The New England Patriots lost their Week 16 contest 24-21 to the Buffalo Bills, falling to 3-12 on the year.

Here you can find out who caught our attention during the live broadcast, for better or for worse.

winner

QB Drake Maye in the first half: Maye came out red-hot in the first half, outplaying MVP favorite Josh Allen, even as Buffalo challenged New England’s receivers in man coverage and threw pressure looks at the rookie. Maye showed composure against the blitz and capped a first drive touchdown with a perfectly placed ball down the right sideline to Kayshon Boutte.

On New England’s next scoring drive, Maye overcame two penalties and moved the chains with both his arms and legs while posting +0.35 EPA/game in the first two quarters.

CB Jonathan Jones & CB Christian Gonzalez: New England played man coverage over 60 percent of the day and New England’s corners were exceptional against Josh Allen and the Bills’ offense. Without Marcus Jones, Jonathan Jones was largely able to handle Khalil Shakir in the slot. It was a classy performance from the veteran, who held his top wideout to two catches on five targets and recorded a pass breakup in the end zone.

Elsewhere in the secondary, Christian Gonzalez was on the outside as usual and didn’t allow a catch. Alex Austin also made it into the stat list with an early third down pass breakup.

S/LB Marte Mapu: After nursing a healthy injury over the past two weeks, Mapu was back in the lineup while Jabrill Peppers (hamstring) was sidelined. In 43 snaps, Mapu’s day was highlighted by an interception by Josh Allen – which he faltered as a returner, resulting in him being tackled at the one-yard line.

But Mapu was active elsewhere as he nearly recorded another INT when he ran a crosser for a pass breakup and applied a pressure that resulted in a third-down sack.

loser

QB Drake Maye in the second half: There was still some good from Maye in the second half, including a nice 22-yard off-platform completion to Boutte and (finally) getting involved in the planned quarterback run play. But after an early shot over the middle to an open bout, Maye had more missed shots and was involved in two turnovers that proved costly in the second half.

On the interception, a scissors approach resulted in Kendrick Bourne and Austin Hooper being in the same area, seemingly not allowing the tight end to fully complete his route. Maye threw an anticipation ball and then allowed the Bills defender to come in. The reverse pass fumble was an all-around mess that took place near their own goal line.

OT Demontrey Jacobs: Jacobs played on the right side against Von Miller and gave up five pressures in 16 encounters against the veteran. Jacobs also failed to cut Greg Rousseau on the aforementioned reverse pass, resulting in a Bills defensive touchdown and condemned to two false starts. If Caedan Wallace is ready to go next week, the door is open at right tackle.

Run defense: James Cook needed just 11 carries to reach the 100-yard mark, as New England’s usual problems in the ground game came to light with an early 46-yard touchdown run by Cook. Overall, Buffalo’s backs and Josh Allen combined for 172 yards on 28 carries (6.1 yards per clip). The Bills finished the game with a 52 percent success rate on the floor, and their backs ran just four times in the first half. It seemed like they were giving the Patriots a solid performance.

Honorable Mentions

• We thank Kayshon Boutte for bouncing back after a series of poor performances. He racked up a career-high 95 receiving yards (31 came at the end of the first half) and got his deep bond with Maye back on track with a sweet 28-yard touchdown on the opening drive.
• Rhamondre Stevenson totaled 5.0 yards per carry and had a big 14-yard touchdown for breaking tackles. But the defense put the ball on the ground for the seventh (!) time this season.
• Rookie wide receiver check-in: 0 catches for Ja’Lynn Polk (3 snaps) and Javon Baker (8 snaps, 1 target)
• Outside of Jacobs, things seemed more manageable on offense (37 percent pressure rate) with the same starting five. They struggled to find answers against the Lightning at times, and Layden Robinson was listed with the second-most pressures (three).
• Even though New England’s mush rush prioritized containment against Josh Allen, Jeremiah Pharms still managed a team-high six pressures and her only sack on 20 pass rushes.
• Christian Elliss continues to impress on passing downs as he scored a PBU downfield and also had run stuff.
• On special teams, an aggressive call from Jerod Mayo and Jeremy Springer with a successful fake punt deep in their own territory. Dell Pettus picked up the yardage, while Antonio Gibson also managed a 42-yard kick return to open things up.