Mike Vrabel shares his message to Patriots after collapse, loss to Bills

The New England Patriots squandered a golden opportunity to clinch the AFC East division title when they blew a 24-7 halftime lead and ultimately suffered a 35-31 loss to the rival Buffalo Bills that dropped the Patriots to 11-3 on Sunday. 

Following the game, veteran Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs challenged his teammates "to go a little bit harder" in the days leading up to New England's Week 16 "Sunday Night Football" matchup at the 7-7 Baltimore Ravens. During a Monday morning appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the message he had for his team following Sunday's tough result.

Patriots "gotta pick the pieces back up" after collapse vs. Bills

"We gotta pick the pieces back up," Vrabel said, per Tom Carroll of Audacy. "We're 11-3, and we're gonna work our a— off to be 12-3. And I love coaching these guys, and it's not perfect, and none of us are, and this happens in the National Football League. It's [been] 83 days since we lost - 83 days, and it was a good run, and we have to start another one. We got to get back to work here and practice. But yeah, we will. We got a bunch of good dudes."

Sunday will go down as a team loss for a first-place Patriots side that performed like arguably the league's best overall roster over two quarters of action. Bills quarterback Josh Allen guided his offense on four touchdown drives in the contest's second half. To compare, the Patriots' only points of that half were tallied via a TreVeyon Henderson 65-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter. 

Mike Vrabel sees loss to Bills as "opportunity" for Patriots

The 10-4 Bills moved closer to the Patriots in the AFC East standings, while the 12-2 Denver Broncos now sit atop the overall conference standings. Buffalo plays at the 3-11 Cleveland Browns on the afternoon of Dec. 21. 

"Well, I think that it can be an opportunity that we have to learn from," Vrabel added about Sunday's result. "I've tried to stay consistent in my messaging and what we'll do. And we'll take a look at all the good stuff, and we'll have to fix the stuff that gets us beat, and we'll have to talk to these guys about making great in-game decisions and all the details and the techniques and the things that cost us, and try to get back and get healthy and get back on the road and win a game."

The upcoming prime-time showdown at M&T Bank Stadium will essentially be a must-win game for the Ravens. That said, the Patriots may need to earn a victory that night to avoid falling into a tie with Buffalo ahead of Christmas.