The Bills failed to extend their streak of 30-point games to 9, but they did get their 12th win of the season.

It took until Week 16 of the 2024 NFL season for the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots to face off and give rookie quarterback Drake Maye his first up-close look at the perennial AFC East division leaders. The weather was cold – 14 degrees Fahrenheit at kick off and dropping to single digits before the clock hit zero. But the Buffalo Bills were lukewarm, scoring just seven points in the first half before using the second half to outscore the Patriots 17-7 and get their twelfth win of the season.

Buffalo wanted to introduce Maye to their defense in a hurry and pressured him right off the bat with a safety blitz by Cam Lewis. But New England’s rookie QB didn’t flinch. While his first pass fell incomplete, Maye kept his composure and marched his team downfield with ease and the help of a 14-yard pass interference call against Buffalo linebacker Baylon Spector who got the start over Dorian Williams. The Bills did manage to record an official sack courtesy of defensive tackle Austin Johnson chasing Maye out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage, but it didn’t matter as one play later the Patriot quarterback hit Kayshon Boutte for a 28yard touchdown.

Bills 0, Patriots 7

Buffalo’s answer was not the right one. After moving the chains with two mid-range gains and then an Allen keeper that summed a total of 11 yards for the offense, they failed to gain any further ground. However, punter Sam Martin hit a booming 49-yard punt that pinned the Patriots back at the nine-yard line making Drake Maye have to stare down almost the entire field as he came out for his second series in Orchard Park.

Once again, Maye was not going to be intimidated, and he led the New England offense systematically down the field. Each time it looked like the Patriots game might stall, Maye kept them rolling – once with a 10-yard scramble on a third-and-nine, another time on a 12-yard pass on another third-and-long. The biggest thing Maye and the New England offense were doing: taking a page out of the Los Angeles Rams game plan and keeping Josh Allen off the field.

The first quarter expired with New England looking at a first and goal from the Buffalo 8 and the Bills offense only having had the ball for a whole two minutes and forty-eight seconds. As the second quarter started, Maye had a pair of incompletions, but one was negated by a questionable pass interference call on Cam Lewis that started the Patriots down counter over. A false start backed them up, but Stevenson just powered 14 yards for the score.

Catch Jimbo if you can!

📺: @paramountplus & @NFLonCBS@thegreat__4 | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/WzdsrIsesS

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 22, 2024

Bills 0, Patriots 14

Apparently, Buffalo’s offense decided they had had enough of the Drake Maye show and put on a two-minute clinic. On first down, Allen had all day to pick a receiver but couldn’t find the one he wanted deep so, as he was finally being chased out of bounds he chucked the ball to Dawson Knox. The pass was low, but the Buffalo tight end went to the ground to scoop it up for a 13-yard gain. Ty Johnson slipped a tackle behind the line of scrimmage and turned it into a five-yard gain and then Allen pitched the ball out to Cook for 6 more yards and the Bills third first down of the afternoon. Cook then took a hand-off from Allen and didn’t stop running until he crossed the goal line 46 yards later.

Bills 7, Patriots 14

Buffalo’s defense got the message Allen and company sent and they forced New England to a three-and-out after just 58 seconds of play time. On first down, Maye tried to go deep and missed his target. On second down, Maye wanted no part of being hit by Greg Rousseau and threw the ball at the Stevenson’s feet. Faced with a third and ten, Kendrick Bourne was forced to come back to make the catch and ended up short of the sticks. Not only did the Patriots have to punt, but then they were called for illegal use of the hands giving the Bills an extra 10 yards and the ball at their own 32-yard line.

But Allen’s magic wasn’t working in the cold on this drive and the Buffalo offense looked like they were riding a roller coaster. A 16 yard catch and run by Cook followed by a spinning 4-yard catch by Kincaid and then a 10-yard shot to Cooper made it look like the offense was on track. But then Allen threw at Shakir’s feet, then Shakir was called for pass interference on the next play. If that wasn’t enough, on a 3rd and 11, Amari Cooper was called for a false start to make it 3rd and 16. Still not enough of a drop off for the Buffalo offense, Allen tried to throw for Keon Coleman in the end zone but had the ball picked off in the end zone by Marte Mapu. The only bright side – Mapu made the decision to not take a knee and was tackled at the one-yard line.

Again, Maye didn’t look bothered by staring at a whole field. A one-yard run, followed by 5- and 7-yard passes and he had room to breathe. After failing to convert the next set of downs, it looked like the Patriots were done, but a fake punt was good, and Maye and the offense came right back onto the field. However, as the clock hit the two-minute warning, New England was faced with a fourth and one and really did punt the ball away.

With 1:48 left in the half, Josh Allen brought his offense out to try to complete a double-dip opportunity. But it wasn’t to be. Allen was almost picked off on a first down throw but got lucky. He then hit Mack Hollins for 12 and Keon Coleman for 10. But the second of those plays was negated when Spencer Brown wasn’t on the line of scrimmage. With a first and 15, Allen was chased and scrambled for 4 yards. Then he found Mack Hollins for another 13 yards. But that was it. Three straight incompletions and the double-dip opportunity was over, and a Sam Martin punt rolled into the end zone.

Not content with their 7-point lead, the Patriots came out onto the field with the dreaded 13 seconds. A 13-yard pass followed by another for 11 yards and the clock was at 2 seconds. New England took a timeout and then Buffalo followed with one of their own. Rather than throw a Hail Mary, Maye pitched it short left to Boutte who ran down field for 31 yards. Rather than go down with Taron Johnson wrapped around him, Boutte pitched the ball backwards to Gibson, but Rousseau chased him out of bounds and both teams headed to the locker rooms.

After scoring more than 40 points in each of their last two games, the Bills only managed 7 in the first half, and their defense – which, admittedly was missing four defensive starters (but they were missing three of those last weeks, so there really are no excuses) – wasn’t playing lights out. Buffalo’s offense only had the ball for 9 minutes and 40 seconds in the first 30 minutes of play. They only managed a total of 139 offensive yards while their defense gave up twenty more than that in passing alone to New England’s rookie quarterback.

Bills 7, Patriots 14

Buffalo came out of the locker room prepared to play a different game for the final two quarters, and they did just that. On the third quarter’s first play from scrimmage James Cook ran around the end for 25 yards and he was being chased by Allen who was ready to either throw or a block or celebrate, whichever was warranted. After a two more runs only netted five yards, Allen took to the air and his offensive line gave him all day. The Buffalo quarterback took his time before throwing a fastball over the middle to Keon Coleman for seven yards and a first down. After throwing the ball away on first down and then Cook getting just three yards on second, Allen hit Cook who was sprinting toward the corner of the end zone, and the Bills evened the score.

Bills 14, Patriots, 14

Drake Maye came out, still calm, and handed the ball off to Stevenson who ran up the middle for eight yards before being tackled by Dorian Williams who the Bills decided to put in the game in place of Baylon Spector who they later listed as doubtful to return with the calf injury that has been plaguing him for 8+ weeks. New England tried to go with Stevenson again, but after stretching for the first down, he lost the ball, and Williams was there to scoop it up. Originally, the officials called Stevenson down by contact, but replay assist stepped in and ruled in favor of the fumble and recovery before Sean McDermott needed to find his red flag.

Ray Davis had two runs – one for 8 and another for 4 – before Josh Allen tried to go for it all but watched as the pass was ripped away from Shakir in the end zone. After a run for no gain and then a sack, it was time for Tyler Bass to step up. The Buffalo kicker has had an up-and-down year, but he’s been better from distance than short, and his kick was dead center and could have sailed ten plus yards deeper than the 52 he needed.

Bills 17, Patriots 14

Maye took over again, and, as had been the story all day, looked calm and composed. He scrambled for four yards. After 9- and 4-yard runs, Maye hit Boutte for 22 yards and kept moving his team methodically towards the Buffalo end zone. But, faced with a first and 10 at the 16-yard line, Maye threw to the end zone and apparently forgot what color jerseys New England was wearing today and the pass landed nicely in Cam Lewis’s hands. For Lewis, a University of Buffalo defensive back who got the start due to both Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp being inactive with injuries, it was the first of his five-year career.

Unfortunately, the Bills offense couldn’t do anything with Lewis’s gift except eat time off the clock. As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Shakir fumbled for the first time in his career. It wasn’t detrimental as he was able to scoop the ball back underneath himself and it was just a dramatic 12-yard game. On the next play, Cook ran for 8 yards to put him over 100 rushing yards on the day – and then he, too fumbled the ball. Buffalo breathed when guard O’Cyrus Torrence scooped it up and the Bills retained control. But three plays later and was called on to pin the Patriots at their 10 yard line with a 30 yard punt.

The Patriots ran the ball for two yards before they, too, couldn’t keep their hands on the frozen ball. On their second play, Maye threw a backward pass toward Stevenson. Rousseau read the play from the start and hit Stevenson before he could get the ball. The frozen ball bounced to the end zone where Taron Johnson threw himself on top of it to give the Bills their first fumble recovery touchdown since 2020.

Bills 24, Patriots 17

The Patriots were set to try again, this time from their 30-yard line. They were only able to move the ball 20 yards in the next minute and forty-four seconds. Then, in a questionable decision while down two scores, they opted to punt from the 50 rather than go for a fourth and six.

Buffalo got the ball on their own nine-yard line and Josh Allen, who suffered an elbow contusion on the previous drive, threw both a 9- and 17-yard pass to quiet any noise about whether he should sit out the remaining six minutes of the game. However, the drive stalled at the 39-yard line and Sam Martin was called for his fifth punt of the day.

Maye led the Patriots the length of the field as he tried to get the deficit down to one score. The New England quarterback’s efforts were aided by a pass interference call on Ja’Marcus Ingram who was in for Taron Johnson who was in the locker room getting evaluated for a concussion (he was later returned to play during the same drive). A 13-yard run by Maye on fourth-and-one gave the Patriots another first down and then a 34-yard pass (plus an unnecessary roughness penalty on Terrel Bernard) gave New England another first down. Two pass interference penalties on Kaiir Elam – both on third-and-goal situations – and the Patriots just kept getting new opportunities. Eventually, the Patriots scored, but it took them 18 plays and more than three minutes to do so, and they still trailed the Bills by 3 with just a minute-thirteen left on the clock.

Bills 24, Patriots 21

New England’s onside kick attempt bounced off Quintin Morris’s hands, but Shakir was right behind him to make sure Buffalo secured the ball. New England had three timeouts. Buffalo had the ball. And Ty Johnson. Runs of 12 yards, 5 yards, and 4 yards and the Patriots were out of timeouts and the Bills had a third and one. Johnson was only able to get about half a yard and the Bills let the clock tick and then took a timeout with ten ticks left. Buffalo came out, tried to get the Patriots to jump (they didn’t) and then went ahead and pushed Josh Allen across the line for a first down as the clock expired.

Bills 24, Patriots 21 – Final