The New England Patriots hit a go-ahead 52-yard area objective with 15 seconds left within the recreation to knock off the beforehand undefeated Buffalo Payments by a ultimate rating of 23-20. This was New England’s first win at Highmark Stadium since 2021.
The Payments made a number of uncharacteristic errors. They have been penalized 11 instances for 90 yards. In addition they gave the ball away 3 times after recording only one turnover within the first 4 video games of the season.
A very good-looking drive by the Payments ended with their second giveaway of the season. Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen botched a handoff when he was ran into by tight finish Dawson Knox. That free fumble was picked up by Patriots rookie defensive lineman Joshua Farmer. Sadly for the Pats, Rhamondre Stevenson was stripped of the soccer on the subsequent play, giving the Payments the ball again on their very own 38. Stevenson leads the league in misplaced fumbles with three on the marketing campaign.
Amazingly, one other Payments fumble occurred in direction of the top of the primary quarter. After Buffalo wideout Keon Coleman was stripped of the soccer, it was picked up by the Patriots within the pink zone, the place New England truly in some way misplaced yards. Regardless, they have been shut sufficient to aim a chip-shot area objective from 30 yards out to go forward 3-0 heading into the second body.
Dealing with a one-score deficit, the Payments determined to cease screwing round on offense. Josh Allen hit tight finish Dalton Kincaid for 13 yards after which wideout Joshua Palmer for one more 23 yards to get into New England territory. The drive stalled within the pink zone, so Buffalo settled for a 3-3 tie after a 31-yard area objective.
The Payments had a variety of psychological errors within the first half of this recreation. They have been penalized seven instances for 54 yards, had two giveaways, went 0/1 within the pink zone, and allowed a sack. By comparability, the Patriots solely had two accepted penalties referred to as towards them within the first two quarters of the sport.
The Pats acquired on the board as soon as extra earlier than the break. Quarterback Drake Maye hit tight finish Hunter Henry for 22 yards to get into the pink zone. Drake Maye picked up one other 9 yards on the bottom to make it to the seven with 37 seconds left within the half. After a defensive move interference name acquired the Pats to the one, Drake Maye failed to finish a move to Hunter Henry, so the Pats needed to kick a area objective for a 6-3 halftime lead.
It was an excellent evening for Buffalo tight finish Dalton Kincaid, who caught six passes for 108 yards. His 20-yard reception on the primary drive of the third quarter acquired the Payments previous midfield. That finally led to a walk-in landing move from Josh Allen to wideout Curtis Samuel for the sport’s first TD, placing Buffalo on high 10-6. That was Samuel’s third catch of the season.
Former Payments extensive receiver Stefon Diggs got here to play towards his previous workforce. On the Pats’ first collection of the third quarter, he caught two passes for 48 yards, which arrange a four-yard landing run by Rhamondre Stevenson to place New England again in entrance 13-10. Diggs completed the night with ten catches for a game-high 146 yards.
Buffalo picked up 33 yards on their subsequent possession after the Pats have been penalized for pointless roughness on the tail-end of an 18-yard reception by wideout Khalil Shakir. On a third and 5, Josh Allen linked with Dalton Kincaid for a 17-yarder to get the ball into the pink zone. From there, issues took a shocking flip when Josh Allen threw his first interception of the season, killing a drive that might’ve tied the sport.
Drake Maye was stable on this one, finishing 22 of 30 passes for 273 yards and 12 speeding yards. He hit Hunter Henry and Stefon Diggs for 54 whole yards to get all the way down to Buffalo’s six yard line. Two performs later, Rhamondre Stevenson took a halfback pitch into the top zone untouched for a seven-yard TD to increase the Patriots’ result in 20-10 early within the fourth quarter.
At this level, New England started to shoot itself within the foot. They have been penalized for private fouls on back-to-back performs to get the Payments to the Pats’ 26. After Buffalo acquired into the pink zone, they have been confronted with a third and 1 on the 5. Josh Allen picked up the primary down simply by utilizing the Payments’ model of the tush push. On the very subsequent play, Josh Allen hit Keon Coleman at the back of the top zone for a toe-tapping landing to chop into the lead 20-17 with 7:37 left within the fourth. That was Coleman’s first TD catch since Week One.
After a Patriots three-and-out, Buffalo’s offense took the sector with just below six minutes to go within the recreation. On a third and 6, Josh Allen hit Keon Coleman on the sideline for a 13-yard pickup to maintain the Payments’ drive alive. Nonetheless, the collection died out at New England’s 27, so Buffalo kicked a area objective to tie the sport 20-20 with 2:17 left within the fourth.
Drake Maye made a tremendous move to Stefon Diggs for a 12-yard pickup to deliver this one to the two-minute warning. Whereas the clock was working, Maye linked with extensive receiver Kayshon Boutte for 19 yards to get the ball onto Buffalo’s facet of the sector with 1:18 to go. On a third and 5, Drake Maye was sacked for zero yards, permitting the Pats to aim a 52-yard area objective with 20 seconds left on the clock. They nailed that kick to go forward 23-20 with solely 15 seconds remaining within the recreation.
By the point Buffalo’s offense took the sector, they solely had eight seconds left to choose up 50 to 60 yards and get into area objective vary. Josh Allen accomplished a move, however the receiver was tackled within the area of play, inflicting the clock to expire and giving New England the victory.
With the loss, there are not any extra undefeated groups within the NFL. This additionally represented the primary profession game-winning drive for Drake Maye.
*Writer’s word: all data and statistics are tracked in actual time and are supplied by the sport’s broadcaster, NFL.com, and ESPN.com*
