The road back to a .500 record had to go through Highmark Stadium. It did.
The New England Patriots upset the previously unbeaten Buffalo Bills to get there with a 29-26 victory in Sunday’s closing seconds.
Here’s a glance back on the 1 p.m. ET kickoff as head coach Mike Vrabel’s side of the AFC East returns home at 2-2 instead of 1-3.
Maye’s response spans more than two turnovers
A week removed from his fifth, sixth and seventh turnovers as well as a stint on the injury report, Drake Maye cleared the air. The Patriots quarterback completed 22-of-37
passes for 269 yards on Sunday. He did so while finding three touchdowns, one interception and one fumble. A team-high 54 rushing yards were added along the way.
Beginning in jumbo “12” personnel, the opening drive ranged from a 15-yard scramble in the shadows of the uprights to connections of 12 and 21 yards to tight ends Eli Raridon and Hunter Henry. A conversion on fourth down kept it alive. And on the next snap, a skinny post was hit for a touchdown after 12 plays and 97 yards. But New England’s second series brought a familiar result in a muddled pocket. It brought a sack and a fumble on the doorstep of the red zone as a throwaway was not quite thrown away. Buffalo defensive tackle Greg Gaines was there for the recovery.
Maye answered back on the third drive, running around a sea of blue jerseys for a long of 26 yards and a dive just shy of the pylon. That use of his legs set up a 14-7 lead that soon became a 17-14 deficit.
The Patriots’ punt unit was called upon for the first time in the final minute of the first half. Even so, a sudden change got the offense back on the field with 16 seconds still to tick. Those seconds, in hindsight, should have kept ticking. A Maye pass burned grass and wound up back into the air for an interception by cornerback Dee Alford.
By the break in Orchard Park, the 2025 NFL MVP runner-up checked in 8-of-15 for 111 yards with one touchdown and two turnovers for an attack that had gone 0-of-2 on third down, 1-of-1 on fourth down, 2-of-2 in the red zone. Heading out of intermission, Maye survived some unsettling exchanges from center and delivered a one-on-one ball to give his side a 21-17 lead on a 14-play, 72-yard drive.
The next three possessions resulted in three punts. A four-minute drill was still on deck for Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Co. Efton Chism III played a game-winning part in it. The former Eastern Washington standout looked back to glove a 23-yard touchdown with his right hand while being blanketed by corner Davison Igbinosun. The highlight strike came on third-and-5 with 1:55 remaining in regulation. And a 29-26 final it would be with the help of a two-point conversion.
Doubs sandwiches bobbled pick between touchdowns
New England’s offense hadn’t seen an opening drive become a touchdown since the season began. That changed on Sunday. Romeo Doubs set the early pace.
A conversion on fourth-and-3 brought 15 yards. And from 14 yards away on the ensuing snap, the veteran wide receiver went up in the back of the end zone for the first score of his AFC East run. He would return there on a fade route from the goal line before long. But there was some give and some take on an afternoon featuring 58 yards and a pair of touchdowns across a team-high six catches and nine targets.
A target on a slant route was one Doubs would like to have back. The interception No. 87 had a ham-handed hand in gave way to field goal. But the offseason signing proceeded to make a fourth-and-2 sideline grab coming out of intermission and drew holding on 2025 Bills first-round pick Maxwell Hairston.
The rest of the Patriots’ wideout room combined to catch 7-of-13 passes for 110 yards and the final touchdown against a defensive backfield down top cover man Christian Benford. Eldest statesman Mack Hollins hopped off the field and into the locker room in the third quarter and was announced as questionable with a calf injury.
Backfield awakens with 116 scrimmage yards
During what became a 35-6 loss at EverBank Stadium last week, no Patriots running back managed to turn a rushing attempt into a gain longer than seven yards. And that was recent trade acquisition Corey Kiner’s feat.
Rhamondre Stevenson had feats of his own on Sunday. Finding room to weave on outside zones, the starter totaled 47 rushing yards through 13 carries against the Bills, led by a long of 10. He also accounted for 27 receiving yards and a two-point conversion to go with the patient cutbacks.
TreVeyon Henderson spelled into the backfield to the tune of 42 rushing yards on 14 handoffs. With the speed to outlast the crashing waves, the No. 38 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft picked up a long of 11 on a reverse from the pony package.
