It’s impossible to envision any other team doing anything like this.
New England could have become the first team since 1950 (!) to attempt one or fewer passes in a game. The two passes the Patriots attempted in the fourth quarter-an incompletion and a screen-served only to frustrate the team’s attempt to make history. Nick Folk kicked a 34-yard field goal on the team’s next play. On one particular third-and-18 in the fourth quarter (when the Patriots had favorable wind conditions), New England gave the ball to Bolden-its third-string running back!-for a gain of 3. The Patriots’ aversion to the pass was so potent that even when the wind was at their backs, they refused to let Mac Jones do almost anything other than hand the ball off. Those miscues were just enough to lead to their downfall in one of the biggest games of the season for the Super Bowl hopefuls. They also missed a field goal that curved like a boomerang in the wind and fumbled the ball, somehow the only turnover by either team on the night. But Allen still completed just half of his attempts for 145 yards and one touchdown, and the Bills were forced to punt five times. Josh Allen put the ball in the air 30 times, with his howitzer arm giving his passes the zip necessary to cut through the wind.
It didn’t always work-it should be noted that six of the Patriots’ nine real drives (excluding the kneel downs to win the game) ended in punts, with four of those being three-and-outs-but it was enough in comparison to the Bills. From then on, Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels relied on a diet of Damien Harris (10 carries, 111 yards, and a touchdown), Rhamondre Stevenson (24 carries and 78 yards), and Brandon Bolden (four carries and 28 yards) to try to pound out yards on offense. That was Jones’s only pass attempt in the first 53 minutes of the game.
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