Pats Pulpit
Going up against one of the best rushing offenses in football, the New England Patriots were without one of their most important run defenders. Robert Spillane, who had played 95.4% of snaps over the first 13 games of the season, watched the action from the sidelines. He did so in full uniform.
What had happened? Under normal circumstances, Spillane would have played close to 100% of snaps versus the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. However, the 30-year-old sustained a foot injury in practice on Thursday and was a limited participant for the remainder of the week, prompting him to be listed as questionable for the game.
While not listed among the six inactives for the contest, Spillane taking the field was reserved only for an emergency as head coach Mike Vrabel later explained.
“We felt like after going through the warmups and everything that that was what was going to be best for him today,” Vrabel said after the game. “We need everybody, and certainly Robert, and we’ll have to try to get as healthy as we can as quickly as we can.”
With Spillane out and effectively replaced by backup Jack Gibbens, the Patriots defense struggled to defend Buffalo’s ground game. The unit surrendered 171 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the day, with the Bills averaging 5.0 yards on their 34 non-kneel-down carries.
Here is our full snap count report from the Patriots’ 35-31 loss at Gillette Stadium.
Total snaps: 52 | Time on the field: 23:43 | *denotes starter
QB Drake Maye* (52; 100%), LG Jared Wilson* (52; 100%), C Garrett Bradbury* (52; 100%), RG Mike Onwenu* (52; 100%), RT Morgan Moses* (52; 100%), LT Vederian Lowe* (51; 98%), TE Hunter Henry* (45; 87%), WR Mack Hollins* (41; 79%), WR Kayshon Boutte* (39; 75%), RB Rhamondre Stevenson* (35; 67%), WR Stefon Diggs* (26; 50%), RB TreVeyon Henderson (25; 48%), TE Austin Hooper (16; 31%), WR DeMario Douglas (10; 19%), OT/TE Thayer Munford Jr. (10; 19%), FB/TE Jack Westover (8; 15%), WR Kyle Williams (5; 10%), DT/FB Khyiris Tonga (1; 2%)
The Patriots offensive line, which fielded a third different lineup in the last three games, saw left guard Jared Wilson return from the ankle injury he had suffered in Week 12 against Cincinnati. Wilson went wire-to-wire in his return, as did three other starting O-linemen. The lone exception was left tackle Vederian Lowe, who missed one snap in the second quarter after reporting as eligible on the previous play. He was replaced on the play by Thayer Munford Jr, who otherwise served as a jumbo tight end.
Also providing size on offense was defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga, who returned to the role of big-bodied fullback (on the same play that saw Lowe report as eligible as well). In general, however, the fullback position played a relatively quite role against a bottom-tier Buffalo run defense.
At the skill positions, the Patriots relied on their usual cast of characters. Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte and Stefon Diggs were...
