The NFL season is long. There will undoubtedly be mediocre performances, especially against inferior opponents.
The Buffalo Bills played at least half of the competition. And it cost them nothing.
The Bills fell behind 14-0, but eventually scored the next 24 points of the game to take control of their game against the New England Patriots. The Bills won 24-21 to keep their slim hopes of No. 1 alive.
It was a flat performance against a bad team, but it left the Bills with some things to clean up going forward.
Patriots take an early lead
The bills did not start well. The defense gave up long drives to the Patriots and they trailed 14-0 to a big underdog.
At halftime, the Patriots had 239 yards, including 159 through the air and 80 rushing. They had 17 first downs. For a Bills defense that gave up 44 points to the Los Angeles Rams in a loss two weeks ago and 42 points to the Detroit Lions in a win last week, it was another bad sign late in the season.
The Bills eventually rallied to regain the lead. James. Cook scored twice, once on a 46-yard run and the other on a 4-yard touchdown catch from Josh Allen. A field goal in the third quarter gave the Bills a 17-14 lead.
The defense didn’t play well in the first half, and Allen wasn’t his normal MVP level either. Allen shook his right hand in the second half after bracing himself as he was taken down, which is clearly something the Bills will have to keep an eye on going forward.
The Bills were fortunate that their day off came against the 3-11 Patriots.
Bills come back
Motivation could be a challenge for the Bills in recent weeks. They’re still technically alive for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, but they need the 14-1 Kansas City Chiefs to lose to have any chance. The bills finalized the AFC East. They will likely get the No. 2 seed if they don’t catch the Chiefs. There’s not much to play for other than the outside chance to be #1.
The Bills still did enough to win. The Patriots were still in it when they had terrible turnovers. With a backup near their own end zone, Drake Maye threw a back lateral to Rhamondre Stevenson, which rebounded onto the running back’s hands. The ball was live and cornerback Taron Johnson fell on it for the touchdown. That gave the Bills a 24-14 lead and even though New England had a good first half with offensive football, the Patriots are not built to come back from a ten-point deficit to Buffalo.
The Patriots scored late, but that only made the final score even closer. The Bills then recovered an onside kick and chewed up the rest of the clock with a first down quarterback sneak from Allen.
The Bills will be better when the playoffs start. They had a big win over the Lions last week and were in for a disappointment. But there are some things coach Sean McDermott can tell his team about.
