Patriots Shut Out at Gillette Stadium for the First Time

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Maybe it was the near botched kick return from Cyrus Jones that set the tone or maybe it was the fact that the defense seemed to regress rather than progress. Either way, whatever Patriots team was on the field Sunday against the Buffalo Bills was not what fans have come to recognize

The silver lining in the 16-0 loss to the Bills is that as of midnight, Tom Brady is allowed back in Gillette Stadium, giving the team their top quarterback.

After a 90-yard catch and run Julian Edelman was called back, the Patriots quickly went 3 and out, giving the ball to the Bills. Marching down the field, the Bills got the game’s first points on a 7-yard pass to LeSean McCoy.

It wasn’t until with 7:30 left in the half did Brissett lead the Pats down the field with meaningful yards, a 58 yard pass to Martellus Bennett into triple coverage.

But only a few plays later, Brissett coughed up the ball on an eight-yard keeper. Preston Brown recovered the ball for Buffalo.

In what will likely be his final game of the season, Brissett was 17-27 for 205 yards passing and rushed for 23 yards on 4 tries. He was sacked three times.

Overall, this described the day for New England.

As evidence by the score, the Patriots found no success on offense. The game is the first time the Patriots have been shut out at home since they lost to the Jets 6-0 in 1993, their first shutout in Gillette Stadium, and the first shutout since 2006 when they lost 21-0 to the Dolphins in Miami.

The Patriots will look to bounce back next Sunday when they travel to Cleveland.