With the end of the NFL regular season approach fast, the cream of teams is starting to rise to the top. The New England Patriots, owners of an 11-3 record and the second playoff seed in the AFC, were thought to be among the best teams in football so far this season.

However, their 35-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills has cast some doubts over that status, at least in the eyes of the oddsmakers. The Patriots, after all, are heading into their Week 16 showdown with the Baltimore Ravens as underdogs for a second straight week, according to [FanDuel...

In a playoff like atmosphere at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, Drake Maye and the Patriots offense came out firing.

Over the first two quarters, Maye completed 9-of-11 passes for 108 yards while generating +0.59 EPA per play as the Patriots offense continued the trend of being the best first-half offense in football. The success led to them taking a 24-7 lead into halftime, but things quickly came crashing down.

As Josh Allen and the Bills offense could not be stopped over the second-half, Maye and New England could not find any rhythm as they ran just 18 second-half plays. In...

Even though they played a strong first half to build a 24-7 lead, the New England Patriots were ultimately unable to seal the deal against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. When the final whistle was blown, they had been defeated with a final score of 35-31.

Despite the result, there are silver linings to take away from the game. Among them is the fact that the Patriots seemingly escaped without any major injury issues. So, let’s assess the damage after rewatching the game.

Patriots injury analysis: Week 15

CB Carlton Davis III: On the first play of the Bills’...

The New England Patriots were in the race for the top seed in the AFC for several weeks during their 10-game winning streak, but with three games left in the regular seasons their odds have taken a massive hit. After reaching as high as 59% on the Athletic playoff predictor, the chances of the conference running through Gillette Stadium are now down to 10%.

New England’s 35-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday had a major impact on that, but the Patriots were in a difficult situation to begin with entering Week 15. The Denver Broncos, who are now...

The New England Patriots were unable to close the deal on Sunday, losing to the Buffalo Bills at home and failing to lock up the AFC East. They will now have to wait at least until Week 17 and more realistically Week 18 before doing so.

On Monday night, they will get a chance to scout one of their upcoming opponents.

Monday

8:15 p.m. ET

Miami Dolphins (6-7) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6): Go Dolphins! Miami qualifying for the playoffs still seems unlikely, so this outcome would not move the needle too much. It would, however, hurt the Steelers’...

A 53-man roster spot has opened in Foxborough to begin the week.

The New England Patriots waived linebacker Caleb Murphy on Monday, the organization announced, making room for an impending arrival.

Murphy, 26, appeared in five games after being claimed off the wire from the Los Angeles Chargers in October. The 6-foot-3, 254-pounder totaled 79 snaps on special teams over that span in a core role and recorded a pair of tackles.

Originally entering the NFL as an undrafted free agent with head coach Mike Vrabel’s former Tennessee Titans in 2023, Murphy has checked into 19 career games. The two-time...

With just hours to go in the NFL’s Pro Bowl fan voting, New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has some company from his own team when it comes to leading contenders from specific positional groups.

While Maye was the overall leader in total fan votes as of Monday afternoon, Patriots rookie Julian Ashby was pacing all AFC long snappers.

Patriots beat writer Christopher Price of the Boston Globe shared that a host of New England players were among the top-five AFC vote getters at their positions on Monday afternoon.

They included center Garrett Bradbury, safety Jaylinn Hawkins, cornerback Marcus Jones,...

The Buffalo Bills are riding high after Sunday’s comeback win over the New England Patriots, but a Hall of Fame wide receiver pumped the brakes on their Super Bowl aspirations.

Buffalo joins New England as one of the AFC’s top contenders after keeping the AFC East up for grabs with a 35-31 victory. While the cards could align for the Bills’ first Super Bowl title in franchise history, Cris Carter made the case against them on Monday’s “Up & Adams.”

“Defensively, they’re not a championship team,” Carter said of the Bills. “They don’t have a No. 1 receiver, so we...

Drake Maye has continued to dominate the Pro Bowl fan vote near the finish line.

The NFL released another update before fan voting closes on Monday night. As was the case when they revealed the first voting tally two weeks ago, Maye leads the pack.

Maye has more Pro Bowl votes (104,417) than any other NFL player, as of Monday afternoon. Courtesy of a leaderboard shared by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the New England Patriots quarterback is ahead of Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (92.573).

Fellow MVP candidates Josh Allen (85,260) and Matthew Stafford (84,539) join Maye as the...

The New England Patriots looked well on their way to their first AFC East title in six years at halftime of Week 15 vs. the Buffalo Bills.

Then, Josh Allen took over.

The Patriots not only failed to clinch the division, but still haven’t officially wrapped up a playoff berth, though that is still a foregone conclusion and will almost certainly happen in Week 16.

NFL senior writer Zak Keefer of The Athletic said on Monday, however, that Sunday afternoon’s result at Gilette Stadium proved that the Bills are as dangerous as ever.

“If the first half felt like the...

The Patriots are looking to bounce back after suffering a tough 35-31 loss to the Bills on Sunday.

New England will travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens this Sunday night. The Patriots were underdogs heading into the game against Buffalo, and the same can be said as they prepare to face Baltimore.

As of Monday, FanDuel listed the Ravens as 2.5-point favorites over the Patriots.

Baltimore is coming off a 24-0 win over the Bengals on Sunday, improving its record to 7-7.

The Ravens faced a challenging beginning to the season, with quarterback Lamar Jackson sidelined for three games....

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has challenged his kick coverage unit to be a top-five group this season. Through 13 games, they largely answered the bell.

But as a Bills team that ranked seventh in kickoff return — averaging 31.5 yards per kickoff return over the last three weeks, largely due to returner Ray Davis — came to Foxboro on Sunday, New England came out on the wrong side of the kicking game battle.

As the Patriots jumped out to a 21-0 first-half lead, it was Davis who ultimately helped start Buffalo’s comeback. After taking his first two kick returns...