Patriots-Bills Stock Watch: The Pats defense did a good job against Josh Allen, originally featured on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots didn’t beat the Buffalo Bills in Sunday’s Week 16 game at Highmark Stadium, but it was still an encouraging performance in more ways than one for head coach Jerod Mayo’s team.

The Patriots were heavy underdogs early on, but they played pretty tough against the AFC East-leading Bills, even taking a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. A difficult second half, marked by numerous self-inflicted errors, ultimately led to a 24:14 defeat for the Patriots.

The Patriots’ defense gave up just 17 points (Buffalo’s defense also scored a touchdown) and largely held Bills quarterback and NFL MVP favorite Josh Allen at bay. Allen threw for 154 yards — his fourth-lowest total in a game this season — with one touchdown and one interception.

There were also some encouraging aspects regarding the performance of the Patriots’ offense. The running game gained 126 yards (4.2 per carry) and scored a touchdown. New England also went 7-12 on third down after going 0-6 last week. But the game was lost in the second half when the Patriots’ offense turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions. You can’t do that against an elite opponent and expect to win.

The Patriots now have a 3-12 record heading into Saturday’s Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium. But before we take a look at that game, Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry share their “Stock Up” and “Stock Down” picks from Sunday’s loss to Buffalo:

Stock up

DeMarcus Covington, defensive coordinator

The Bills’ offense scored a combined 90 points over the last two weeks, but that unit scored just 17 against the Patriots’ defense. New England’s secondary did a good job covering Buffalo’s wideouts and tight ends as well. Bills running back James Cook led the team with just 26 receiving yards.

Perry: “Let’s go to DeMarcus Covington. I think that’s the kind of plan we put in place, especially where – I don’t know if you noticed watching it on TV – but watching this game, especially early on, it looked like Josh Allen.” He wasn’t sure , where he wanted to go with football. And he’s gotten a lot better at it later in his career, making quick decisions and making the right throws.

“There were a lot of scramble drills for Josh today. I know that’s part of his game. But I give them credit for what they did, especially in the secondary, because it wasn’t like they immediately had a lot of pressure on him to create those messy situations, at No. 2 #3, reading back, should I just extend the throw? Credit for that…Any time you can hold a team that has scored 90 points in the last two games to 24, that’s a pretty good job.”

Kyle Dugger, security

Dugger led the Patriots with six solo tackles (one for a loss).

Curran: “I’m going to go with Kyle Dugger and stay on the defensive side of the ball and step him up because we’ve been weakening him a little bit the last few weeks because of his performance and he’s really had an outstanding game.” I thought today.

Perry: “I agree with you. He made some nice hits and was part of the plan that slowed down Josh Allen.”

Jerod Mayo

It’s an impressive feat for the Patriots to go on the road in harsh weather conditions and only lose a three-point lead to one of the league’s top Super Bowl contenders. You could call it a moral victory, but the bottom line is that the Patriots played much better than they did last week against a worse opponent, the Arizona Cardinals.

Curran: “I think Jerod Mayo is getting a boost because his team showed up and wasn’t in disarray.”

Inventory decreased

Rhamondre Stevenson, running back

Stevenson ran for 60 yards on 12 carries, including a 14-yard touchdown run that gave the Patriots a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. However, he had a costly fumble in the third quarter and was part of another fumble that led to a Bills touchdown in the fourth quarter. Stevenson leads all non-QBs with seven fumbles (three lost) this season.

Perry: “I will vote for Rhamondre Stevenson. I don’t blame him 100 percent for the back pass into the end zone, but man, it’s a bad time to just get a shot right off the chest plate or whatever happened.” And then Antonio Gibson fumbled too, but at least he did it again.

“I don’t know what you do with Stevenson coming forward. I think he’s made just seven errors this season. For a guy who’s supposed to be one of your best players, it just looks difficult.”