The Patriots let a winnable game slip out of their hands on Sunday.

The stage was set for a blowout. The New England Patriots went into one of the NFL’s most hostile environments as 14.5-point underdogs, missing multiple starters on defense, having lost four straight, and going against one of the hottest teams in football.

And yet, they gave the Buffalo Bills all they could handle on Sunday. In fact, the game — which ended as a 24-21 Buffalo win — was there for the taking.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they were unable to sustain their strong first-half play. After intermission, they turned back into a pumpkin, and were subsequently ground into a fine pulp by both the Bills and by their own miscues.

Their first three offensive possessions after intermission were New England’s undoing. Each one of them ended with a turnover..

“The mistakes that we made in the second half, we can’t have those. The outcome is the outcome because of that,” said running back Antonio Gibson after the game.

“We ran the ball well, were throwing it well, and got off to a hot start. Just came out in the second half and put the defense in a tough spot after they tied it up,” added quarterback Drake Maye.

After Buffalo had tied the game at 14 on its first drive of the third period, the Patriots ran just two plays before a Rhamondre Stevenson fumble gave the ball back to the AFC East champions. Six plays later, the Bills had taken their first lead of the game to officially turn what was once a 14-0 deficit into a 17-14 lead.

New England’s offense responded in style, driving all the way to the Buffalo 16-yard line on its next possession. However, disaster struck once again: Maye attempted to connect with tight end Austin Hooper in the end zone, but the only player in a position to make a play on the ball was defender Cam Lewis.

The Patriots’ defense held after the interception. While it did give up 55 yards and allow Buffalo to use almost six minutes of game time along the way, it eventually forced a punt to keep the score within reach.

It took the Patriots all but two plays to change that.

Facing a 2nd-and-8 at their own 12-yard line, the Patriots went with a backwards swing pass to Rhamondre Stevenson. The play was doomed from the get-go: right tackle Demontrey Jacobs delivered an insufficient chip against Greg Rousseau, which in turn allowed him to level Stevenson after he failed to reel in the short throw; this set the stage for fellow Bills defender Taron Johnson to recover what was actually deemed a fumble in the end zone.

The Patriots still had their chances to come back from their 24-14 deficit, but at that point the momentum had fully shifted to the Bills. It never returned.

“A tale of two halves,” said tight end Hunter Henry. “Just didn’t come out ready to play in the second half. Just turned the ball over. Had a long, good drive, turned the ball over in the red zone; some costly penalties. You play a good football team, you just can’t given them the ball like that especially in plus territory. That’s a good football team, and you just can’t do those kind of things.”

The Patriots have been doing “those kind of things” all year long, and as a result entered Week 16 ranked 25th in the NFL with a -7 turnover differential. For comparison, the Bills were tied for the league lead at +18.

Turnovers and an inability to limit self-inflicted mistakes have been big reasons why the two division rivals are on opposite ends of the spectrum this season. And until the Patriots can get off the schneid in that department, stealing a win against Buffalo — or any team, for that matter — will be a sizable challenge.

“It is really frustrating. Just hurting ourselves with the same thing — the same things repeating,” said Drake Maye.

“It’s so frustrating, and I’m going hold myself from some anger. It just, at some point, turns from disappointment to just kind of, you’re getting frustrated, real frustrated.”