Pats Pulpit
Gillette Stadium had not been home to the AFC East champions since the 2019 season.
The wait didn’t end there on Sunday. The New England Patriots saw a 21-point lead, a 10-game win streak and an opportunity to clinch the division slip away with a 35-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Here’s a glance back on the 1 p.m. ET kickoff as head coach Mike Vrabel’s side moves closer to January with an 11-3 record.
As snowflakes headed to Foxborough, so did a Bills team that had won the AFC East in five consecutive years. No hat and T-shirt followed for Drake Maye.
The Patriots quarterback completed 14-of-23 passes for a season-low 155 yards with one interception on Sunday. As a rusher, he made two visits to the end zone in the first quarter before the switch flipped.
Taking the field in “11” personnel, the opening drive spanned eight plays and 73 yards on the way to a read-option keeper in the low red zone. A punt arrived next time out for offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ group. But a 17-yard scramble, double-pass trickery and a designed shotgun draw would be the response for a 14-0 advantage. It grew to 21 unanswered points.
A field goal made it a 24-7 lead by halftime. By then, 80 percent of third downs had been converted. All the while, just a pair of passes had hit the turf on the way to Maye averaging 9.8 yards per throw and 10.8 yards per run. After the break, however, sustained possessions proved tough to find for the Patriots. Not for the Bills.
Maye was picked off by veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White on a third-and-25 deep shot. New England twice faced deficits in the fourth quarter. A pass through the hands of tight end Hunter Henry sent the punt team on with 5:19 remaining. The football returned with 2:43 to play, but a turnover on downs was the result.
New England’s wide receiver unit combined for eight catches against a defense missing Christian Benford due to a toe injury. Buffalo’s top cornerback had intercepted passes in consecutive games before going from questionable to inactive 90 minutes prior to kickoff.
Kayshon Boutte got things underway with a diving 30-yard pickup down the right sideline versus speedy rookie corner Maxwell Hairston. That marked his lone reception. It also marked the longest aerial connection of the day for the wideout room.
The LSU product started alongside former Bills. Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins combined for 67 receiving yards over the course of seven connections. The latter climbed the ladder on a dig route for 18 yards, while the former crossed underneath for 16 yards to move the chains on a third-and-4.
The Bills entered Sunday allowing 135.2 rushing yards per game. With help from No. 10, the Patriots gouged away for a season-best 246....
