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- REWATCH: Bills-Patriots on NFL+ Premium
- Allen, Bills overcome slow start, dominate Patriots in second half. Buffalo opened Sunday’s AFC East bout with back-to-back three-and-outs and three straight punts. The slow start got the Bills behind the eight-ball, trailing, 21-0, midway through the second quarter. Then Josh Allen heated up. Buffalo scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives, including four straight to open the second half, flipping a big deficit into a lead. Allen ripped rifles all over the Patriots' secondary. The reigning MVP went 19-of-28 passing for 193 yards and three touchdowns. He added 11 rushes for 48 yards. At halftime, Buffalo had just 76 total yards and five first downs. It finished with 349 yards and 22 first downs. This offense can flip the script that fast. When James Cook (107 yards, two TDs) is ripping off positive runs, and Allen avoids turnovers, the Bills offense is a beast to contain. Even if you keep the Bills down for a half, they’re never out of it.
- Patriots collapse on both sides of the ball. Through the first two quarters, Drake Maye looked like an MVP, ripping apart the Buffalo defense with his arm and legs. The second-year quarterback authored three scoring drives on the first four possessions, including two rushing touchdowns. Couple that with TreVeyon Henderson’s 52-yard touchdown dash, and the Pats looked like they were going to run away from their division rival. However, the defense turned into a sieve in the second half. The Pats couldn’t pressure Allen regularly, allowing him to rip apart the secondary, and the run D got leaky. New England’s porous red zone defense reared its head once again, allowing Buffalo TDs on its first five red zone drives. Outside of a Henderson 65-yard touchdown blast, the offense did next to nothing in the second half. New England went three-and-out twice, and Maye threw an arm-punt. The QB threw for 108 yards in the first two quarters, but just 47 in the final two. With a chance for a comeback bid late, the Pats earned just five yards, turning it over on downs on four plays.
- Division race heats up. With a chance to clinch the AFC East Sunday, Mike Vrabel eschewed talk of Sunday being a shirt-and-hats game. His young squad showed why the head coach wasn’t getting ahead of himself. The Pats built a big lead and looked to run away with the division early. However, the faltering on both sides of the ball showed how far Vrabel’s young squad still has to go. Against an MVP player like Allen, it’s never over. On the flip side, the Bills showed why they are never out of it. A defense that couldn’t get a stop early made massive plays late. Joey Bosa continued to play a central role, deflecting a Maye pass late to force a turnover. Falling to 11-3, the Pats still control their path to the division title. Next Gen Stats gives them a probability of winning the AFC East at 63%. The Bills solidified their playoff spot, and have a 37% probability of overtaking the Pats in the division.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Bills-Patriots (via NFL Pro): In the first half, Josh Allen averaged just 2.4 air yards per attempt, failing to complete a pass over 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Allen significantly increased his aggressiveness in the second half, averaging 9.8 air yards per attempt and completing 4 of 7 downfield passes for 91 yards and a touchdown.
NFL Research: The Patriots had a 124-1 record when leading by 21-plus points at any point in a home game in team history entering Week 15. New England had won 104 straight home games when leading by 21-plus points.