Drake Maye completed 22 of 37 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns, including a late, go-ahead TD pass to Efton Chism III, to lead the New England Patriots to a 29-26 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday in Orchard Park, N.Y.
Chism’s leaping, one-handed 23-yard TD catch plus Maye’s pass to Rhamondre Stevenson for the two-point conversion gave the Patriots a 29-26 lead with 1:50 to play.
Craig Woodson intercepted a Josh Allen pass at the New England 19-yard line on the ensuing possession, and the Patriots (2-2) were able to run out the clock and hand Buffalo (3-1) its first loss in its new stadium.
Allen was 23-of-33 passing for 253 yards and one touchdown. Buffalo’s Keon Coleman caught six passes for 116 yards and a TD. James Cook rushed for 75 yards and a score.
The Patriots struck first when Maye connected with Romeo Doubs (six receptions, 58 yards, two TDs) for a 14-yard touchdown pass with 7:01 left in the first quarter. The score capped a 12-play, 97-yard drive.
Buffalo tied the game on Cook’s 8-yard TD run plus Tyler Bass’ extra point 45 seconds into the second quarter.
New England regained the lead on Stevenson’s 1-yard run with 5:38 left before halftime, but Buffalo responded when Allen scored from 2 yards away with one minute left. The TD gave Allen the most touchdowns from scrimmage (88) in franchise history, breaking a tie with Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas.
It remained 14-14 until Bass made a 27-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half. The field goal was set up by Dee Alford’s interception that he returned to the New England 9-yard line with nine seconds remaining. The interception came after Doubs lost control of the ball as he fell to the ground following a catch.
The Patriots were up 21-17 after Doubs caught a 2-yard TD pass with 8:15 left in the third, but Buffalo made it 21-20 on Bass’ 38-yard field goal with 11:07 to play in the game.
The Bills regained their lead at 26-21 on Allen’s 34-yard TD pass to Coleman with 4:27 left. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed.
–Field Level Media
