The Patriots’ 10-game winning streak finally came to a close after losing a 17-point lead against the Bills. With a 35-31 score, the Buffalo Bills denied the New England Patriots the top seed spot in the AFC. But who is to blame for their collapse? Patriots’ head coach, Mike Vrabel, offered his take on who might be accountable for their streak of eleven losses.

“It is a difficult job,” Mike Vrabel said on the December 15 episode of The Greg Hill Show. “They do have a difficult job. 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. That would be hard for me to understand how a team coming into the game leading, and that’s how they play, didn’t have one yesterday. So that’s hard for me to understand.”

It all comes down to a lack of consistency. The officials indeed have a demanding job, but they make mistakes from time to time, which often become costly for the teams. However, it does raise the question: how could the team that leads the league in offensive holding not get a single call against them while playing the Patriots?

During the third quarter, Bills’ Dion Dawkins was pulling with his left hand, but kept his right hand up to show he was doing nothing. Even the commentators called it, but the officials had nothing to say. The same goes for Marcus Jones’ PI. The referees called it a penalty, but the head coach disagreed.

While the head coach believes that Josh Allen‘s Bills were favored in Week 14, he wants it to be a learning experience for his team.

An opportunity to improve for the Patriots

The wound from the defeat against the Bills is still fresh for the Patriots. Blowing a 17-point lead will sting, especially since it ended as a one-score game. Amid all the complaining and finger-pointing, Mike Vrabel wants the Patriots to improve in the future.

“Mike Vrabel says he told the team this loss is a learning experience and opportunity to improve,” posted Taylor Kyles on X.

Following their defeat, their win-loss ratio stands at 11-3, with the 10-4 Bills breathing down their necks. So, they must learn from this defeat and return to their winning ways.

The New England Patriots will be on the road in Week 16 against the Baltimore Ravens. It will be an interesting clash since the Patriots will go for the top seed in the AFC, while the Ravens will try to regain the divisional top spot from the Steelers.