Patriots have one shot to silence the doubters after Bills letdown

When the Buffalo Bills left Gillette Stadium Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots' 10-game win streak snapped, and the doubters returned.

Before the Patriots' loss, with a final score of 35-31, there was no concern for Drake Maye and the offense's ability to score. In fact, fans were already posting videos on social media about how dominant the Patriots were by the second quarter when the team had scored 21 straight points. This may have even been you.

But it only took two more quarters for the Bills to erase a possible hat and t-shirt day for New England, keeping the AFC East title up for grabs. Now, all the doubters, haters, and pundits have been quick to point fingers as to why the team lost and what this means before the playoffs begin.

As the pundits awaken, Mike Vrabel believes his team "took a little nap"

Late last month, Mike Vrabel made his motto, "no naps," clear, meaning his team could not take its foot off the gas or be complacent with their 10-game win streak. The Patriots' head coach was even gifted a "no naps" vest from equipment manager Stick Rogers in November with the words "no naps" stitched near his left shoulder.

But as the league saw, the entire team collapsed. This left many referencing a previous Vrabel quote acknowledging that the Patriots "took a little nap," which is what the Patriots did after halftime against the Bills, who have now outscored opponents by 116 points in the second half this season. Buffalo leads the NFL in this category.

From beyond the walls of the organization, there are plenty of areas to place blame.

The ESPN NFL Nation team said, “After playing one of their best halves of the season, the Patriots played one of their worst. They had poor coverage on the opening kickoff of the second half (allowing a 58-yard return), penalties (six after halftime), their defense struggled to stop the run and answer Allen in the clutch, and their rushing offense couldn’t generate consistent positive yardage after looking dominant in the first half."

The Bleacher Report blames the wide receiver core for the offense's inability to add more points, explaining, “New England lacks the talent on the outside to truly threaten opposing defenses.”

And CBS Sports' John Breech even criticizes Drake Maye as a key factor to their loss, saying, "The always accurate Drake Maye, who threw just two incompletions in the first half, went ice cold in the second half, going just 5 of 12 for 47 yards with an interception."

On top of that pile of blame, others can't overlook the lack of consistency and controversial calls from the referees.

There is a lot of blame to go around for the Patriots loss, and that includes the officials

While reviewing the game on Monday on The Greg Hill Show, Vrabel commented on this stat line: the Bills led the NFL in offensive holding penalties entering Sunday, but they were not flagged for a single holding penalty against New England.

“It is a difficult job, they do have a difficult job,” Vrabel said. “The consistency... Sometimes I struggle with it. I’ll say this: the Bills lead the NFL in offensive holds, and I’ll leave it at that.

Fans also point to two specific plays that highlight the poor officiating from the divisional showdown. The first is Carlton Davis III's defensive pass interference penalty on Keon Coleman, which allowed for a first down on Buffalo's final touchdown drive, while the second is Marcus Jones' defensive pass interference penalty on Khalil Skakir, which resulted in a 37-yard reception that appeared to be an interception to Patriots fans. Both of these plays occurred in the fourth quarter.

But above all, considering all the criticism, there is one point the AFC East's leader must hit to prove their legitimacy to the NFL.

"The Patriots still have to prove they can put some of the NFL’s best teams away,” the ESPN NFL Nation team said.

It is unlikely the Patriots will ever shake off any of their doubters until they defeat one of the NFL's top contenders. It may even take multiple playoff wins or a Super Bowl victory to silence those who still believe the Patriots have only found success because of their "easy" schedule. Despite their 11-3 record, this soft-schedule theory never seems to dissipate.

As the Patriots move past their letdown, a win in Sunday night's matchup against the 7-7 Baltimore Ravens is likely the best way to prove they are not completely faltering. The Ravens may not be an elite team, but it may be enough to put the pundits at bay.

Yet, one has to wonder what type of response New England would receive with another loss next week.