Ex-Bills fullback Reggie Gilliam, who had been questionable due to a knee injury, returned after being announced as questionable due to an ankle injury.
What Brown can do for you at right guard
After August signing Greg Van Roten joined incumbent right guard Mike Onwenu on injured reserve, a new combination loomed at Highmark Stadium.
Backup interior lineman Ben Brown made his first start of the season. The 2024 arrival off the Las Vegas Raiders’ practice squad did so as part of a front that included Will Campbell at left tackle, Alijah Vera-Tucker at left guard, Jared Wilson at center and 35-year-old captain Morgan Moses again at right tackle despite being questionable with a foot injury. Rookie No. 28 overall pick Caleb Lomu got his first NFL start as an eligible sixth man and stayed in to extend the line.
New England’s pass protection would concede a single sack to Buffalo. Outside linebacker T.J. Parker and defensive tackle Ed Oliver got in the column on a split and strip as the pocket collapsed at the 10:14 mark in the second quarter.
One false start and one hold were in the cards for an offensive line facing the musical chairs on the road. Both flags went against the LSU product on the blindside.
Without No. 0, New England’s secondary outlasts Allen
The Patriots headed into the divisional territory down Christian Gonzalez. The 2024 All-Pro and 2025 Pro Bowler missed three consecutive practices due to a shoulder injury before being ruled out.
That spelled bad news against former NFL MVP Josh Allen. Or, so it appeared. Always capable of a “second play,” the Bills quarterback went 23-of-33 for 253 yards with one touchdown and one turnover through the air on Sunday. He also powered forward like an “F” tight end for one score by ground.
Buffalo won the coin toss and got the afternoon going with a three-and-out. The second drive wouldn’t go so quietly, stretching 13 plays and 7:46 of game clock on the way to it becoming a 7-7 ballgame. And while a punt followed, so would a QB keeper for a TD going into halftime. That was the case after Allen created time and space via a 51-yard, play-action completion to slot receiver Khalil Shakir.
Tackles were missed in the process. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on New England’s head coach was not. By intermission, Buffalo stood 4-of-7 on third down, 1-of-1 on fourth down and 2-of-3 in the red zone. Back-to-back punts and a field goal were how the home offense got out of the break. A 26-21 game it became as Keon Coleman broke through for 34 of his 116 receiving yards on a deep post for touchdown with 4:27 left in regulation.
Without No. 0 in the secondary, New England turned to captain Marcus Jones on the outside. The 5-foot-8, 188-pound nickelback broke up a pass in the end zone after being flagged for holding. He started across from Carlton Davis III while Kevin Byard III and Craig Woodson accompanied the cornerbacks in centerfield. The latter starting safety finished things by picking off Buffalo’s QB under duress with 1:14 left to play.
Veteran defensive backs Kindle Vildor and Mike Brown served as standard elevations from the practice squad amid the attrition. Undrafted rookie Channing Canada had been downgraded to out on the eve of the 1 p.m. ET kickoff. And late in Sunday’s matinee, 2025 waiver claim Charles Woods went down with a shoulder injury that left him questionable after making a loud tackle.
Ponder rotates in for sack, fumble recovery off edges
A shoulder injury also kept defensive tackle Christian Barmore from crossing paths with Buffalo’s 6-foot-5, 237-pound quarterback. But New England had Dre’Mont Jones back on hand.
The March addition drew one penalty and provided interception-inducing heat while starting in the base front alongside defensive tackles Milton Williams, Cory Durden and DaQuan Jones. Linebackers Christian Elliss, Darius Muasau and Robert Spillane, who punched out a fumble on Sunday, got the call off the ball.
Last year’s AFC East winners managed one sack against the Bills. Sophomore outside linebacker Elijah Ponder rotated in to hit home at the 6:56 mark in the first quarter. Beating veteran tackle Dion Dawkins to the edge, the 2025 undrafted addition out of Cal Poly now stands with 2.5 sacks on the campaign to go with his second fumble recovery.
But James Cook would counter the pass rush. The league’s former leader in rushing yards as well as rushing touchdowns showed why with breakaways of 10, 16 and 17 yards. He tallied 75 yards across a dozen carries with one hurdling TD for Buffalo.
