Josh Allen struggles, but Buffalo escapes the Patriots

On December 23, 2024By Littum

ORCHARD PARK – The Buffalo Bills weren’t ready to admit they dodged a bullet Sunday afternoon in their too-close-for-comfort 24-21 win over the New England Patriots, but that’s exactly what they did.

Life as the hunted can be tough, and that’s what Dion Dawkins pointed to as one of the primary reasons the 3-12 Patriots pushed the 12-3 Bills right to the final gun and nearly triggered one of the biggest upsets of the NFL season.

“When you play well for a while, you become the big dogs,” Dawkins said. “You become the ones that everyone wants to come and get and we are proud to say that we have been in that position. We’ve been champions of the AFC East division for a while now, and people are going to turn on us every chance they get.”

The Patriots threw punches, a number of them landed, but even though they were faltered on a number of occasions, the Bills got their balance and did just enough to win. And I mean, just enough.

“Didn’t start the way we wanted,” linebacker Terrel Bernard said, referring to the game’s first two drives, in which New England moved through the Buffalo defense with alarming ease to open a 14-0 lead. “We made some adjustments and then we were able to play more like ourselves down there. I think it’s a good learning opportunity for us.”

Here’s the thing: It’s a little late to learn those kinds of lessons, because in less than a month when the postseason begins, starting a game as poorly as the Bills did Sunday could lead to another ugly end to a season, and Sean McDermott knows it. the.

“I thought we played sloppy in the first half especially and then we have to clean some things up,” he said. “The second half was much better and we controlled the line of scrimmage offensively and defensively with takeaways. Can’t start a game like we did, kickoff return and just get off to a generally bad start. I applaud the guys for finding a way and the coaching staff as well, but again, there’s a lot of work to do coming out of this game.”

I agree, and that sentiment is reflected in my grades:

PASSPORT VIOLATION: D

As I’ve said over and over and over, a miserable cold is usually never a good thing for an offense, and once again that was on display in this game. Do you really think Josh Allen would have struggled the way he did, completing just 16 of 29 for 154 yards with a TD and a pick if it wasn’t like Siberia out there? Such temperatures always affect the offense more than the defense, and there was never a time when Allen looked in sync with any of his receivers.

Part of that was New England punching way above its weight class, as its defensive backs won far too often against the Bills’ WRs. Amari Cooper was once again invisible and only caught one pass. Dalton Kincaid’s team-high four catches went for a paltry 15 yards. James Cook’s 26 yards led the team and he caught Allen’s TD pass. Usually reliable Khalil Shakir caught just two of six targets for 22 yards and nearly lost a fumble.

This was a somewhat alarming performance against a defense that should not have been as stingy as it was. It’s hard to begrudge an offense that had scored 30 points in eight straight games, but the Bills need to get some things sorted out, especially Cooper’s role. He had a good game in LA, but otherwise his play since arriving in the trade from Cleveland has been underwhelming. Keon Coleman also hasn’t done much since returning from injury, having just one catch for 17 yards.

RUN OFFENSE: A-

Without Cook playing as well as he did, the Bills likely lose this game. He gave them the boost they needed with his 46-yard TD run when it was 14-0, and then he made a really nice catch on the four-yard TD pass from Allen that tied the game in the third quarter, a drive he started with a 25-yard run.

Cook was the only offensive player to step up and take the load on a day when Allen was nowhere near the level of performance he has shown most of the season.

Ty Johnson also came up big with 30 yards on the ground, including a huge 12-yard run on the first play after Buffalo recovered an onside kick that helped the Bills eventually run out. The Bills finished with 172 yards and an average of 6.1 per carry. attempt. It will work in the cold.

PAS DEFENSE: D

Drake Maye looks like the real deal, and that’s very disappointing for Bills fans who were probably hoping the Patriots would take a few decades to find their next franchise QB after Tom Brady. However, Maye made a couple of critical rookie mistakes as he committed two killer turnovers in the second half.

He threw an end-zone interception to Cam Lewis late in the third that kept the Patriots from at least tying the game, and on his reverse pass to Rhamondre Stevenson, he was charged with a fumble that was recovered for a fourth-quarter TD by Taron Johnson . Those two plays took possibly seven points off the board and gave the Bills seven, and that was the difference in the game. Still, Maye was better than Allen as he threw for 261 yards and two TDs while also running for 30 yards.

Buffalo’s defense was hit without Rasul Douglas, Taylor Rapp, Damar Hamlin and Matt Milano for the entire game, and then without Johnson for part of it, so that has to count. The first two New England drives were horrible for the defense, with the last one cutting the deficit to 24-21. And penalties were a big problem as the defense was flagged for eight including an absurd five for pass interference. Kaiir Elam had two of them.

The Bills need to get their starting defensive backs on the field as soon as possible because for two consecutive weeks the reserves have been shredded.

RUN DEFENSE: C-

The Patriots outgained the Bills in the first half for 80 yards on the ground en route to 17 first downs. They entered the game averaging 17.4 first downs per possession. game, and they finished with as many as 28. The ground game produced 126 yards at the end of the game, helping the Patriots finish with a 379-324 total yardage advantage.

This was really disappointing because the Patriots have one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL, but for stretches of this game they won the line of scrimmage.

Stevenson had 60 yards and averaged five per carry. attempts, while Antonio Gibson had 28, adding to Maye’s 30. Terrel Bernard had 12 tackles and forced a fumble that Williams recovered, setting up Tyler Bass’ go-ahead goal in the third. Williams and Cole Bishop each had eight tackles and Dawuane Smoot forced a fumble.

For some reason, Baylon Spector started instead of Milano instead of Williams. At first it was thought it was because Williams was nursing an elbow injury. He seemed to indicate afterward that that wasn’t the case, only taking over in the second half after Spector went out with another injury. Enough of Spector. He’s overmatched, and if the coaching staff thought he was the better starting option, that’s a problem.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C

The Bills kickoff coverage allowed a 42-yard return on the opening kickoff by Gibson, setting up the Patriots for their first TD drive.

In the second quarter, the Bills punt team was beaten badly ahead of a fake when Dell Pettus took a direct snap and plowed forward on a fourth-and-1 at the New England 23 and converted. The Bills didn’t seem ready for the play, another mistake from Matthew Smiley’s group.

There were two kickoff returns averaging 23 yards, one each by Ray Davis and Brandon Codrington. Bass made all four of his kicks — a huge 50-yard field goal and three extra points — and Sam Martin had two of his four punts down inside the 20s.

COACHING: D

The Bills didn’t look ready to play and this was definitely a case of them playing down to the level of competition. Considering they’re still in contention for the No. 1 seed and must at least lock up No. 2, it was a disappointing effort. So were the 13 penalties for 78 yards, further highlighting how sloppy this performance was.

On defense, Bobby Babich had no answers on the first two drives, and it was only because the Bills committed three turnovers that they were able to win this game. It’s three weeks in a row where the defense has been bad, and usually Allen and the offense bail them out, but on Sunday, they almost didn’t.

Joe Brady also struggled when he couldn’t open his phone receivers. The Patriots did an excellent job of mixing up their coverages and they got Brady confused at times.

Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades, including 35 years as a full-time beat writer for D&C, and he has written several books on the team’s history. He can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow him on X @salmaiorana and on Bluesky @salmaiorana.bsky.social. Sign up for his Bills Blast newsletter here: