For the third time in four weeks, the Buffalo Bills came out on prime-time television and put on an absolute show, defeating the New England Patriots, 38-9 on Monday night in Foxboro.
The win not only boosts Buffalo's record to 12-3, but also pushes the Bills back into the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs, and marks the team's first two-game, single-season sweep of the Patriots since 1999.
Josh Allen and the Buffalo offense came out firing on all cylinders, putting up the most points ever by a Bills team against a Bill Belichick-coached New England squad. Allen completed 27-of-36 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns, while also setting a few new franchise records.
Stefon Diggs had another big night as well, finishing with a game-high nine catches for 145 yards and a career-best three touchdowns. Diggs was just once catch shy of recording a fourth-consecutive double-digit reception game, but still set some records in his own right on Monday.
The Buffalo defense completely shut down a New England offense that was missing its leading rusher in running back Damien Harris. Despite a bit of a slow start, the Bills defense forced seven punts out of the Patriots and held New England to just 201 total yards of offense.
Patriots quarterback Cam Newton was benched for backup Jarrett Stidham in the third quarter. Newton finished 5-for-10 for 34 yards, while also rushing for 24 yards on four carries and a touchdown.
Despite the Patriots' offensive struggles in recent weeks, New England moved the ball down the field rather quickly on the game's opening drive. The Buffalo defense managed to hold the Patriots to a field goal, which the Bills offense matched on its opening drive.
Allen completed all five of his pass attempts for 41 yards on the Bills' first series. Buffalo got all the way to the Patriots' three-yard line, but had to settle for a 22-yard chip-shot field goal from Tyler Bass, knotting the score at 3-3 midway through the first quarter.
Buffalo's defense forced a quick three-and-out from the Patriots on New England's second possession. Allen and the offense nearly followed up the drive with the same result, but a perfectly executed fake punt, in which safety Jaquan Johnson took the direct snap and completed a pass to safety Siran Neal to keep the offense on the field.
The 12-play drive was completed 10 seconds into the second quarter when running back Zack Moss found the end zone on a five-yard run, putting Buffalo up 10-3. Allen added a nice 22-yard run of his own on a 4th-and-1 play to keep the drive alive prior to Moss' score. The rookie running back finished the night as Buffalo's leading rusher, totaling 57 yards on 12 carries to go with his touchdown.
The Patriots responded with a scoring drive of their own. New England covered 90 yards, picking up 78 via the run in a little over four minutes, with Newton capping the series with a nine-yard touchdown run. A missed extra point attempt from kicker Nick Folk kept the Bills in front, 10-9, with 10:39 left until halftime.
The points kept coming as the Bills answered the Patriots' touchdown with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Allen connecting with tight end Lee Smith in the end zone on a four-yard toss, extending the Buffalo lead to 17-9.
For the second time in as many drives, Allen made a big play on fourth down to stay on the field. On 4th-and-2, Allen fired a pass that was tipped, but still completed to tight end Dawson Knox for a first down, moving Buffalo to the Patriots' 31-yard line. The quarterback also used his legs to pick up big yards, similar to the previous drive. Allen ran for 11 yards on 3rd-and-7 to move the Bills into the red zone, setting up Smith's touchdown.
The Patriots offense didn't even shed a full minute of game time off the clock on the ensuing drive, going three-and-out for the second time in the first half. Buffalo struck fast, stretching the lead to 24-9 on a 50-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Diggs.
With the 50 yards on the touchdown catch, Diggs set a new Bills record for reception yards in a season (reaching 1,383 at the time), passing Eric Moulds' former record of 1,368 yards set in 1998.
After taking the 15-point lead into the locker room at halftime, Allen, Diggs and the offense picked up right where they left off at the start of the third quarter.
Allen completed six-of-seven passes for 71 yards on the eight-play drive. Diggs caught three passes in the midst of the possession, accounting for 39 of the 71 yards. Diggs also reeled-in his second touchdown grab of the night, stretching the Buffalo lead to 31-9 early in the third quarter.
Buffalo put the final nail in New England's coffin with a 10-play, 95-yard scoring drive that took up 7:25 of game clock in the late third and early fourth quarters. The possession ended with Diggs grabbing his third touchdown catch and the Bills going up 38-9.
Diggs' third touchdown of the night was also Allen's 34th passing score of the year, setting a new franchise record for passing touchdowns in a single season. Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly set the previous record with 33 touchdowns in 1991.
The trio of touchdowns also matched a single-game career-high for Diggs. The wide receiver also became the first Bills player in a decade to catch three touchdowns in a game.
Allen spent the rest of the fourth quarter on the sideline with Matt Barkley taking over duties under center for the remainder of the night. The Buffalo offense did a great job killing clock in the fourth quarter, possessing the ball for a little over 10 of the final 13 minutes of the game.
GAME SUMMARY
First Quarter:
- 3-0 NEW ENGLAND – Patriots field goal (12:44) – Nick Folk’s 45-yard field goal attempt is good
Drive info: 6 plays, 38 yards, 2:16
- 3-3 TIE – Bills field goal (6:43) – Tyler Bass’ 22-yard field goal attempt is good
Drive info: 10 plays, 49 yards, 6:01
Second Quarter:
- 10-3 BUFFALO – Bills touchdown (14:50) – Zack Moss rushes for a five-yard touchdown (Tyler Bass’ extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 12 plays, 70 yards, 5:28
- 10-9 BUFFALO – Patriots touchdown (10:39) – Cam Newton rushes for a nine-yard touchdown (Nick Folk’s extra point attempt is no good)
Drive info: 9 plays, 90 yards, 4:11
- 17-9 BUFFALO – Bills touchdown (5:32) – Josh Allen passes to Lee Smith for a four-yard touchdown (Tyler Bass’ extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:07
- 24-9 BUFFALO – Bills touchdown (3:55) – Josh Allen passes to Stefon Diggs for a 50-yard touchdown (Tyler Bass’ extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 3 plays, 67 yards, 0:47
Third Quarter:
- 31-9 BUFFALO – Bills touchdown (11:28) – Josh Allen passes to Stefon Diggs for an 18-yard touchdown (Tyler Bass’ extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:32
Fourth Quarter:
- 38-9 BUFFALO – Bills touchdown (13:16) – Josh Allen passes to Stefon Diggs for an eight-yard touchdown (Tyler Bass’ extra point attempt is good)
Drive info: 10 plays, 95 yards, 7:25
SKYWORKS EQUIPMENT RENTAL STATS OF THE GAME:
The Bills return to Orchard Park for a Week 17 matchup with the Miami Dolphins at Bills Stadium to wrap up the regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST on Sunday, Jan. 3. Be sure to tune in to WGR to hear John Murphy, Steve Tasker and Sal Capaccio on the call.