The defense by far did not shine, but the bottom line is they held when it mattered most and gave the offense an opportunity to win the game and they failed. That's without taking into account the bad calls, the missed calls (the Pats o-line gets away with murder in order to protect the NFL's Golden Boy), the Fitz fumble at the Bills 13 and the Jackson fumble at the Pats 1. Also this was the leagues top offense, that was averaging over 400 yards and 30 points a game, I can't fault the defense for this loss.
Stevie made a comment on why were throwing to a rookie with the game on the line:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/86...-loss-patriots
"I don't think it was the wrong play. But just the whole thing leading up to it," Johnson said, noting that he, receiver Donald Jones and tight end Scott Chandler were more familiar at running the route.
"We had people in positions where maybe they shouldn't have been. So who knows what would've happened if it was Donald, me or Scott there. So it's no blame on T.J. at all, because he's never run that route in practice or in a game."
"You've got to go to the players that give you the best chance at winning the game. And if we don't make it, then we don't make it."
I totally agree. And yes, this does fall on Gailey's shoulders as well.