ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. \u2014 The Patriots might have turned their season around in Buffalo for the second straight season.<\/p>\n
On the cusp of having to dig themselves out of a 1-3 start, quarterback Drake Maye delivered a 23-yard strike that backup wide receiver Efton Chism hauled in with one hand for a go-ahead touchdown with 1:50 remaining to give the Patriots lead over the Bills in their brand-new Highmark Stadium. Craig Woodson then came up with a game-sealing interception to secure a 29-26 win as the Patriots are now 2-2.<\/p>\n
A loss might have prematurely ended their hopes of capturing an AFC East title. Now, it feels like anything is on the table once again for last year\u2019s Super Bowl runner-ups.<\/p>\n
Maye had the rebound game<\/a> Patriots fans had been hoping for since he came out struggling<\/a> against the Seahawks in Week 1.<\/p>\n Maye completed 22-of-37 passes for 269 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also led the Patriots in rushing with 54 yards on eight attempts.<\/p>\n The Patriots clinched the game with a deep interception from safety Craig Woodson, who jumped Josh Allen\u2019s target for Josh Palmer for the pick.<\/p>\n The Patriots\u2019 defense began the game strong with a three-and-out. Safety Kevin Byard forced the punt on third down with a pass breakup on a target to tight end Dalton Kincaid.<\/p>\n The Patriots\u2019 offense looked better than they\u2019ve appeared all season on their opening drive with Maye orchestrating a 12-play, 97-yard driving, culminating with a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Romeo Doubs. Receivers were schemed open, the offensive line was protecting, and Maye looked poised. The run game was still anemic, but it was a strong start for the unit.<\/p>\n The Bills matched the Patriots with their own scoring drive with running back James Cook diving into the end zone on an 8-yard touchdown run to tie the game 7-7 early in the second quarter.<\/p>\n Maye turned the ball over on the Patriots\u2019 second drive, fumbling while attempting a pass with the pocket collapsing around him. The ball was recovered by Bills defensive tackle Greg Gaines after being forced by T.J. Parker. Patriots O-linemen Ben Brown, Alijah Vera-Tucker and Will Campbell all allowed pressure on the play.<\/p>\n The Patriots\u2019 defense stepped up and forced a punt on a three-and-out.<\/p>\n After a near-fumble on first down, Maye led the Patriots on a six-play, 63-yard touchdown drive. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson scored on a 1-yard dive behind fullback Reggie Gilliam, who returned to the game after dealing with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n The Bills, once again, matched the Patriots\u2019 touchdown with their own to knot the game at 14-14. Some mental errors on the Patriots allowed the Bills to score on a 2-yard sneak from QB Josh Allen. The Bills faced third-and-goal from the Patriots\u2019 16-yard line before Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones was called for holding. Head coach Mike Vrabel was then flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for criticizing the call, giving the Bills the ball on the Patriots\u2019 5-yard line on first-and-goal.<\/p>\n It was an eventful end of the half. The Patriots punted on their next drive. Then the Bills were driving and entering field goal range when linebacker Robert Spillane forced a fumble on an 8-yard catch from Khalil Shakir that was recovered by Elijah Ponder.<\/p>\n Maye was intercepted on the Patriots\u2019 next offensive play, when Romeo Doubs dropped a pass and it careened into Bills cornerback Dee Alford\u2019s arms for the pick. The Bills kicked a field goal on the next play to take a 17-14 lead into the half.<\/p>\n The Patriots started strong with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown catch by Doubs. The Patriots were helped out by a holding penalty on the Bills when Maye was sacked on third down. It gave the Patriots a fresh set of downs at the Bills\u2019 2-yard line. The Patriots took a 21-17 lead on the series.<\/p>\n The Patriots and Bills traded two punts apiece before the Bills got back on the board with a 38-yard field goal from Tyler Bass to cut the Patriots\u2019 lead to 21-20.<\/p>\n The teams traded punts again before the Bills took the 26-21 lead on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Allen to wide receiver Keon Coleman. Cornerback Charles Woods, who was replacing injured starter Christian Gonzalez, was in coverage on the play. The Bills\u2019 two-point attempt was no good.<\/p>\n BEST<\/p>\n OLB Elijah Ponder: The Patriots second-year pro began the game with a sack on Allen. Later, he recovered a fumble late in the second quarter.<\/p>\n LB Robert Spillane: The Patriots\u2019 starting linebacker poked the ball out on a reception by Shakir for a forced fumble. He led the team in tackles.<\/p>\n QB Drake Maye: It was a nice bounce-back game for Maye, who did turn the ball over twice \u2014 once on an unlucky interception and again on a fumble \u2014 but he threw three touchdowns and made big plays with his arm and legs.<\/p>\n WR Romeo Doubs: Look, Doubs dropped a pass, resulting in an interception and three points for the Bills. He also caught two touchdowns and had six catches on eight targets for 58 yards.<\/p>\n WR Efton Chism: Let\u2019s give it up for Chism, who made two huge grabs for 42 yards and a touchdown on the Patriots\u2019 fourth-quarter comeback game-winning drive.<\/p>\n WORST<\/p>\n CB Marcus Jones: Jones was flagged for holding, giving the Bills a fresh set of downs in the red zone. They were able to capitalize and score after the penalty.<\/p>\n CB Charles Woods: Woods, filling in for Christian Gonzalez, missed a tackle on a long 50-yard catch from Shakir. Woods left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury but returned and allowed a touchdown to Coleman.<\/p>\n RG Ben Brown: Brown struggled filling in for Greg Van Roten and Mike Onwenu, allowing three pressures, per PFF\u2019s in-game charting.<\/p>\n LT Will Campbell: Campbell has started the season strong, but he was flagged for holding and a false start. He also surrendered six pressures, per PFF\u2019s in-game charting.<\/p>\n WHAT WE LEARNED<\/p>\n \u2022 The Patriots began the game in their big base defense with DT Milton Williams, DT Cory Durden, DT DaQuan Jones, OLB Dre\u2019Mont Jones, LB Darius Muasau, LB Robert Spillane, LB Christian Elliss, CB Marcus Jones, CB Carlton Davis, S Kevin Byard and S Craig Woodson starting.<\/p>\n \u2022 The Patriots also opened big in 12 personnel with LT Will Campbell, LG Alijah Vera-Tucker, C Jared Wilson, RG Ben Brown, RT Morgan Moses, TE\/OT Caleb Lomu, TE Hunter Henry, QB Drake Maye, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, WR Mack Hollins and WR DeMario Douglas starting.<\/p>\n \u2022 Last week\u2019s injuries didn\u2019t affect Craig Woodson or Dre\u2019Mont Jones, who played a full share of snaps.<\/p>\n \u2022 Lomu took on a heavier workload as an extra blocker.<\/p>\n \u2022 Wide receiver Mack Hollins didn\u2019t return after suffering a second-half calf injury. He had been one of Maye\u2019s top targets, catching three passes on four targets for 53 yards. Douglas played a bigger share of snaps after Hollins\u2019 injury.<\/p>\n \u2022 Kindle Vildor, who was elevated from the practice squad, checked in after Woods got hurt.<\/p>\n \u2022 Rookie tight end Eli Raridon also returned from an ankle injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. \u2014 The Patriots might have turned their season around in Buffalo for the second straight…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1018659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[4955,833,839,7,838,1167,249,2326,2094,6,15,835,61050,208,107497,43714,112574,19972,112575,834,61051,61052,80497,724,837,505],"class_list":["post-1018658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-drake-maye","tag-eliot-wolf","tag-football","tag-mike-vrabel","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-news","tag-nfl-patriots","tag-patriots","tag-patriots-2026","tag-patriots-free-agency","tag-patriots-free-agents","tag-patriots-game","tag-patriots-moves","tag-patriots-news","tag-patriots-schedule","tag-patriots-stats","tag-patriots-trades","tag-pats","tag-robert-kraft","tag-super-bowl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117384515626437955","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1018658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1018659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1018658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1018658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1018658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}