FOXBORO — The Patriots talked about all of it week: To beat a group just like the Payments and a quarterback like reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen, they wanted to execute for a full 60 minutes.
Their protection couldn’t muster half of that on Sunday.
After forcing three straight punts to open the sport, New England surrendered 5 consecutive Allen-led landing drives. Buffalo erased a 21-0 deficit to win 35-31 at Gillette Stadium and delay the Patriots’ coronation as the brand new champions of the AFC East.
The 35 factors have been probably the most the Patriots have allowed in a recreation this season.
“I imply, we weren’t in a position to get any stops,” Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel stated. “After we had a chance to make a play, we weren’t in a position to make it. Penalties. And that’s how this recreation goes. A couple of small performs make the distinction. We have been very ready for this group to — we have been going to want 60 minutes to beat this group. This can be a good soccer group. We had a whole lot of good soccer in there. And we had a whole lot of performs that — just a few performs we’d prefer to have again that we’ll should study from.”
The Payments’ first two landing drives got here off brief fields created by particular groups miscues — first a Brenden Schooler facemask that set Buffalo up at New England’s 42-yard line, then a 58-yard Ray Davis kickoff return to open the second half. The ultimate three featured drive-extending penalties by defensive backs Craig Woodson (defensive holding), Marcus Jones (defensive cross interference) and Carlton Davis (DPI) on third or fourth down.
Buffalo confronted eight third downs through the 5 scoring marches and transformed seven of them. These conversions included two touchdowns: a scrambling Allen strike to tight finish Dawson Knox on third-and-goal from the 14 and a Prepare dinner plunge on third-and-goal from the three.
The Payments additionally went 5-for-5 within the purple zone, excluding a sequence of game-ending kneeldowns, in a comeback harking back to the one they staged towards the Cincinnati Bengals one week earlier. In that recreation, Allen and Co. scored three touchdowns within the closing 7:33 of regulation to win 39-34. Buffalo additionally scored 16 factors within the closing 4 minutes of its season opener (a 41-40 victory over Baltimore) and closed its Week 14 win over Tampa Bay with a 14-0 fourth-quarter run.
The primary Patriots-Payments assembly adopted an analogous script, as nicely. Consecutive Buffalo scoring drives tied that Week 5 recreation late earlier than Andy Borregales received it for New England with a walkoff discipline purpose.
“That’s sort of how a whole lot of their video games have gone,” Patriots linebacker Jack Gibbens stated. “In the event you watch them, once they’ve received nice gamers over there, received the reigning MVP, they’re by no means out of it, they usually have been in a position to run it on us just a little bit. We had them in some essential conditions, simply didn’t should play that we wanted to get off the sphere a pair instances, and we have been making these within the first half.”
In that first half, the Patriots outgained the Payments 283-76 and held a 16-5 edge in first downs. After halftime, Buffalo racked up 273 yards to New England’s 100 and 17 first downs to the Pats’ three. Prepare dinner rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns at a 4.9 yards-per-carry clip, with 75 of these coming within the second half towards a worn-down Patriots protection.
New England was enjoying with out two of its most vital defensive gamers in defensive deal with Milton Williams (ankle), who has but to return from injured reserve, and linebacker Robert Spillane, who dressed for the sport however didn’t play as he nursed a foot damage. Davis, a beginning cornerback, additionally missed a part of the second half with a groin situation earlier than returning for the ultimate three sequence.
The Patriots’ lone second-half cease — a three-and-out with lower than three minutes to play — got here too late. The Payments’ ensuing punt pinned the Patriots’ offense at its personal 17-yard line, and Drake Maye’s fourth-down cross to Stefon Diggs was batted down by Joey Bosa. Buffalo picked up one first down three performs later to ice the sport.
Requested about Allen, who threw three landing passes and added 48 yards on 11 carries, Vrabel quipped: “That’s why they pay him $60 million. I don’t know what to let you know. Simply precisely what we knew it was going to be.”
Regardless of the loss, the Patriots stay within the driver’s seat within the AFC East at 11-3, one recreation up on the 10-4 Payments. Their protection will face one other problem subsequent week towards Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, who routed Cincinnati 24-0 on Sunday, however a number of gamers stated this nosedive didn’t diminish their confidence.
“It’s nonetheless excessive,” edge rusher Ok’Lavon Chaisson stated. “It’s nonetheless 10. No, that’s not altering.”
“I don’t suppose our confidence is shaken in any respect,” exterior linebacker Harold Landry stated. “I imply, we nonetheless had an opportunity to win the sport, and we didn’t actually execute, in any respect, at a excessive stage, defensively, on the finish of the sport. However I don’t suppose our confidence is shaken in any respect. Like I stated, that is simply a chance for us to return in, study, actually take a look at ourselves and simply enhance.”
