Josh Allen is one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks. He has an MVP to prove it.
Drake Maye isn’t on his level yet. But he had a performance on Sunday night that we could look back on as the start of a fun AFC East quarterback rivalry. Especially if Stefon Diggs, a former Bill, contributes like he did on Sunday night.
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The Bills were the NFL’s lone undefeated team for about seven hours. The Eagles, who along with Buffalo were 4-0 coming into Week 5, lost to the Broncos early on Sunday. Then the Bills got upset Sunday night when Maye put together a huge drive in the final minutes to get a field goal with 15 seconds left and the 23-20 win. The Patriots are just a game behind the Bills in the AFC East with a valuable head-to-head road win over Buffalo in hand.
One of the big catches of that game-winning drive was from Diggs, who gained 12 yards after grabbing a pass from Maye that the QB somehow delivered as he was being dragged to the ground. Diggs had 10 catches for 146 yards and got some revenge on the Bills, who traded him after the 2023 season.
NBC’s Melissa Stark asked Diggs if the game was personal.
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“One-hundred percent,” Diggs said. “Obviously I love those guys, still got a good relationship with those guys, got a lot of respect for them, but I love the game of football more.”
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Maye has shown flashes of talent since he was the third pick of last year’s NFL Draft, and also some inconsistency. What will matter most is if he can lead wins against elite teams, specifically the division rival Bills and their elite quarterback. On Sunday night, Maye played well and hit a few huge passes to get the Patriots into field-goal range in the final minute. It was the biggest moment of Maye’s pro career. He had 273 yards, including two huge completions to get the Patriots in position to win in the final seconds.
Maye and the Patriots put the Bills on notice. Buffalo might have a competitor in the AFC East after all.
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A sloppy 1st half
Sunday night’s game looked like a Thursday night game in which both teams were plagued by sloppy mistakes on short rest. It was a bad first half for both teams. There were multiple fumbles, and yet neither offense took advantage when presented with good field position off those turnovers. Each team settled for field goals after failing to punch it in the end zone. There were penalties, sacks and a general lack of sharpness. It was odd to see the Bills play to that level.
Late in the first half, the Patriots got to the 1-yard line on a Bills penalty, but Hunter Henry couldn’t react to Drake Maye’s quick pass in time to make a catch, and with one second left in the half the Patriots settled for another field goal.
There were no touchdowns in the first half, but the Patriots had a 6-3 lead. Neither team could have been happy with how it played, but at least New England could be content to lead the NFL’s last unbeaten team on the road.
Patriots take a big lead
Finally there was a touchdown to start the second half. The Bills went 66 yards on 10 plays and Curtis Samuel caught a 6-yard pass from Allen for a touchdown, the first of the game.
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The Patriots then put together their best drive of the game. Drake Maye hit a couple of nice passes and Rhamondre Stevenson had a 4-yard touchdown run to get the lead back for New England.
The Patriots kept the momentum going, and the Bills didn’t. Allen threw an interception that has been rare for him in recent seasons, allowing Marcus Jones to undercut a route in the red zone for the pick. The Patriots had a 90-yard drive after that interception and Stevenson scored his second touchdown. Suddenly the Patriots led 20-10 and the Bills were seemingly in trouble. But they’re never truly out of a game with Allen at quarterback.
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Allen is one of the NFL’s best comeback quarterbacks, and he threw a touchdown pass to Keon Coleman with 7:37 left. The Bills had another drive into Patriots territory, but New England cornerback Christian Gonzalez had a huge pass breakup on third down and the Bills settled for the field goal and the tie.
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