Bills avoid upset scare by forcing three turnovers to put Patriots away

ORCHARD PARK – In the week leading up to Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, Dion Dawkins talked about how happy everyone associated with the Buffalo Bills is these days.

And why not? The Bills had won 11 of their first 14 games, they had scored 30 points in an NFL-record eight straight games, they had clinched their fifth straight AFC East Division title before Thanksgiving leftovers ran out, and Josh Allen had recently gotten engaged to a Hollywood starlet.

But during the first half in bitterly cold Highmark Stadium, Happy was the strongest emotion felt by anyone among the Bills and their fans as the Patriots – one of the worst teams in the NFL, entering the day eight games behind Buffalo in the standings – you Essentially had control of both sides of the ball and took a 14-7 lead in the warm locker room.

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In the end, the difference in talent between the two teams finally became apparent in the second half, as the Bills tied the game on their first possession of the third quarter and then three consecutive New England turnovers led to a field goal and Taron Johnson capitalized on a return pass in the end zone for a defensive touchdown that gave the Bills a 24-14 lead, and that proved to be the decisive blow in a 24-21 victory that was so much harder to achieve than anyone expected had.

To be fair, the Bills’ defense was down four starters with Rasul Douglas, Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin and Matt Milano all inactive due to injuries, and that was certainly an issue early on. Still, this is a New England offense that has struggled all season – even with the improved play provided by rookie quarterback Drake Maye – and there were times when Buffalo was just terrible.

To their credit, they made things clear after the first two possessions, at least until late in the game when the Patriots marched down the field and ended up making things way too interesting. After conceding 86 points in their last two games, it’s clear that the Bills need to get healthy quickly because this unit doesn’t seem to be strong enough heading into the playoffs and that will be their downfall.

Consider this a bullet dodged as the Bills solidified their control of the No. 2 seed in the AFC and now lead the Steelers and Ravens with two games remaining. All they need to clinch the title is a win, either at home against the Jets this week or at New England in Week 18.

If there’s one thing that sums up the first half of the Bills defense, it’s this. The Patriots came into the game averaging 17.4 first downs per game, 29th in the NFL, but in the first two quarters they had 17. Oh, wait, here’s something else: The Patriots tied for third down Down percentage ranked 29th at 34.2%, but they converted their first five in the first half en route to their two touchdowns.

It was one thing to be beaten by the Rams by 44 points and the Lions by 42 points, but allowing New England to move as effortlessly as they did on the first two possessions was outrageous.

While Maye clearly looks like a future star in the NFL, the Patriots have been anemic all season, but the Bills made them look like the Patriots from Tom Brady’s heyday early in the game.

The day started with terrible coverage on the opening kickoff returned by Antonio Gibson to the 42, and the Patriots only needed six plays to score when Maye threw a great pass to Kayshon Boutte, who beat Kaiir Elam in man coverage and an excellent one Catch for a 28-yard touchdown.

After a Bills punt that pinned the Patriots at the 9, Maye put together an impressive 16-play drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes and ended with Rhamondre Stevenson beating the Bills defense for a 14-yard touchdown -Run broke through. They converted two third-and-longs and were awarded a third-down conversion due to an offside penalty against AJ Epenesa.

You would have thought that the world’s largest noise-cancelling headphones were installed over the stadium, as quiet as it was at that moment.

If the Bills ever needed a spark, they got it from James Cook when he broke off a 46-yard touchdown run four plays after kickoff. But that was the only high point for the offense, as Allen finished the half just 9 of 17 for 78 yards and an interception. The Bills had the ball for just 9:40 and were 100 yards behind.

However, things took a drastic turn in the third round. The Bills even pulled ahead with 5:19 in the quarter, and Cook was once again the key player on a nine-play, 68-yard drive. He started with a 25-yard run and finished it with a 4-yard TD pass to the left side of the end zone on a ball that looked like it was going over his head.

It was Cook’s 16th TD in a single season, which ranks second in team history behind OJ Simpson (23 in 1975).

Buffalo then took the lead for the first time when Terrel Bernard forced a Stevenson fumble, which Dorian Williams recovered at the Patriots’ 42-yard drive, and Tyler Bass kicked a 50-yard field goal when the offense failed to score could take full advantage.

The crucial point came early in the fourth when New England was tied back to its 12 facing second-and-8 when Maye attempted to throw a pass to his right to Stevenson, who was well behind the line of scrimmage . It bounced off his body and Johnson fell alertly on it in the end zone, giving him a touchdown and a 24-14 lead.

New England didn’t go quietly, however. It marched 75 yards in 13 plays until Maye threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Henry with 1:13 left, but Khalil Shakir recovered the onside kick and the Bills were able to play out the rest of the game.

Sal Maiorana has been covering the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social. Sign up for his Bills Blast newsletter here: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

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Bills avoid upset scare by forcing three turnovers to put Patriots away

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