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Patriots second-half collapse against Bills highlights ongoing offensive trend
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- Patriots second-half collapse against Bills highlights ongoing offensive trend
FOXBOROUGH – One reason why the Patriots lost to the Buffalo Bills was that their offense fell flat in the second half, scoring seven points. The defensive performance certainly played a part in the loss, but the struggles in the final two quarters haven’t been unusual.
For Josh McDaniels ’ offense, that’s been a disappointing trend over the team’s recent games.
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Over the last three weeks, the Patriots are averaging 6.3 points in the second half. That’s the third worst in the NFL behind Las Vegas (5.7) and Cleveland (5.0). On Thursday, McDaniels noted that after a couple of fast starts, players have let their foot off the gas.
“I think it’s just, when you play with the lead, you fight that human nature to relax and want to have done enough,” McDaniels said. “And I think sometimes that playing from behind is easier than playing from ahead in certain situations. This is a great opportunity to learn how to close out a game against a team that’s certainly been there at the end many years in a row. It’ll be a gift for us if we learn.”
Second-half issues on offense have popped up over the course of this season.
The Patriots scored three points in the second half to barely hang on to a 24-23 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 9. After scoring 14 points in the second half in Tampa Bay and 13 points in the final two quarters against the New York Jets , the Patriots struggled in the final frames against the New York Giants , scoring 3 points.
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This season, in 14 games, the Patriots are averaging 10.6 points per game in the second half. That ties them for 22nd in the NFL. The lack of offensive output when it mattered most came back to haunt them against the Bills, who outscored the Patriots 28-7 after halftime.
Buffalo ranks first in the NFL in second-half scoring, averaging 17.3 points.
“Certainly thought that guys really did a good job of executing certain things in the first half, and made a lot of big plays, and then we really, kind of, never really got into a good rhythm in the second half,” McDaniels said. “And that’s my job. So we’ll figure out why that was. I think there’s a lot of things you can think about and talk about. But whether it’s executing a specific play better or calling a different play, I think you always look back on those things and evaluate it from both lenses.”
The Patriots will need to be better this weekend in Baltimore . The Ravens are tied for second in the NFL in second-half scoring (14.2).
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“Honestly, I think at this time of the year, when you play a team like that, and get an opportunity to see the type of precision and level of execution and detail that all of us need to showcase in those types of games, it can be a blessing if we learn from it,” McDaniels said. “I know that’s what I’m hard at work trying to do, and I know our guys are too.”
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