Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s work to craft a game plan to handle both the elements and the Bills on Monday night won him much praise during and after the 14-10 victory in the New England.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott was not so willing to credit Belichick’s work as the game’s deciding factor. McDermott pointed to a lost fumble in Patriots territory and his team’s mistakes in two unsuccessful trips to the red zone in the fourth quarter are why the Bills ended up on the wrong side of the final score.
“Let’s not give more credit than we need to credit Bill Belichick in this one,” McDermott said, via NESN.com. “Whether it was Bill or someone else, they beat us, didn’t they?” But you sit here and tell me when we start with an average starting position on the field of the 40-yard line and it starts with the 23-yard line – I’m rounding either way – and we were 1 for 4 in the red zone and they were 0-to-1 in the red zone? Give me that in advance, I would say I like my chances. I like my chances. I don’t think, with all due respect, it’s not something like Bill Belichick. What do you do with the opportunities you have? What do you do with the opportunities you have? We returned the ball to the plus-30 yard line. Sloppy football. Sloppy football. I am very comfortable in this situation.
The Bills are now 3-4 year-to-date at 4-1 and have been plagued by many of the same issues that hurt them Monday throughout that streak. This supports the idea that it wasn’t just Belichick, but it probably won’t reassure anyone about the state of the Bills at this time.