Did the Buffalo Bills roll out vanilla game plan vs. New England Patriots?

While divisional game are always a wild card, the Bills’ performance on Sunday was anything other than playoff material.

The Buffalo Bills improved to 12-3 this past Sunday, claiming victory over the scrappy New England Patriots in what was their 130th head-to-head meeting. While the Patriots still lead the all-time series 78-51-1, they’ve been little more than a pesky thorn in the side of the Bills since Tom Brady left the Northeast.

The torch of domination has since passed from Brady to quarterback Josh Allen, and Buffalo has often found little resistance in disposing of their once-mighty arch nemesis. Ahead of Week 16 and knowing how well the Bills had performed the past month on offense, scoring 30-plus points in eight consecutive games, one would have imagined that setting a new NFL record of nine straight games was all but guaranteed against a suspect Patriots defense.

Divisional rivalry games are a different beast, no matter how much rosters change from season to season. The Bills lost 44-42 on the road to the Los Angeles Rams, despite being unstoppable on offense. Yet winning 24-24 against New England saw Buffalo’s offense look completely out of sorts.

In the aftermath of losing to the Rams, Bills fans were encouraged (dare I say wowed) by what happened in LA, despite the loss. Now, many are besides themselves wondering how Buffalo could be so off against a clearly inferior Patriots team.

Again, while divisional game are always a wild card, the Bills’ performance on Sunday was anything other than playoff material. So what gives?

During his postgame interview, Josh Allen provided an interesting explanation that may provide some fans a bit of relief. As Matthew Bové shared, Allen stated that while playing for the one seed in the AFC playoff race is still a priority, offensive coordinator Joe Brady doesn’t endeavor “to show everything in their arsenal and empty the tank now,” per Bové.

That may help to explain a lot of the offense’s trouble on Sunday — where they managed just 11 total yards in the first quarter, and were outgained two-to-one in the time-of-possession battle at halftime. In truth, Allen and the offense struggled with passing chemistry and production the entire game. But if what Allen mentioned is true, then it provides clarity at minimum.

As for the defense, we aren’t certain if the same is true. Hopefully, that’s the case, though Buffalo fielded a unit besieged by injury everywhere other than along the defensive line — and the Patriots took advantage. It’s clear that the Bills have a few things to work on in all phases of the team.

Playing as they did on Sunday, spotting an opponent a very early 14 points, could be a recipe for disaster in the postseason. For now, it makes sense to abide by the idea that Brady, Allen, and company were simply doing their part not to show their most recent handiwork to any potential playoff opponents.

Remember, not everything was intentionally base line:

If, however, something else is true and the Bills’ struggles were due to matters other than a vanilla, preseason-like game plan? One Bills Drive now has film and on-field experience to work through the issues ahead of this season’s playoffs.