Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots:  Box score, players stats and summary feat. Josh Allen and Drake Maye

On Sunday, the Buffalo Bills hosted the New England Patriots at Highmark Stadium in a must-win game for the home side to keep their quest for home-field advantage and a first-round bye alive.

The Kansas City Chiefs' win over the Houston Texans on Saturday saw them improve to 11-1. The most wins Buffalo can finish the regular season with are 14, meaning a loss at home on Sunday would end their chances of starting the playoffs as the top seed in the AFC.

The Patriots have nothing to play for. They came into the game 3-11 and already have one eye on the 2025 NFL draft and the offseason. However, they have won only two of their last nine games against their arch-rivals. They'd presumably be keen on handing them a devastating loss even at the expense of dropping on the draft board.

Here's how the game transpired.

Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots box score

Team	1st Q	2nd Q	3rd Q	4th Q	Final
Buffalo Bills	0	7	10	7	24
New England Patriots	7	7	0	7	21

Buffalo Bills players' stats

Quarterback

Player	Completions	Pass Attempts	Passing Yards	Passing TDs	INTs	Rush Attempts	Rush Yards	Rush TDs
Josh Allen	16	29	154	1	1	6	30	0

Rushing and Receiving

Player	RushAttempts	RushYards	RushingTDs	Receptions	ReceivingYards	ReceivingTDs
Keon Coleman	0	0	0	1	17	0
Mack Hollins	0	0	0	2	25	0
James Cook	11	100	1	3	26	1
Ty Johnson	6	30	0	0	0	0
Ray Davis	5	12	0	1	17	0
Dawson Knox	0	0	0	2	22	0
Amari Cooper	0	0	0	1	10	0
Dalton Kincaid	0	0	0	4	15	0
Khalil Shakir	0	0	0	2	22	0

Defense

Player	Tackles	Sacks	Interceptions
Austin Johnson	0	0.5	0
Baylor Spector	0	0.5	0
Cam Lewis	3	0	1
Terrel Bernard	10	0	0

Kicker

Player	PATs	Field Goals	Long	Points
Tyler Bass	3/3	1/1	50	6

New England Patriots players' stats

Quarterback

Player	Completions	Pass Attempts	Passing Yards	Passing TDs	INTs	Rush Attempts	Rush Yards	Rushing TDs
Drake Maye	22	36	260	2	1	6	31	0

Rushing and Receiving

Player	RushAttempts	RushYards	RushingTDs	Receptions	ReceivingYards	ReceivingTDs
Rhamondre Stevenson	12	60	1	1	13	0
Antonio Gibson	10	28	0	2	8	0
Demario Douglas	1	6	0	4	33	0
Dell Peetus	1	2	0	0	0	0
Kayshon Boutte	0	0	0	5	95	1
Hunter Henry	0	0	0	4	39	1
Austin Hooper	0	0	0	4	54	0

Defense

Player	Tackles	Sacks	Interceptions
Marte Mapu	4	0	1
Kyle Dugger	6	0	0
Jerimiah Pharms Jr.	3	1	0
Christian Elliss	4	0	0

Kicker

Player	PATs	Field Goals	Long	Points
Joey Slye	3/3	-	-	3

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Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots game summary

The Patriots got off to a stunning start as they embarked on a nine-play, 44-yard, that culminated in a stellar 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Drake Maye to wide receiver Kayshon Boutte.

The Bills opening drive was a dud, as New England's defense got them off the field in only seven plays. The offense continued its hot start as Maye led the offense to arguably its most impressive drive of the season. They drove the ball all the way down from their own nine-yard line to the Bills 14-yard line in 19 plays. On the 20th play, running back Rhamondre Stevenson broke two tackles and evaded multiple Buffalo defenders to punch the ball into the endzone.

The Highmark Stadium was stunned into the silence but on the subsequent drive, running back James Cook brought them up to life with a 46-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit in half.

The Bills' defense also woke up from its slumber and managed to force a three-and-out to get the ball back into Josh Allen's hands. The MVP candidate tried to tie the game with a deep pass but threw it straight into Marte Mapu's waiting arms in the endzone. The safety made the massive blunder of trying to return the ball and got tackled at the one, pinning the Patriots' offense as deep as it could be in their own half.

Fortunately, Maye managed to get them out of the hole and the two teams exchanged punts to close the half.

The Bills opened the second half with a near-six-minute drive that culminated in Allen finding Cook for a five-yard game-tying touchdown pass.

On the second play of the subsequent drive, the Patriots handed the Bills a gift as Stevenson fumbled the ball at the 39-yard line before linebacker Dorian Williams pounced on it. New England limited the damage to a field goal but surrendered the lead to the home team.

In the following drive, Maye and the Patriots marched down to the Bills' 16-yard line and looked destined to reclaim the lead. However, a miscommunication between the quarterback and tight end Austin Hooper allowed cornerback Cam Lewis to pick a pass in the endzone, and he gladly accepted the gift as New England's offense shot itself in the foot for the second time in as many drives.

The Bills embarked on an 11-play, 55-yard drive that stalled at the Patriots' 40-yard line. But instead of attempting a 56-yard field goal, Buffalo opted to punt and pin the Patriots deep in their own territory. It proved to be a stellar decision as Stevenson bobbled a backward pass from Maye into the endzone and cornerback Taron Johnson picked it up for the touchdown.

After committing three egregious on three straight drives and throwing the game away, the Patriots offense finally got their act together in the penultimate drive of the game. They embarked on an 18-play, 55-yard drive that was capped off by Maye's nine-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Henry.

New England unsuccessfully attempted an onside kick but they still had all three timeouts and needed one stop to get the ball back. With ten seconds left on the clock, Buffalo faced a 4th-and-1. Instead of punting the ball back to the Patriots, they opted to go for it with a quarterback sneak and got two yards to ice the game and improve to 12-3.