpose yards from scrimmage. But I guess someone had to be made an example of. They just chose the wrong game, and the wrong example:
Rules for thee, not for me.
--Before we move off the subject of rules and how they're enforced, let's give all the respect to Marcus Jones for knowing this one. He and Ross Tucker might have been the only ones:
I swear I had no idea that when the punt team touches it, but doesn't down it, the return team gets a freebie. A little complimentary shot at running one back. On the house, with the tax and tip included. Now we know. Of course it would've been good to have that information going in, since every Oura ring in New England was registering a cardiac arrest. Anyway, this is how Marcus Jones made captain.
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--When the schedule came out, I thought this was a weird one to put on Sunday at 1. This time last year, the same matchup was on primetime. (No, not that Primetime.) And last year, the Patriots were still coming off the Jerod Mayo era, not Super Bowl XL. So this was an odd choice. But if you're going to be stuck in the early time slot, you can't do much better than Tucker and Ian Eagle. I'd gladly take a season of them doing every game. It's just a tough gig for Evan Washburn, given that his sideline reports are sponsored by the AI that's going to replace all the sideline reporters in a year of so. It's like being forced to dig your own grave.
--I've taken far too long to single out Craig Woodson for making the defensive play of the year so far. After Dre'Mont Jones got through the middle on a stunt to force Allen to shake him, Woodson came over from post safety to high point the underthrown pass Allen couldn't step into:
The essential part of a huge bounce-back game by the entire secondary, even with Gonzalez out. Between Kevin Byard breaking up a pass to force a 3 & out on the first drive to Carlton Davis making stops all over the field to Charles Woods holding his own, it was a gutty performance all around against the best passing attack in the league.
--But the best showing overall was in the run game. Yes, James Cook got going in the 4th and had 6.3 YPA. That's what he does. But overall the tackle rotation that added DaQuan Jones to plug gaps in the interior to the group that already includes Durden, Milton Williams (who lined up on the edge a few times), and Joshua Farmer, made Bills rushers have to trade lives for yards. And our last Christian left standing, Elliss, was left to spy Allen (see the interception) and held him to just four yards on five carries. Outstanding work, despite the Bills making some explosive plays.
--This Week's Applicable Movie Quote:
John Simpson Chisum: "I'm not going to the sheriff, the governor, or the president of the United States. I'm coming to see you."
Lawrence Murphy: "Chisum, that sounds like a threat."
Chisum: [Knocks him to the ground with a punch to the face.] "Wrong word. FACT!"
- Chisum
--So Drake Maye has now won his last two starts in Buffalo, and his first in Highmark Stadium. Which begs the question if his dominance in that town will really be official until the Billdos start flying.
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It's your move, Bills Mafia.