FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots were a half away from ending Buffalo’s five-year reign atop the AFC East.
But after allowing Josh Allen and the Bills to score touchdowns on five straight possessions, the postgame message Sunday following a 35-31 loss centered on the Patriots not making the same mistakes with three games still to play.
“Move on to next week and learn from it,” said quarterback Drake Maye, who rushed for two touchdowns but also threw an interception in the third quarter that proved costly when Allen led the Bills to score that put Buffalo up 28-24.
The Patriots remain at the top of the AFC East standings with three games remaining, They have a one-game lead over the Bills.
“We know we have some football that’s still very important. Keep your head up, knowing that we had a chance. We were there. They made more plays and credit to them,” Maye said.
After scoring on four of their first five possessions to build a 24-7 halftime advantage, the Patriots were outscored 28-7 in the second half. New England possessed the ball just 7:20 seconds in the final two quarters.
A win over Buffalo would have resulted in a season sweep of the team that’s sat atop the division for the balance of the decade. It also could have kept the Patriots on pace with Denver, the top challenger for this year’s top seed in the conference.
Now, it’s about looking ahead after Buffalo snapped New England’s 10-game winning streak.
“It was a long stretch where we were feeling good about ourselves,” Maye said. “Now it’s about responding from losing to a good team.”
Over the final two quarters, the Patriots’ lone touchdown of the second half came on a one-play drive, as rookie TreVeyon Henderson ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run that helped New England regain the lead in the fourth quarter at 31-28.
“We knew that Buffalo was going to come in and give it their best. The biggest thing is to see what we can learn and just continue to grow from here,” said Henderson, who added a 52-yard touchdown run in the first half as part of his strong day on the ground (148 yards on 14 carries).
A pass-interference call on New England’s Carlton Davis helped set the stage for James Cook’s 11-yard touchdown run that would put the Bills up for good.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to keep your foot on the pedal and keep it going, and don’t let them dictate,” said Maye, whose final pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Buffalo All-Pro Joey Bosa.
Cornerback Marcus Jones said their confidence remains high.
“It’s nothing that we haven’t been through before. We just have to get back to the things we need to get corrected and not look too far into the future, and just get ready for next week,” he said.
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