In what felt like the AFC East title game, the Bills showed they are the better team.
Buffalo came away with a 33-21 win over the Patriots, which puts them in great position to win the division for a second year in a row. Both teams are 9-6, but the Bills have the tiebreaker (division record).
Josh Allen was tremendous. He finished with 30-for-47 with 314 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also added a team-high 64 yards rushing.
New England now needs to likely win each of its last two games (vs. Jacksonville, at Miami) to make the playoffs.
Here are 10 quick thoughts from the game.
1. Buffalo's offense had its way with the Patriots defense. It reached the red zone in seven of its eight possessions and the only one it didn't was at the every end of the first half. Give Brian Daboll and Co. credit for finding the mismatches and then the Patriots defense failed to adjust.
2. This was not Mac Jones' best day at the office. Buffalo's defense was able to throw him and the offense off their game, which was the second straight week this has happened to the Patriots. Jones finished 14-for-32 with 135 yards and two interceptions. As an offense, it went 1-for-10 on third down.
3. Give Allen tons of credit. The Bills quarterback played outstanding and it came without two of his top wide receivers in Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis. He made a number of throws that showed why he received the massive contract that he did. In a game that had so much meaning and pressure, Allen came to play.
4. Bill Belichick was the most aggressive he’s been all season. The Patriots went for it on fourth down six times and converted five of the six (the only one not converted came on the final meaningless drive). This certainly was not the case earlier in the season when Belichick was very conservative. This is an indication of how important the game was for both teams.
5. In what is becoming a theme, the Patriots got off to a bad start once again. After the seven first quarter points for the Bills, the Patriots have now allowed 28 points in the first 15 minutes of the game the last three weeks. This is an issue when the team is not built to come from behind.
6. After missing practice all week, Kendrick Bourne appeared to be on a pitch count as he did not get his normal snaps. This meant more playing time for N’Keal Harry, which was not a good thing. He dropped an easy first down and on the next play Jones was picked off on a tipped ball that was thrown his way.
7. There was a controversial sequence at the end of the first half. The Bills got called for an unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit on Jones that was helmet-to-helmet. On the next play, Jones ran for seven yards and was hit by Jerry Hughes as he was very close to the sideline. The Patriots QB went to the ground and a flag was thrown, but then after a discussion was picked up. New England did not like the call at all and even caused Trent Brown to get a 15-yard penalty.
8. For the first time in quite some time, the Patriots secondary was exposed. Allen picked on Myles Bryant a ton. Isaiah McKenzie was usually the guy, as he finished with 11 receptions for 125 yards and a touchdown. This is the one game since really the Dallas game that there was some thought to how valuable it would be to have Stephon Gilmore still around.
9. Damien Harris ran hard, just like he has all season, finishing with 103 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns. This performance was much needed with Rhamondre Stevenson inactive.
10. With the loss, this now means the Patriots could potentially have to win in Miami in Week 18 just to make the playoffs. In terms of the AFC East, all Buffalo needs to do is win its next two games (Falcons and Jets at home) and the division is theirs.
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