The New England Patriots could not come up with the stops they needed to mount a comeback against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. In fact, they barely came up with any stops at all. Josh Allen and company may not have realized it at the time, but they pulled off the seemingly impossible against Bill Belichick.
The Bills did not punt once during their 33-21 win over the Patriots. As ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted, that was the first time in Belichick’s coaching career that a team has had zero punts against him. That’s pretty remarkable considering he has coached nearly 500 games.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: The Bills did not punt today. They are the first team with 0 punts in a game against a Bill Belichick coached team (474 games, including playoffs).
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 26, 2021
Buffalo did turn the ball over on downs once, when they were stopped on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line. That was a huge stop for the Patriots at the time, as they were trailing 10-7. It didn’t matter, however, as they went three-and-out on the next drive and the Bills scored a touchdown to take a 17-7 lead into the half.
The Bills converted several third- and fourth-down plays on a day where the Patriots simply couldn’t get off the field. Buffalo’s aggressive approach paid off.
Belichick was understandably in a foul mood again after his team’s second straight loss. It’s no surprise he didn’t want to answer a question about his New Year’s resolution.
Photo: Oct 10, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reacts during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
