The New England Patriots fell to the Buffalo Bills 27-21 behind a sloppy, turnover filled offensive performance to walk into the New Year 4-12 on Sunday at Highmark Stadium.

New England trailed by six halfway through the 4^th quarter with an opportunity to steal the game, but an Ezekiel Elliott 4-yard run and two Bailey Zappe incompletions would force a punt. The Bills would then hold the ball and chew a staggering five minutes off the clock to walk away with the victory.

Buffalo were surprisingly led by Rasul Douglas, who they picked up via trade with Green Bay at the deadline. Douglas recorded two interceptions, a touchdown, three pass deflections, and two solo tackles.

Ed Oliver added an interception, two tackles, a sack, and two QB hits.

On offense, Josh Allen continued to be a leader for Buffalo, as he compiled 169 passing yards on 15/30 attempts with an interception and used his legs to gather 44 yards with two touchdowns.

Dalton Kincaid assisted with four receptions for 87 yards.

With this win, Buffalo controls their destiny. A victory next week against the Miami Dolphins would win the AFC East division for the 4^th season in a row and give them home field advantage in the 1^st round of the playoffs.

New Year, Same Patriots

New England reverted to their past issues on Sunday against their divisional rival by turning the ball over four times. Bailey Zappe threw three interceptions, with two of them being in the 1^st quarter, and Pharoah Brown fumbled early on New England’s third offensive drive.

“You can’t do that. You can’t turn the ball over four times,” said David Andrews. “Obviously when we got it going, we were able to have some success. Now we have to finish some drives better, but it’s hard to win when you turn the ball over four times”.

New England has turned the ball over at least once in each of the previous 13 games.

Starting QB, Bailey Zappe, has had a rocky performance since overtaking Mac Jones for the starting role several weeks ago. This game in Buffalo, Zappe threw for 209 yards on 16/26 with 3 turnovers and struggled to get the consistently get the offense going.

While in the Zappe era, playing consistently has been an issue as New England has loss games either due to mistakes made early or by going dry late in close games.

“It was the 1^st half Denver game. It was the 2nd half this game,” said Bailey Zappe. “We’re playing good, but we’re not putting two halves together”.

Even with the offense struggling for much of the game, the Patriots defense continues to keep them in close games. The New England defense held the Buffalo offense under 300 yards and kept them out of the endzone for most of the game.

“We had a few turnovers and the only thing we kept telling ourselves was ‘Don’t let them score’,” said Deatrich Wise Jr. “In the 1^st quarter, they put us down their underneath the ten [yard line]. Two field goals and a touchdown. I think we held them pretty good for what the yardage was”.

Wise helped lead the Patriots defense by totaling for four tackles and a sack. Kyle Dugger and Jahlani Tavai were also impactful as they combined for 20 total tackles.

Alex Austin added an interception and three total tackles.

With this loss, New England is well out of range to make the playoffs, but they are in position to score a high 1^st round draft pick in the upcoming 2024 NFL Draft. As of now, the Patriots own the 3^rd overall pick and are very slightly behind the Washington Commanders for the 2^nd overall selection.

Up Next

Next week the New England Patriots look to end the season on a high note as they face the New York Jets. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills are in a battle for the divisional throne as they take on the Miami Dolphins.