On an unusually sloppy night time for the Buffalo Bills, the New England Patriots bought a clutch efficiency from quarterback Drake Maye and a game-winning 52-yard subject objective from rookie kicker Andres Borregales to tug off the 23-20 upset and hand Buffalo its first lack of the NFL season.
Listed below are 4 takeaways from Sunday’s nightcap:
Drake Maye makes a press release in opposition to sloppy Buffalo Bills
On an evening that noticed an uncharacteristic three turnovers and 11 penalties — eight of which had been within the first half — from Buffalo, the second-year QB willed his group to victory in opposition to a beforehand unbeaten Payments squad.
Maye was 22-of-30 for 273 yards. He made a number of key performs on the game-winning drive, however the one which began all of it confirmed his skill to make performs. Maye stiff-armed the defender and someway made this throw to Stefon Diggs for the primary down previous to the two-minute warning.
Maye was sensational in his primetime debut and confirmed what he and the Patriots are able to in opposition to the very best groups within the league. Now 3-2 with each losses coming by one rating, New England shouldn’t be taken evenly.
Stefon Diggs goes off in return to Buffalo
In his first begin in opposition to the Payments after spending a yr with the Houston Texans and signing a cope with the Patriots in free company throughout the offseason, Diggs made positive to go away an influence.
He began the night time with a 15-yard reception on the primary play from scrimmage and someway made this spectacular 32-yard seize to set the Patriots up for the go-ahead TD within the third quarter.
Diggs had 10 receptions for 146 yards (each season-highs) and posted his second straight recreation with not less than 100 receiving yards. After a gradual begin to the season, Diggs appears to be getting comfy and turning right into a go-to possibility for Maye, like he was anticipated to.
Josh Allen shines with time to throw
It was not the cleanest recreation from Allen, with a fumble and an interception, however he nonetheless made performs to maintain Buffalo round when it wanted him most.
Allen was 22-of-31 for 253 yards and two TDs, together with 53 yards on the bottom. He excelled when he had time to function within the pocket. Based on the NBC broadcast, Allen was 7-of-7 for 94 yards within the first half when he had over 2.5 seconds to throw, in comparison with solely 2-of-4 for six yards with beneath 2.5 seconds (h/t Subsequent Gen Stats).
That speaks to how environment friendly he may be when he has time to look at his choices down the sector. Apart from one Patriots sack, Allen had extra time to function than not on Sunday night time, and he made positive to make them pay when he did.
After some miscommunication from the Payments led to a fumble and put the Patriots throughout midfield, Stevenson instantly gave the ball proper again to Buffalo with a fumble of his personal on the following play early within the opening quarter.
It was Stevenson’s third misplaced fumble of the season. Based on StatMuse, he now has 17 fumbles in his career, together with a career-high seven final season.
He put these struggles behind him the remainder of the sport with New England’s solely TDs of the night time, together with this seven-yard rating untouched to increase the result in 20-10 early within the fourth quarter.
The fumble points proceed to persist, however not less than for the remainder of Sunday night time’s recreation, Stevenson put these behind him to offer New England some much-needed assist from the run recreation.
