Pats defense steps up in 2nd half, but can't overcome deficit

AP Photo/Elise Amendola

Pats fans can sleep easy tonight knowing that today's 17-9 loss at the hands of their division rivals, the Buffalo Bills, doesn't mean anything big picture. The Pats will still have their 1st round bye and still have their home field advantage come playoff time. That said, the Patriots had their struggles on both sides of the ball in this game.

The defense had a hard time stopping Buffalo early on and the Bills were able to march down the field and score a touchdown - a Kyle Orton pass to a wide open Robert Woods. Buffalo added another touchdown and a field goal in the 2nd quarter, but the Pats defense was able to get more pressure in the 2nd half and hold Buffalo scoreless. They sacked Kyle Orton twice and had 4 tackles for a loss, and didn't give up any big plays in the 2nd half.

The Patriots only managed 1 turnover, but did a great job of limiting the Buffalo offense in the 2nd half. The problem for the Pats today was their lack of offense, which was missing several key guys (who were rested since the game meant nothing), but still only managed 3 field goals. The first half was a half to forget for the defense, but you can't really read a whole lot into it since they had nothing to play for. I'm sure they'll use their first round bye to work through whatever they need to fix and get themselves ready to win yet another Super Bowl.