I used to think that too, until I read a book some years ago that actually looked at the real German casualties of the troops fighting against the 3rd Army (among other things). Not even close to those reported in the book “the War as I knew it”. much less both in tanks and casualties of men.
What was odd about it was the source material was from the German archives...which were stored in the US. No one had bothered to actually check the primary sources.
I seem to recall that the 3rd army was the worst in terms of exaggeration, the 1st army under Hodge had the best figures in terms of estimates of German casualties vs. what the Germans internal reports said.
If you consider that Patton was stopped from September to December before Metz by very weak forces, he was not all that skilled a Infantry officer. A very good cavalry officer, exactly the guy to exploit a breakthrough, but he had his blind spots.
In his relief strike to Bastogne, he faced one fairly week Falschimjager division, the 5th. He was trying to make it by the 25th, specifically for headlines. The delayed him until the 26th.