The New England Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills on the road on Monday Night Football by the score of 14-10.
With the win, the Patriots pick up their seventh straight victory and tighten their hold on first place in the AFC East with a 9-4 record.
The Bills fall to 7-5.
This is the first meeting between these two teams in 2021.
The rematch is on December 26 at New England
This win means the Patriots are back as the kings of the AFC East.
However, the Patriots and Bills were not the main story of the game; the weather was.
Buffalo Weather
The weather was miserably cold and windy with a hint of pregame snow thrown in for good measure.
23 degree wind chill.
50 mph gusts.
Snow pregame.#BillsMafia always shows up. pic.twitter.com/0VL7KG3brH— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 7, 2021
50 mile-per-hour wind gusts headlined this game.
This obviously posed challenges throwing or kicking the ball.
Mac Jones Learns What Northeast Winters Are Like
Rookie quarterback Mac Jones, who was born in Florida and went to college in Alabama, got his initiation into what winter looks like north of the Mason-Dixon line.
Jones admitted in 2015 that he had never seen snow before.
It is hard to say if he has seen it since then, but he probably has not played in these conditions ever.
Mac Jones had never seen snow in 2015. Tonight, he's braving the elements in Buffalo on MNF ❄️ pic.twitter.com/4ly8JVG8xL
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 7, 2021
The Patriots Gameplan
Leave it to Bill Belichick and Josh Daniels to do the unorthodox and make it work.
The Patriots attempted three passes in the entire game.
Jones completed two of them for a grand total of 19 yards.
Patriots QB Mac Jones: 2-3, 19 yards.
New England 14, Buffalo 10.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 7, 2021
Instead, they ran the ball repeatedly down the Bills’ throats.
Even though the Bills knew what was coming, they could not stop it.
Patriots linebacker Matt Judon humorously gave credit to the Patriots offense except for Mac Jones.
Matthew Judon had to give props to the offense after last night’s win…
Except Mac Jones 😂 pic.twitter.com/LcTfOt9unA
— PFF (@PFF) December 7, 2021
The Bills Had Chances
Josh Allen and the Bills had scoring opportunities but only converted one into a touchdown.
This game was about controlling the line of scrimmage.
The Patriots had 241 total yards, 19 passing and 222 on the ground.
The Bills had 230 yards, 131 passing and 99 rushing.
Bills head coach Sean McDermott did not give Belichick too much credit for the gameplan that led to the win.
In the postgame press conference, McDermott said:
“Whether it’s Bill or anybody else, they beat us. You sit here and you tell me when we start with an average starting field position of the 40-yard line and he starts at the 23-yard line … and we were 1-for-4 in the red zone and they were 0-for-1 in the red zone — you give me that ahead of time and I would say, ‘I like my chances.’
“I don’t think, with all due respect, it’s not a Bill Belichick-type thing. It’s, what are you doing with the opportunities you’ve got? We turn the ball over at the plus-30 something yard line, it’s sloppy football. I’m very comfortable in that situation.”
Sean McDermott: "Let's not give more credit than we need to give Bill Belichick in this one."
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) December 7, 2021
Conclusion
For now, the Patriots are the kings of the AFC East.
They have a Week 14 bye before the final four-game stint that includes the Indianapolis Colts, the Bills rematch, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Miami Dolphins.
The Bills’ final five games are against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, the Patriots rematch, the Atlanta Falcons, and the New York Jets.
Speaking of Tampa Bay, the Bills game is on Tom Brady‘s new sunny home turf.
We couldn’t help but think about Michigan grad and longtime Patriots quarterback Brady last night who is loving the second era of his career in a much warmer climate after spending decades dealing with New England winters.
NEXT: Mac Jones Joined Elite NFL Company With Unorthodox Win
