In the end, it just wasn’t their party. Or parties.

No, the game at Orchard Park, N.Y., didn’t belong to the Patriots; it was meant for the Buffalo Bills and the emotion of the healing Damar Hamlin. Nor was the NFL party that is coming up beginning next weekend, dubbed by former Patriots coach Bill Parcells as “The Tournament.”

Unfortunately for the Patriots Suday, the two parties were linked. They had to crash one Sunday in order to get an invite to the other next week.

Instead, they crash landed, and a very, very interesting off-season is ahead, and who knows what could be lurking in the shadows.

Let’s not kid ourselves. This was no blown opportunity, once the Miami Dolphins had wrapped up their win over the New York Jets in the final minute in south Florida with about three minutes left in Buffalo and New England down 12 en route to an eventual 35-23 season-ending loss.

Miami will be the sacrificial lamb to get blown out by the Bills next week on Orchard Park the same way the Patriots would have for a second straight year.

The Patriots were no playoff team. Now, that being said, they probably should have been, had it not been for the bonehead final play at Las Vegas or the late fumble vs. Cincinnati. But in reality, only because someone in the AFC had to qualify for the seventh seed. In truth, the best team at this point that isn’t getting in are the Pittsburgh Steelers, who put on a late charge and found their next quarterback in Kenny Pickett.

“Today we missed some opportunites, gave up four big plays, went 0 for 3 in the red area,” Belichick said. “Proud of the way our guys competed and prepared, but in the end, our players and our coaches, it just wasn’t enough today.”

The Patriots this season were so unlike their teams of the glory days it wasn’t even funny. Their special teams were horrendous, and Sunday they gave up not one but two kickoff returns for scores, fueling an already emotionally charged Bills team and crowd, knowing their fallen teammate, Demar Hamlin, was watching from a hospital bed in Cincinnati.

They’re embroiled in what seems from the outside looking in like a petty dispute with their punter, Jake Bailey, who also kicks off and likely would have boomed kicks out of the end zone to prevent those returns. New England was missing arguably its second best special teamer, injured Brendan Schooler. Its best, Matthew Slater, made a big play later in the game to force a fumble but was emotional afterward at the podium because he knew this was likely the final game of a potential Hall of Fame career. His sidekick, safety Devin McCourty, was more matter of fact – and he recovered the fumble helped caused by Slater and also had an interception – but he, too is likely done.

And so are the Patriots as we likely know them.

“I was proud of the way our team competed,” Belichick said. “In the end, we didn’t make enough plays to win. They (the Bills) made some big plays.”

And what of this mess of a season?

“Dealing with this game,” Belichick said. “We’ll deal with all that later.”

Perhaps that will be this morning when Belichick is available by zoom only.

But that answer won’t satisfy the owner, for certain. The Patriots offense was unleashed, finally, over the last three weeks and quarterback Mac Jones seemed more comfortable and yesterday threw for three TDs. But Jones did throw three costly interceptions that prevented a Patriots comeback.

“It’s the same story here,” Jones said. “Toward the end of the season we have to play better, we have to win this game to get a chance to move on. That’s how every season is going to be in the NFL. You either get close to making the playoffs and you have to win out, or you get there and either win or go home. We didn’t do that today.”

Too little too late. Jones admitted the Patriots played “with a different style than we did before, more vertical and in the pocket and stuff like that.”

Well, the “stuff like that” will be the focus of an entire off-season, starting with who the offensive play caller will be next year. Belichick last March when pressed about that at the league meetings gave the answer “We won’t be calling any (plays) for awhile.”

Ten months later, that’s the case once again.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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