The New England Patriots are back from their bye and welcoming the Buffalo Bills to a snowy Gillette Stadium in Week 15.
As Mike Vrabel stated this week, it’s a championship week for his Patriots: a win would clinch the team its first AFC East title since 2019. It will be no easy task, however, as reigning MVP Josh Allen, James Cook and one of the league’s best run games stands on the other side.
Follow along live from Gillette Stadium throughout Sunday.
Live score: Patriots 24 : 21 Bills
Sunday, Dec. 14, 1 p.m. ET | Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA | Broadcast information | Inactives | Game day roster
First Quarter
The Bills won the toss and deferred, putting Drake Maye and the Patriots offense on the field first. The first play from scrimmage saw a handoff to Rhamondre Stevenson and the back break free up the middle for 15 yards. Then facing a 3rd-and-7, Maye perfectly placed a fade to Kayshon Boutte down the right sideline for 30 yards to quickly have New England in Buffalo territory. Quickly getting on the ball to avoid a challenge, New England moved the chains again on the ground to set up a goal-to-go situation. One play later, Drake Maye kept a zone read and found the end zone from eight yards out. [Patriots 7 : 0 Bills]
A 45-yard kick return by Ray Davis started the Bills first drive on the other side of the 50-yard line. A first-down deep completion to Brandin Cooks — that would’ve found Buffalo in the red zone — was overturned out of bounds which eventually set up an opening 3rd-and-5, where Allen’s pass was over an open Dalton Kincaid forcing a punt.
New England’s next drive started backed up at their own 12-yard line. After picking up an opening first-down on the ground, the unit faced a 3rd-and-1 where a pass from Maye to Mack Hollins fell incomplete.
Buffalo’s second drive of the afternoon began with a 3rd-and-10 following a false start, which led to New England bringing pressure and bringing Allen down for a sack.
Starting at midfield, Maye shrugged off a Bills defender in the backfield to avoid a sack and broke free for a 17-yard gain. A throw-back from Maye to Stevenson back to Maye then had the QB find Mack Hollins to move things into the red zone. Then set up in a goal-to-go situation, a second-down QB draw saw Maye break through the offensive line with his legs for another rushing touchdown. [Patriots 14 : 0 Bills]
Second Quarter
Buffalo turned the their run game to start the second quarter as they kept the ball on the ground for six straight plays to start the drive. Their first drop back resulted in a sack by Harold Landry to set up a 3rd-and-15, where a screen to Khalil Shakir picked up just seven yards.
A punt in New England territory by Buffalo led to Maye beginning his next possession at their own six-yard line. Picking up a pair of first downs behind their running backs before a run stuff set up a 2nd-and-15 — which Maye quickly overcame the next play hitting Hollins over the middle for 18 yards. The very next play, TreVeyon Henderson broke free through the line of scrimmage untouched for a 52-yard touchdown. [Patriots 21 : 0 Bills]
Ray Davis’ second-long kick return of the game (39 yards) plus a face mask penalty on Brenden Schooler started the Bills next drive in New England territory. A 12-yard run by James Cook picked up a first first-down before the Bills faced a 3rd-and-5 — where Dawson Knox got away from Craig Woodson in traffic for a 19-yard catch-and-run. On second-and-goal on the other side of the two-minute warning, Allen found Cook out of the backfield for a touchdown. [Patriots 21 : 7 Bills]
With 1:56 left in the half and two timeouts remaining, New England’s offense found themselves with a big drive as the Bills were set to get the ball out of halftime. In an opening 3rd-and-3, Maye found a wide open Hunter Henry downfield for 18 yards to get the drive moving with 32 seconds left. Over midfield, a scramble from Maye picked up 11 yards but was taken down in bounds to take the clock to 15 seconds. A deep shot to Hollins then fell incomplete in the end zone before a handoff to Stevenson picked up 11 yards before New England took their final timeout with two seconds left. Andy Borregales’ 36-yard field goal was then good. [Patriots 24 : 7 Bills]
Third Quarter
Kick coverage continued to be a problem for New England as Ray Davis took the second-half kickoff 58 yards to set the Bills offense up in plus territory. An 11-yard run by Cook picked up an initial first-down before Buffalo then faced a 3rd-and-3 where Allen kept it himself for 20 yards. Inside the 10-yard line, the Bills needed just two plays to find the end zone as Knox hauled one in from Josh Allen. [Patriots 24 : 14 Bills]
New England’s first drive of the second half opened with a 3rd-and-7, where Maye from the gun could not find a receiver before brought down for a sack. Bryce Baringer then punted after the offense’s first three-and-out of the day.
Back with the ball in a 10-point game, a 16-yard completion to Josh Palmer got the Bills drive started before Allen found Jackson Hawes to moved across midfield. Back-to-back touches for James Cook and Ray Davis picked up chunk gains to get the Bills offense inside the red zone — where a 3rd-and-5 pass was thrown away but a questionable holding call on Craig Woodson gave Buffalo a fresh set of downs. With a pass to Dalton Kincaid then setting Buffalo up at the two-yard line, they eventually faced a 3rd-and-goal from the three where a handoff to Cook was just short of the goal line — but a challenge by Sean McDermott led to it being overturned to a touchdown. [Patriots 24 : 21 Bills]
A long kick return from Kyle Williams was negated due to a holding call on Marte Mapu, which led to the Patriots starting their drive at just the 19-yard line. A first-down swing pass to Rhamondre Stevenson saw the back break initial contact to pick up 16 yards. Then facing a 3rd-and-4, Maye hung in the pocket to find Stefon Diggs over the middle for a key 16-yard gain. Over midfield, a near interception fell incomplete leading to a 3rd-and-25 after a false start and holding call — where a deep shot to Mack Hollins was intercepted inside the 10-yard line.
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