The New England Patriots failing to knock off the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium was expected on Sunday.
However, what wasn’t expected was a 3-11 Patriots team going on the road and giving quarterback Josh Allen and the playoff-contending Bills all they could handle in a 24-21 loss.
The Patriots refused to be served up on a charcuterie board as mere fodder for Allen’s MVP campaign. They came out in a tough environment and made “Superman” Allen look human by holding him to 154 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Granted, the defense couldn’t do much about Buffalo’s rushing attack with James Cook grinding them to dust by averaging 9.1 yards per carry with 100 rushing yards and one touchdown.
But the offensive turnovers hurt the Patriots more than Cook.
They led going into the half with no turnovers, but in the second half, they turned the ball over three times. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson coughed up a fumble, and Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye fumbled as well on a backward lateral pass attempt.
Maye also threw an interception in the end zone that killed a scoring opportunity for the Patriots.
Outside of the backbreaking plays, it’s hard to not feel encouraged by what the Patriots did on the field. The offense came out aggressive and punched the Bills in the mouth early with back-to-back touchdown drives.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt even drew up multiple designed running plays for Maye, which was a major point of contention last week. It felt like the team was playing it too safe and avoiding putting the ball in Maye’s hands in short-yardage situations. That clearly wasn’t the case against the Bills, and it paid off for New England.
Maye wasn’t perfect, but he was still solid with 261 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Wideout Kayshon Boutte had a strong effort as well with five catches for a team-high 95 yards and one touchdown.
Take away the turnovers, and the Patriots might have upset the Bills at Orchard Park. This was a promising effort that the Patriots can be proud of this week, unlike last week’s 30-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
The Patriots team that showed up against the Bills might be a flawed football team, but they can hang with any team in the league. We’ll see if they can match that energy next week in a home game against the visiting Los Angeles Chargers.
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