The Week 18 loss to the Buffalo Bills that ended the Patriots’ season encapsulated the entire 2022 season. In fact, as Bill Belichick took the podium to talk about the game, it sounded all but the same as Week 1 talking about how just a handful of plays decided the outcome.
Against Buffalo, there were signs of life offensively that ultimately fizzled out. The defense dialed up the heat Josh Allen and forced a turnover while keeping Buffalo to 21 points. And it was a horrible special teams showing as they gave up two (!