Bills - 35, Patriots - 31
Q. Just what was the biggest difference that you saw in the first half versus the second half?
MV: I mean, we weren't able to get any stops. When we had an opportunity to make a play, we weren't able to make it. Penalties. And that's how this game goes. A few small plays make the difference.
We were very prepared for this team to -- we were going to need 60 minutes to beat this team. This is a good football team. We had a lot of good football in there. And we had a lot of plays that, a few plays we'd like to have back that we'll have to learn from.
Q. With Roberts Spillane, you didn't have him as an active today, but we (indiscernible) saw him out there. Having him more of an emergency situation --
MV: Yeah, we felt like after going through the warmups and everything that that was what was going to be best for him today. And we need everybody, and certainly Robert. And we'll have to try to get as healthy as we can as quickly as we can.
Q. You talk about complementary football. How much was the return by Davis to start the second half, 58 yards, and some of the issues that you had with the kick return?
MV: That was a strength of ours. And we knew going in that it would be a good test and a great challenge. So again, they're too good to give them short fields. And turnover -- excuse me -- field position in games like this is critical, making them be able to drive it and somehow along the way get a stop.
So that wasn't the only play. That was certainly one that we needed to get back. And, again, that's been a strength of ours. I'm confident that it will be a strength of ours going forward.
Q. Two critical pass interference calls obviously went against you guys that led to touchdowns, and the (indiscernible) Carlton Davis, late flag on that. Wanted to get your reaction, what did you think about those calls?
MV: The same guy thought it was a penalty the same way. So, it's a judgment call. Whether I disagree with it or not doesn't matter. He called it. That's how this thing goes.
Q. The Bills only had 14 yards of offense in the first quarter, three punts and then five straight touchdowns. What changed, do you think, for them?
MV: They were able to get the running game going. We missed tackles. We didn't build a good enough wall. Didn't get off on third down. Weren't able to create any turnovers. And weren't getting any stops in the red zone.
It's no secret, you know what I mean? Called the same stuff, they called the same stuff. We just have to be able to take advantage of those opportunities that we get to get the drive stopped. Whether that's a penalty or one play or third-down conversion, we've just got to be able to learn from it.
Q. Is this an opportunity for your team to learn from this situation, second half? Is that basically what you told them after?
MV: Sure, that's exactly what I told them. We have an opportunity to improve like we have when we won, the same as today when we lost and came up short. There's a lot of good stuff in there that I'm proud of and that we'll be able to use as a positive, and a lot of stuff that we have to correct and make sure that we fix.
And we'll do that tomorrow and try to get as healthy as we can and put a plan together for Baltimore.
Q. Two straight weeks now where a lot of the offensive production has come in the first half. Any trends you're seeing in the second half from the offense?
MV: For me, today, I don't know if I'd be able to answer that. I thought, when the limited opportunities that they had, today we hit a bunch of big plays. So, then the drive that we needed our offense to get, I was confident, and I thought for sure that we'd take that football and go down and score a touchdown. And we just weren't able to. That's why I went for it.
Q. I know they're obviously leading the league in rushing. Specifically when you were in base defense what did you see there in the second half that wasn't working the way you wanted?
MV: This is a big, physical offensive line. And you have to be able to not give them any cracks or any holes in the wall. And if you have any, Cook finds them. We knew you'd have to get off blocks and have to have color separation and not show them creases. That's really what it comes down to.
Q. What did you see from them in the second half defensively that stymied you guys a bit offensively and kept you guys in check?
MV: We knew they were going to continue to pressure. They pressured and played zone. It wasn't enough for us to be able to -- I thought there were times where they pressured and we couldn't come clean or we weren't able to complete some passes, especially on third down when they pressured.
So we'll have to learn from it and we'll have to make sure that we're converting third downs.
Q. This isn't Josh Allen's first rodeo in these kinds of games -- dozens, couple of dozen. What is it about him, what do you see on maybe in film why he's able to do this sort of game in game out?
MV: Same thing everybody else sees. He's 6'5", 250 pounds, runs fast, hard to tackle, hard to get down on the ground. He has an accurate, strong arm. I'm giving you a dissertation on a league MVP.
Just watch all the games and know that it's the same as it was last week. Had a guy free. Weren't able to make the play. Last week's team had a guy free, we weren't able to make a play. That's why they drafted him and pay him $60 million. I don't know what to tell you.
Just exactly what we knew what it was going to be, that we were going to need to get a stop or be able to tackle and if we pressured and we came free -- so hopefully we get another opportunity to do that. But that won't be for, I don't know, but whenever we do we'll have to be ready for the quarterback that we have this week.
Q. You had some explosive runs from TreVeyon Henderson today. I'm curious what you saw from him, and what allowed him to be so effective on the field today?
MV: I thought we had a good plan. I thought our coaches had a good plan and did a great job. And we'll go from there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports