11 takeaways from the Patriots’ comeback win over the Bills
New England Patriots
An absurd, one-handed catch from Efton Chism gave New England a late lead at Highmark Stadium.
A year ago, the 2025 Patriots seemingly set themselves on the course for an improbable run after an upset win against the Bills in Buffalo.
Might Drake Maye and the 2026 Patriots pen a similar script this year?
New England bounced back in impressive fashion on Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium, leaving Buffalo with a 29-26 comeback win over its top AFC East foe.
Here are some takeaways from Sunday’s dramatic win:
Maye, Patriots stem the tide with gutsy win
Morale was down in Foxborough this week, fresh off another disastrous showing from Maye and the Patriots’ offense in Jacksonville.
A loss to the Bills on Sunday felt inevitable, especially with New England’s defense already missing several key cogs like Christian Gonzalez and Christian Barmore.
In the days leading up to Sunday’s showdown in Buffalo, most of the discourse revolved around a reported rift between Maye and head coach Mike Vrabel, Maye’s shoulder woes, and concerns over whether or not New England’s magical 2025 season was just a flash in the pan.
But to their credit, Maye and the Patriots showed that they still have something left in the tank.
Thanks to a bounce-back showing from Maye (22-of-37, 323 total yards, three touchdowns), a hard-nosed performance from a shorthanded defense, and an absurd, game-winning catch from Efton Chism, the Patriots delivered a statement win on the road with a 29-26 victory.
It was the type of performance that Maye and the Patriots needed after weeks of poor play, with the Patriots’ third-year QB orchestrating a fourth-quarter drive that ended with Chism’s highlight-reel snag with just 1:50 left on the clock.
For a time, a loss to the Bills felt all but a given — with New England staring at a potential 1-3 start to the 2026 season.
But Maye and the Patriots may not be done just yet.
It wasn’t always pretty for Maye, who was knocked for two turnovers — albeit one was an interception that was more of a bad bounce from Romeo Doubs.
But the Patriots’ top player didn’t unravel in critical situations, offering up hope that he can put a rough start to the year in the rearview mirror.
Defense holds up without Gonzalez, Barmore
Beyond the concerns regarding Maye’s play through the first three weeks of the 2026 season, the odds weren’t exactly favoring New England’s defense entering this matchup at Highmark Stadium.
New England’s defense was inevitably going to have its hands full against Josh Allen and a dynamic Buffalo offense. But the Patriots were also going up against Maye without both Gonzalez and Barmore.
But even without New England’s top defensive player in Gonzalez and a dynamic defensive lineman in Barmore, the Patriots did enough to keep Allen and that offense at bay.
New England kept Buffalo’s potent run game to under 100 yards (91 total) on Sunday, with the Patriots also generating a pair of timely turnovers off a punch-out from Carlton Davis and an eventual game-ending pick from Craig Woodson.
New England’s defense has not been the issue through an up-and-down start to the year. But Sunday’s showing without Gonzalez and Barmore was another major step forward for Zak Kuhr’s unit.
A strong start for Maye
New England’s defense did its part to open Sunday’s game, with Kevin Byard breaking up a pass from Allen on third down for a promising three-and-out.
Of course, all eyes on Sunday were going to be on how Maye and the Patriots’ offense were going to bounce back from Week 3.
Sunday’s start was night-and-day from last week in Jacksonville.
Maye and the Patriots reeled off a 12-play, 97-yard drive to set the tone early, as he accounted for 92 of those 97 yards that ended with a 14-yard touchdown to Doubs.
Maye looked more like the MVP runner-up from last year, using his legs to scramble away from a potential Buffalo safety for a 15-yard pickup, hitting Hunter Henry off a jump pass for a chunk gain, and converting on a 4th-and-3 from Buffalo’s 29 via a 15-yard pickup from Doubs.
After weeks of dysfunctional play from Maye and New England’s offense, that opening drive stood as a breath of fresh air.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Allen and the Bills to respond.
Buffalo countered with a 13-play, 62-yard drive that took 7:46 off the clock — with James Cook hurdling into the end zone to knot the game up at 7-7, less than a minute into the second quarter.
Turnovers return
New England caught a serious break to open its second drive on offense — starting at its own 40-yard line after Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass didn’t get the ball to the landing zone.
Maye and the Patriots moved the ball all the way to Buffalo’s 23-yard line, only for Maye to get knocked for his eighth turnover of the season.
A bull rush from Buffalo’s defense collapsed the pocket around Maye, with Buffalo pushing back right guard Ben Brown and center Jared Wilson. Rather than eating the sack, Maye attempted a pass, with Ed Oliver swatting the ball out of his hands.
Greg Gaines pounced on the loose ball, sapping momentum away from a spirited start for New England’s offense.
Buffalo’s offense couldn’t capitalize with a punt after that turnover. But it still stood as a painful result for a Patriots offense that — at a minimum — squandered at least a field-goal attempt on that drive.
Patriots use their legs to regain lead … temporarily
Maye and the Patriots were not deterred after that miscue, with New England responding with a six-play, 63-yard touchdown drive.
Maye opened that drive with a 26-yard pass to Mack Hollins, but New England did most of its damage on the ground.
After running back Rhamondre Stevenson broke through with a 10-yard run to get the ball to Buffalo’s 27-yard line, Maye scrambled another 26 yards to get the ball right on Buffalo’s doorstep.
Stevenson — running behind fullback Reggie Gilliam — punched the ball into the end zone to make it a 14-7 Patriots lead.
With a little under six minutes to go in the first half, the Patriots had more offensive points (14) on Sunday than they’ve scored in any other games so far this season.
Brutal penalties on Jones, Vrabel lead to Buffalo equalizer
Buffalo was seemingly set to counter Stevenson’s touchdown in short order, with Allen scrambling out of pressure and hitting Khalil Shakir for a 50-yard pickup to get the ball to New England’s six-yard line.
But a costly illegal use of hands penalty against Buffalo had the Bills staring at a 3rd-and-16 — giving New England a prime opportunity to at least escape with just a field goal.
But a questionable holding penalty against Marcus Jones gave Buffalo a new set of downs, with the call against New England’s cornerback drawing a furious reaction from Mike Vrabel against the officiating crew.
Vrabel was subsequently whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct, turning what was a 3rd-and-16 for Buffalo into a 1st-and-5. Allen eventually pushed his way into the end zone to knot the game up at 14-14.
Patriots, Bills trade turnovers before halftime
After a quick three-and-out from Maye and the Patriots, Buffalo had 29 seconds and two timeouts to try and take the lead before halftime.
Some last-minute points felt inevitable for Buffalo after a 22-yard pickup from Keon Coleman. But after Shakir picked up another eight yards, Carlton Davis punched the ball out of his hands — with Elijah Ponder jumping on the loose ball for a fumble recovery.
New England had another opportunity to either tack on some points or just kneel down and close the half with just 16 seconds left on the clock.
But that fortunate break for the Patriots ended in disaster, as a low throw from Maye to Doubs led to the ball popping right up into the air and into the hands of Buffalo’s Dee Alford.
The brutal break for New England resulted in an interception, with Alford running the ball back to New England’s nine-yard line with two seconds left on the clock. Buffalo kicker Bass connected on the 27-yard field goal to give the Bills a 17-14 lead at halftime.
It was bad luck on the part of Maye, and another brutal miscue from Doubs after seemingly bouncing back with his first-quarter touchdown.
Doubs redeems himself
It didn’t take long for Doubs to atone for that interception just before halftime.
With New England needing to pile on points early and often on Sunday to keep pace with Allen and Buffalo’s offense, Vrabel and his staff remained aggressive — going for it on a 4th-and-2 from the Bills’ 17-yard line on their first drive of the second half.
Doubs moved the chains with a nine-yard pickup, and later capped off a 14-play, 73-yard drive with a one-handed touchdown catch off a goal-line fade from Maye — giving New England a 21-17 lead.
Hollins exits with injury
New England’s offense has already taken a major hit after A.J. Brown was sidelined with a high ankle sprain in Week 1.
And in the third quarter, Maye’s other top target, Mack Hollins, was sidelined with what looked like a non-contact injury. While trying to fight through coverage, Hollins appeared hobbled — eventually hopping off the field and making his way to the locker room.
Hollins did not return, with the Patriots deeming it a calf injury for the veteran wideout.
At the time of his injury, Hollins had three catches for 53 yards — averaging 17.7 yards per catch.
Patriots cornerback Charles Woods also appeared to suffer a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter after delivering a heavy hit against Joshua Palmer, with backup Kindle Vildor struggling with coverage against Coleman down the stretch.
Bills surge back
Doubs’ second touchdown of the day might have handed New England a four-point lead early in the second half.
But it was all but inevitable that New England needed to put up more points down the stretch to steel itself against Allen and Co.
But that added insurance didn’t come for Maye and Co., with New England punting on its next three drives. One of those drives was stalled by a critical holding call against Will Campbell, wiping out a first-down pickup from Maye and forcing New England to squander another drive.
Meanwhile, a spirited performance from New England’s defense eventually started to splinter, with Coleman in particular capitalizing down the stretch.
A 38-yard field goal from Bass made it a 21-20 game with 11:07 to go in the fourth, with Buffalo’s next drive ending with a 34-yard touchdown snag with 4:27 left in regulation. Buffalo’s two-point conversion was no good, making it a 26-21 Bills lead with the ball back in Maye’s hands.
Chism, Woodson come up clutch to seal win
A see-saw game for the Patriots and Bills ended in dramatic fashion, with Maye leading New England on a dramatic, go-ahead drive that ended with a highlight-reel snag from Chism.
The Patriots picked a good time for their offense to get back on track, with an eight-play, 73-yard drive capped with a one-handed, 23-yard catch from Chism with Davison Igbinosun blanketing him in coverage.
With Hollins sidelined, it was a huge drive for Chism, who also went up the ladder for a 19-yard snag earlier in the sequence to move the ball into Buffalo territory.
Maye then hit Stevenson on a short-yardage pass for the two-point conversion to make it a three-point game.
There was still plenty of time left on the clock for Allen and the Bills to at least try to knot the game up, but Buffalo’s luck ran out when the heave down the field from Allen was picked off by Woodson to seal the hard-earned win for New England.
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