Drake Maye, Patriots Make Statement in Buffalo, Hand Bills First Loss of Season | SNF Game Recap

a big time upset. In studio with the guys off of a massive result here for the New England Patriots, for this division and for the NFL. As we try and assess who is who no longer any undefeateds, the 72 Dolphins can pop that champagne. Mack, you look at the game plan by Vrabel and McDaniels. Defense and offense. You had to be almost perfect to go on the road and beat the Buffalo Bills. That’s exactly what they do. What stood out. The protection of the football for the New England Patriots coming into this ball game. The Buffalo Bills. They’ve been one of the cleaner football teams as of late in terms of protecting the football and winning the turnover battle. Did you guys hear Joe Musso in his lead up to this segment? It’s been what, 26 straight 26 straight games where they have not lost the turnover battle. There’s been games where they’ve had the same number of turnovers but usually zero but not lost. Think about that stat 26 straight games where they’ve won the turnover battle. When you do that, you win more than you lose. That’s why they’ve been so outstanding in winning ball games. But something happened tonight in terms of the New England Patriots being opportunistic and feisty and creating the turnovers for from the Buffalo Bills, but also protecting the football. Yes we did see a blemish. We Rhamondre Stevenson had an early fumble in the first in the first quarter. But outside of that, they did a great job in protecting the football. And that was the biggest deciding factor for me because when you look at Buffalo, when you look at that stretch of games where they won the turnover battles, look at their record, their win loss record in those games, they’ve won way more than they’ve lost tonight. They lost that battle. And guess what? The New England Patriots needed a much needed big time win, not just from the overall side of things with the standings, but most importantly in their division. This was a huge win for the Patriots. JJ when we were setting the stage for this one, we said this is an opportunity for the general public on a primetime stage to see what Drake Maye could do and what these New England Patriots might be. What sort of statement did they make over the 60 minutes? This was, without a doubt, Drake May’s signature victory in his early career. And what is a credit to Drake Maye is that there’s actually some competition, some recent competition for Drake Maye with that sort of crown. Remember a couple of weeks ago they go down to Miami and he throws two touchdowns and zero interceptions. And they finally get that win down in Miami. At that point. That was the best game that Drake Maye had played. And then last week, facing his hometown Carolina Panthers in his new home of Foxborough, he goes out there and throws two touchdowns and does the cam Superman on his old team. And that was his best game. And then in prime time against the Buffalo Bills who have the New England Patriots number right. He has the best game of his career. You continue to see the trajectory. You continue to see him taking those next steps. This is fantastic. If you’re the New England Patriots, if you are a fan of this team, you absolutely have your quarterback Tar Heel. I may have to add their crib, but jokes aside, this is fantastic for Drake Maye and his development. Ben, I’m interested in how you take in the play because it’s not without teaching points. Still a young quarterback, maybe a little quick to exit the pocket, but he has the sense of when a play needs to be made. I’ll be the guy to make it almost mirrored by the guy opposite him here. Obviously different stages of their career, but when you take in what he was able to accomplish on the road tonight, what does that tell you about where he’s at in that process? Yeah, dare I say it guys, a little bit reminds you of Josh Allen earlier in his career, right? A guy who very raw. You can see the athletic ability. You can see the physical stature. You can see the playmaking ability when he breaks out of the pocket. But the thing that stood out to me tonight about Drake Maye third downs critical. Got to have it situations in that second half. Who do you find the entire half. Stefon Diggs as a quarterback when you have a guy like that a wily veteran who’s crafty, who can find zones in this defense. You saw it tonight. Critical downs. Drake Maye found Stefon Diggs. He was full of energy breaking the pocket. Made some unbelievable plays. Hell hath no fury like a Steph Diggs score. And he comes up with 100 plus year as he goes back to the place where so much was done and said, Mac, I want to say something about this defensive effort too from the New England Patriots, because you’d be hard pressed to go on the road in this division, or any division for that matter, and finesse your way into a win. It’s going to take some physicality. What did you see in that regard from New England? Oh, they won the game within the game at the line of scrimmage. And when you look at the New England Patriots as they got ready for this upcoming season, they had the most money in terms of cap space available amongst all the teams in the National Football League, and they spent wisely. They made strategic moves in terms of becoming a better team. Milton Williams made plays tonight. Harold Landry made plays tonight. Robert Spillane made plays tonight. Carlton Davis made plays tonight. All were big time money acquisitions for their team on the defensive side. And those players were brought in solely to do what. Hunt Josh Allen. And guess what. They hunt Josh Allen tonight. Not only Josh Allen but James Cook. Cook has been cooking all year long. Tonight he couldn’t get things going because they had a strategic game plan in place to make sure they face the running game out of the equation for the Buffalo Bills, and they made them one dimensional. Anytime Josh Allen is the leading rusher, when you have a running back like James Cook on your team, that’s not a good sign. So for New England, they had a great game plan. But the big money players that they acquired via free agency, this is why they were brought to New England and they earned their keep tonight. Then