The biggest goal for the Patriots heading into Sunday's AFC East matchup with the high-powered Buffalo Bills was to not embarrass themselves on national television. New England couldn't do much worse than last week's pathetic effort against Arizona, right?
The effort was there. Drake Maye showed more glimpses. But once again, it was the same old issues - a lack of playmakers, turnovers and inconsistency - that spelled doom for the Patriots as Buffalo kept its hopes for the top spot in the AFC alive with a 24-21 win.
The Patriots played arguably their best first half of the year, scoring on their first two drives en route to a 14-0 lead, but didn't do much offensively after that, with Maye's late fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Hunter Henry proving too late. The team must've heard all the outside noise about Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt because the Patriots played hard for their coaches, and Mayo even showed some moxie in calling a fake punt that the Patriots turned into a first down.
Buffalo simply has more talent, and the Patriots did not take care of the football in the second half, which is where we find our biggest villain from this one.
3 reasons the Patriots lost to the Bills in Week 16
1. Rhamondre Stevenson
For all the talent Stevenson has, he often times has hands of Petey Jones in "Remember the Titans." Stevenson lost a fumble that led to a Bills field goal, and mishandled a third-quarter lateral that Buffalo recovered for a touchdown (why was Van Pelt even calling that play deep in his own territory?)
With an offseason change likely coming on the offensive side of the ball, now is not the time for Stevenson to have hands of stone if he wants to be the lead back here for years to come.
2. The run defense
The secondary did an admirable job keeping Josh Allen (16-29, 154 yards, touchdown, interception) in check, but at times they forgot about James Cook. Cook's 46-yard touchdown run in the second quarter with his team down 14-0 completely flipped the script on this game, and he finished with 100 yards on just 11 carries, and added a receiving TD.
The defense also couldn't come up with a stop with the game on the line after Buffalo recovered a fourth-quarter onside kick while the Patriots still had three timeouts.
3. The offensive line
CBS's Charles Davis touched on the inconsistency of this unit in the fourth quarter, and as the game wore on, the Bills took advantage of that and harassed Maye. Maye had virtually no time to throw in the second half and was given about 20 extra lives by Buffalo penalties on New England's final drive. Maye did take advantage of it with the TD pass to Henry, but he was hurried on many of his throws in the second half. A big part of that was the Bills adjusting their blitzes, but the front five couldn't handle it.
At the end of the day, the Patriots, who were due for a pride check, lost this game with dignity. And that's a small victory. Coupled with Las Vegas's win over Jacksonville, the Patriots now have the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft. Let's hope Maye can continue his development, and the Patriots can keep these last two games against the Chargers and Bills respectable.