Twenty-eight games and 65 weeks ago, Bill Belichick and the New England defense schooled Josh Allen.
It was Week 4 of the 2019 season, and the Patriots strangled the Bills’ passing attack with man-to-man coverage. Allen passed for just 153 yards and threw three interceptions in a 16-10 loss.
It seemed like forever ago Monday night, as Allen set Belichick’s proud Patriots defense on fire.
Man coverage? Blitzes? Three-man rushes and eight men in coverage? The Bills’ third-year quarterback had the answers for all of it in the 38-9 destruction of New England.
One of the greatest coaches in NFL history could do nothing to stop the AFC East champion Bills from embarrassing his Patriots 38-9 on "Monday Night Football" at Gillette Stadium, writes Jason Wolf.
"We just weren't able to do much in any phase of the game,” Belichick said afterward. “Out-played us, out-coached us.”
Here’s a closer look at some of the plays that demonstrated how hard it is to cover the Bills’ receivers and how far Allen has progressed in a little more than a season.
Man beater. The Bills broke the game open with Allen’s 50-yard touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs with 3:55 left in the first half. It put Buffalo ahead 24-9.
Diggs lined up alone on the left, while Gabriel Davis and Cole Beasley lined up to the right. Davis ran a deep post. Diggs ran an intermediate cross 14 yards downfield, with cornerback J.C. Jackson chasing him all the way.
“If you see the play, I’m one-on-one,” Diggs said.
“But we thought the safety was going to bite on me, and Gabe would go over the top,” Diggs said, referring to Devin McCourty, playing the deep middle of the field. “But the safety took a couple steps and then ran back over the top to Gabe. Because we hit that same play against the Steelers but we missed Gabe. So we were trying to get it again. But the guy ended up bailing out, and he hit me on the second window. Josh is really playing some good football. He’s waiting on it and I’m just trying to do my job getting open. He threw me a great ball.”
The Patriots rushed five men on the play. Allen had the patience to stand in the pocket to wait for Diggs to make his way across the field. And Allen threw in a shoulder shimmy, which may have fooled Jackson into thinking the pass was coming sooner.
Allen also took a hit from Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings as he released the ball.
Jay Skurski weighs in with his grades on the Buffalo Bills' 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium.
Manipulating the coverage. Winning late in the down and standing tall in the pocket with pressure in your face. It was elite quarterbacking on display in every way.
Even though top cornerback Stephon Gilmore was lost to injury last week, it didn’t change the Pats’ philosophy much. They believe in their cornerbacks and like man coverage, especially on third downs.
Jackson was undrafted in 2018, but is poised to take over as the team’s No. 1 cornerback for Gilmore, who has just one year to go on his contract. Jackson has eight interceptions this season, second in the NFL.
But Jackson was no match for Diggs on Monday. The Bills ran a man-beater concept on the play just before the touchdown, running Diggs and Davis on double-crosses from opposite sides of the field. Diggs made the catch for 17 yards on the play.
Route-running excellence. Diggs beat Jackson again on a 18-yard slant for a touchdown that capped the opening drive of the third quarter and put the Bills ahead 31-9.
Again, it was man coverage, and the Bills ran a play-action fake on first down to give Allen a better throwing window. This time, Diggs did the most impressive task, putting a head-and-shoulders fake on Jackson to the outside and giving Allen a wide-open window to throw into on the inside.
Safety Kyle Dugger was the lone man in the deep middle, and he had no chance to get over in time to deflect Allen’s dart. Diggs ran through a shoulder-tackle attempt by Dugger and raced into the end zone.
Quarter by quarter: Bills hand Bill Belichick worst home loss with Pats
Wide, wide open. The Bills put their depth of weapons on display on Allen’s 4-yard TD pass to Lee Smith, which put them ahead 17-9.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Smith had 12.5 yards of separation from the nearest Patriots’ defender when the pass arrived, which was the most separation on a TD inside the 5-yard line in the NFL in the last two seasons.
How did he get so wide open? The Bills made the first-and-goal play look like a run to Zack Moss off right tackle. The Patriots’ middle defenders, Josh Uche and Adrian Phillips were completely fooled.
Then the Bills ran Diggs out to the right flat, which drew Jackson. Davis ran a cross from the left side and was double-covered by the free safety, McCourty, and cornerback Jason McCourty.
Smith leaked out from the right side of the formation to the left side of the end zone. Uche and Phillips wound up standing together in the middle of the field covering nobody.
The game was another example of the Bills imposing their will on the defense.
The Patriots entered the game ranked 27th in the NFL against the run and sixth against the pass. New England had allowed 436 rushing yards over the past two games and gave up 190 on the ground to the Bills in the first meeting.
It didn’t matter. The Bills were going to do what they do best and let their best player dominate.
Allen dropped back to pass 37 times, and the Bills called 17 runs when he was in the game.
It was fun to watch.