we say copycat league all the time when other teams turn on this Josh Allen tape, what did New England maybe show that might try and be replicated in the future? Well, I think first and foremost, this Patriots team is taking the identity of their head coach, Mike Vrabel. Right. As a team, as a leader, Mike Vrabel has been in this scenario, knows what it looks like, knows what it feels like. How many times tonight did we see plays in all three of us were like, oh man, just big hits. Sounds like a car crash almost just every single time. So this defense for the New England Patriots was flying around. They were making hits. Let’s make no mistake. This is a really, really good Buffalo Bills team. You don’t just walk into Orchard Park and beat this team on Sunday Night Football with Josh Allen, James Cook, Sean McDermott and all the weapons they have. So kudos to this New England Patriots team. I really, really like the leadership, the vision that Mike Vrabel has and he’s sticking with his guys. Rhamondre Stevenson has had trouble holding on to the ball, shows a lot, shows a lot of confidence in him. Keep running him out there, keep giving him the ball and keep trusting him. Is that the right thing to do? Because it it worked out tonight. But you know they stuck with him against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He fumbled once and then he fumbled a second time. He fumbled once early in this game Antonio Gibson leaves with a knee injury. And I don’t think we’re going to be seeing Antonio Gibson anytime soon. Out there on the field you have Treveyon Henderson, but I like how Mike Vrabel is making the statement by not making the typical Mike Vrabel statement. Right. You think of him as a coach and it’s like, oh, he’s not playing for the rest of the game. And then what do you know? He’s right back up out there. But this is the third fumble. Is it going to happen on the fourth fumble. Is it going to happen on the fifth fumble. Eventually you stop making those statements. We said what it was two the other day. He gets back in the game today. He fumbles early in this one. Maybe each week we’ll go one less. Got two touchdowns. Also it was a big time second half for both of these teams who made adjustments at the halfway mark I believe 6 to 3 going into the locker room at the end of the 60, it is again the New England Patriots 23. The Buffalo Bills at home having that 14 game home winning streak snapped with 20. McDaniels and Vrabel. We start by talking about the coaches and maybe we finish with a thought of identity because New England matches the road wins already from a season ago two on this season two all of last year. It tells you something about the process, the maturation. As Ben said in the identity of the head coach. What does a win like this do for a team young? But as hungry and physical as the Patriots are, well, it’s huge because you know that Josh McDaniels knows how to coordinate an offense. And there were questions coming out of the draft process about Drake. Maye both a little bit with processing more about footwork. And we know that Josh McDaniels offensive scheme and can sometimes be a little bit cumbersome. And so you were wondering if that was going to take a little time. Drake Maye was not with him last year. Now he gets with him and the Mike Vrabel system. And is it going to take. And it seems to have already taken right. That was the thing. When you sign a mike Vrabel. Which is why the New England Patriots did everything they could as quickly as possible. To a dispatch. Jerod Mayo and B get Mike Vrabel in the building as quickly as possible, because he’s one of the very few coaches out there in the league who’s worth a game and a half, two games more than what the talent actually should give you, right? There’s only a handful of those guys who are out there, and he is clearly a leader of men. He has these guys believing they’re winning big. I still think Buffalo wins the division, but you’re talking about a Patriots team that absolutely can be an AFC wild card team because of Mike Vrabel and because of Drake Maye and because of that point, when you look at Vrabel’s ability to do more with less throughout his tenure in Tennessee, I like his chances. This was a statement game, not just for their division, but the entire NFL, especially the AFC. We could be players. We could be players. Look at it like this, guys, the next three ball games for the New England Patriots, brace yourself right at New Orleans at Tennessee Cleveland. If you do what you’re supposed to do, you mess around and be six and two in an eight game stretch. Six and two. That that is incredible to think of when you look at how bad they were a year ago. Joe, you said it. Just what matched their road wins from a season ago from a season ago. They’re going to be in the early part of October. They’re going to be favorites in every game until they meet the Buccaneers. Yes. Remember when the schedule was released during the springtime? They had the easiest schedule based on strength of schedule. So that plays a major factor into the equation as well. But now with them already jumpstarting some positive momentum within this season, they have an opportunity not just to be players in the AFC playoff conversation, but if Buffalo has a few slip ups here or there, they can compete for the division as well. So kudos to variable. I’m not surprised this is what I expected because when they had the money and the way they spent along with the draft players they brought in, I feel like this was a more talented team than he coached his last few years in Tennessee, and he did some positive things with those teams. I felt he could really do some good things. It all starts and stops with Drake Maye. And to your point, JJ, the former Tar Heel is looking the part right now. You start to see the road ahead. It starts to get real. Hope starts to build. But you got to take them one at a time. Live in this win for if. But one more moment it is the New England Patriots sending a message to the divisional foe on the road with a win over the Buffalo Bills. Our friends at FanDuel not freaking out either. JJ still the favorites to win the conference. Those Buffalo Bills atlus 230. Find yourself on the graphic at

