The pressure was on the Patriots during their Week 15 matchup against the Bills, and they looked poised to be the dominant team for the entire 60 minutes, based on how impressive they were in the first half. They went up 21-0 early on, with all the momentum in their favor, only to fall flat on their face after halftime and eventually lose miserably.
There were certainly a lot of things wrong with their efforts in the second half, like the defense allowing Josh Allen and the Bills' offense march down the field and score on five consecutive drives, giving Drake Maye no chance to keep it close.
But part of the problem also falls on Josh McDaniels, who had an impeccable game plan in the first half but couldn't match that production after halftime.
The most noticeable issue of all was the lack of Stefon Diggs, who completely tore apart his former team in their first matchup in Week 5. The receiver recorded 10 receptions for 146 yards, so the assumption was that they would try to replicate that again this time around.
McDaniels, however, seemed to have different plans.
Josh McDaniels completely forgot how good Stefon Diggs was against the Bills in Week 5
Although it was predictable that the Buffalo defense would try to shut down Diggs due to his previous success against them, he also wasn't targeted nearly as much as he has been over the course of the season, just four times in this matchup compared to 12 in the previous game.
It proved to be a costly mistake the offense couldn't bounce back from, and it could continue to be just that over the final three games, as the Patriots hope to win the division still and make the playoffs for the first time in four years.
Diggs has shown to be exactly the kind of receiver Maye can rely on and move the chains, and he did that against the Bills, just not often enough.
Instead, Mack Hollins was the quarterback's No. 1 target, which wasn't necessarily a bad decision, but Diggs' absence was too noticeable to be content with McDaniels' game plan.
How the offense performed in the first half versus the second half was like seeing two completely different teams. It was a flaw that the Patriots have dealt with in the past, that should have remained there, only to rear its ugly head again in the biggest game of the season.
McDaniels has been impressive this year in how he's helped Maye reach new heights so early in his career, and it has allowed many doubters about his return to Foxboro to remain quiet. That would have remained the case this week, too, but the lack of Diggs in the game plan is a sore spot among a long list of bad football from this game, and it will need to be fixed going into their primetime matchup against the Ravens next week.