DaQuan Jones grabbed Drake Maye by the collar and pulled as hard as he could to drag the New England Patriots quarterback to the ground.
As Maye held the ball with his right hand, he used his left to try to fend off the Buffalo Bills defensive tackle. Several feet in front of Maye, Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa was running full-speed to try to finish the play Jones started.
Maye was falling to the ground when he threw the ball toward the right sideline, where Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs was open to make the catch and run for 12 yards. The first play of New England’s final drive led to Andy Borregales’ game-winning field goal Sunday night in the Patriots’ 23-20 win that sent the Bills to their first loss of the season.
“Every quarterback in the NFL now seems like they’re a mobile quarterback, so it makes it significantly more difficult,” Maye said. “Being able to figure that out and get it cleaned up.”
Entering Week 5, no team had allowed more rushing yards to quarterbacks than the Bills. It was a point of emphasis throughout the week because of their inconsistent tackling in a victory the week before against the New Orleans Saints. Defensive coaches and players viewed Maye as one of the best quarterbacks in the AFC. Not only were they concerned about Maye’s ability to scramble, he’s dangerous when he leaves the pocket.
The Bills (4-1) saw that in the fourth quarter when Maye rolled to his right and threw a perfect 30-yard pass to Diggs, which set up Rhamdondre Stevenson’s 7-yard touchdown run that gave the Patriots a 20-10 lead. In the second half, Maye completed 13 of 14 passes for 184 yards. The out-of-structure plays he made were examples of why he’s drawn comparisons to Josh Allen.
Bills coach Sean McDermott blitzed more in the second half to try to make Maye uncomfortable, but it didn’t work.
“Just a really gutsy performance from Drake,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said. “Just continue to enjoy watching him grow and lead this football team.”
Shaq Thompson’s punch-out
The Patriots got the ball at the Bills’ 46-yard line because Allen fumbled a handoff to Dawson Knox on Buffalo’ first drive.
Maye’s play-action fake got Stevenson open on a curl route in the middle of the field, and Stevenson had room to fight for more yards after he caught the short pass. As Stevenson fell to the ground, Bills linebacker Shaq Thompson punched at the ball to force the fumble. Terrel Bernard dove to recover, giving Allen possession at his own 38-yard line.
“Honestly, it was just a vice tackle between me and Matt (Milano),” Thompson said. “He was going down and I just punched it out.”
Buffalo’s ensuing drive lasted just six plays, including a punt, because of an illegal formation penalty and an incomplete back-shoulder throw to Keon Coleman on third down, but the forced fumble was an important moment for a defense that wants to start fast.
Stefon Diggs spent four years with the Buffalo Bills, and on Sunday night, he made his return to Highmark Stadium for the first time since he was traded to the Houston Texans in 2024. Diggs put up a dominant performance. He had 10 catches on 12 targets for 146 receiving yards.
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Curtis Samuel trickery
Patriots safety Jaylinn Hawkins casually moved to his left when Bills wide receiver Curtis Samuel motioned for a second time.
Hawkins must have thought Samuel’s movement was nothing but window dressing, or a way for Allen to diagnose the Patriots’ coverage. Samuel didn’t complete the orbit motion, though. Instead of moving behind Allen to the right side, Samuel stopped quickly and ran a route to the left flat.
Hawkins was caught in no man’s land, and no one else covered Samuel, who caught the pass and ran for a 6-yard touchdown that gave the Bills a 10-6 lead. They have scored on the opening drive of a game or half nine times through five weeks.
Josh Allen’s tough throw
Teams don’t typically like to play man coverage against the Bills because defenders must turn their back to Allen.
Here are Jay Skurski’s grades for the Buffalo Bills in their 23-20 loss to the New England Patriots.
He took advantage Sunday night by rushing nine times for 53 yards. Allen needs a receiver to get open if there isn’t a lane for him to run, though. Tight end Dalton Kincaid caught six passes for a career-high 108 yards against the Patriots’ man coverage. The lack of separation forced Allen to make tight-window throws like the one he attempted to Khalil Shakir in the third quarter.
Shakir appeared to be open enough, but Allen’s throw was too far inside. Cornerback Marcus Jones intercepted the pass, and the Patriots scored on the next drive to make it 20-10.
”I really don’t think that was a force. It was just a bad ball,” Allen said. “I thought Khalil did a good job. He was coming friendly and I just left it inside.”
Keon Coleman’s mistake
It was a routine catch for Keon Coleman.
The Bills’ loss to the Patriots was Buffalo’s first of the season and snapped its 14-game regular-season home win streak.
The second-year receiver ran a curl route on the second play of a drive that started at the Bills’ 14-yard line. As soon as Coleman caught the ball, he tried to run toward the middle of the field to get closer to a first down. He didn’t protect the ball well, enough, as Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane punched it out and Hawkins recovered. New England used the turnover to kick a field goal and take a 3-0 lead.
“”We Didn’t play our game tonight, and that’s frustrating,” McDermott said. “And this is a pivotal learning opportunity for us right here. So there were some other moments where I just feel like maybe we were too cute at times. And just overall we’ve got to look at some things and just be honest with ourselves and learn from it holistically.”
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Lance Lysowski
News Sports Reporter
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