Bryant McFadden, Jonathan Jones, and Ben DiNucci join CBS Sports HQ to recap the Week 5 matchup between the Patriots and Bills.

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45 comments

  6. The Patriots could go 15-2. They won't, but if they can beat Buffalo they can beat anybody on any given Sunday so the potential is there.

  17. This was a good game regardless of all the penalties. As much as it looked better and Maye played well, still restrained, but well, i.e. not throwing on the goal line, it was a good game. BUT, it was the defense that won this game. Heres why: the Bills stayed away from Gonzalez all game. In fact, the play before he made the play in the endzone, I was actually just about to look up if he was even playing in the game. The Bills got so frustrated with the Patriots defense that after 3 quarters and 8 minutes, they finally decided to challenge Gonzalez because nothing else was working, thus Gonzalez making the two plays he did. Without the defense keeping Allen in check, the Bills win this game. Also, I have heard Campbells name mentioned 3 times in the last 3 weeks and all three times were to mention how his name has not been mentioned which is exactly what you want, just like an umpire or a referee. Stephon Diggs IS a number one, not a Patriots number one, an NFL number one. Watch out for New Orleans next week, its a trap game after this one.

    Dont go crazy over this win. Patriots have traditionally played well against the Bills, regardless of how good or how bad either team is. This win shows you they have it in them, but dont expect them not to take a step or two back some weeks, especially offensively. The caveat to this is the defense. If the defense can play like this week in, week out, and keep teams to 20 or so points, they will be in every game.

    The one thing this week proved is that the NFL is wide open this year. Qualify for the playoffs and anybody's got a chance.

  29. The bills beat themselves in this one,in a few ways.They gave the ball away and the play calls on both sides were awful.With all that they still had a chance to win.

  33. Love how diggs was there at all those moments off panic where drakes running looking for anything he was doing exactly what he was signed to do giving him an elite bail out

  34. I believe in Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye th patriots are in good hands before the season started I had the Patriots finishing with a winning record but missing the playoffs but as of now the AFC is kinda weak rt now so that the patriots can take advantage with their easy schedule will see if they make the playoffs I won’t be surprise.

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