Sunday was the type of game we’ve seen the Patriots emerge victorious from on many occasions over the past two decades.
A back-and-forth affair between the Patriots and Buffalo Bills came down to the wire. Trailing by three points in the final minute, New England was in prime position either to send the Week 8 contest into overtime or even win the game in the closing moments. But instead of tacking on another comeback victory to their franchise’s résumé, the Patriots squandered their chances of getting back in the win column via a costly turnover.
More often than not in the Bill Belichick era, we’ve seen New England’s opponent make a mistake in a crucial moment of the game, paving the way for a Patriots win. That’s what made Buffalo’s latest triumph so ironic to former NFL quarterback-turned-analyst Dan Orlovsky
“Buffalo beat New England the New England way,” Orlovsky said Monday on ESPN’s “First Take. “We’re so used to having New England watch teams and go, ‘They’ll be the team that commits the penalties and they’ll be the team that doesn’t make the adjustments and then we’ll be the team that wins the game with that first third-quarter drive.’ That never happened.”
Cam Newton clearly took his late-game miscue and the Patriots’ fourth consecutive loss pretty hard. But the veteran quarterback is choosing to keep a positive outlook about New England’s prospects moving forward.
Newton and Co. will try to break out of their slide next Monday night when they visit the New York Jets for the teams’ first of two meetings this season.
