Patriots vs. Bills 2013: New England fans concerned; Buffalo fans encouraged after Week 1

The Patriots may have won their Week 1 game, but Bills fans were happier with their team's performance.

By Matthew Fairburn Sep 9, 2013, 8:20am EDT

The Patriots survived an upset in Orchard Park, N.Y on Sunday, edging out the Bills 23-21 on a last-second field goal.

The win left Patriots fans sweating it out. Despite the final score, Bills fans may actually have been happier with Sunday's game than Patriots fans were.

Greg Knopping of Pats Pulpit was concerned with New England's offensive output and is hoping the team gets Rob Gronkowski back sooner rather than later.

Nonetheless, there were a fair share of concerns raised from this game. The Patriots offense struggled mightily at times, and failed to generate consistent momentum. The Bills put most of their attention on Amendola and Edelman defensively, and rookie receiver Kenbrell Thompkins struggled when targeted. The Bills got after it defensively, got their hits in on Brady, and disrupted the rhythm of the offense. The Patriots need Rob Gronkowski back... badly.

The first game of the Doug Marrone era in Buffalo has Bills fans optimistic about the future. The defensive effort was solid against the Patriots, and E.J. Manuel performed well in his first career start at quarterback.

Matt Warren of Buffalo Rumblings thought mistakes ultimately buried the Bills on Sunday.

Buffalo couldn't overcome their many mistakes, as penalties, turnovers and drops doomed the Bills. After a Stevie Johnson drop on third down late in the fourth quarter which would have given the Bills a first down, the Bills didn't touch the ball again until after the Patriots' final score. Despite winning the turnover battle, Buffalo's 10 penalties for 75 yards hurt the team's ability to pull out the win.