The Buffalo Bills rolled the New England Patriots 24-10 on Thursday night to improve to 9-3 as star quarterback Josh Allen added two touchdowns and 223 yards to his MVP campaign. Here’s what you need to know:
- Allen’s two touchdowns were his seventh multi-touchdown game of the season and came on 22-of-33 passing for 223 yards.
- Stefon Diggs led all receivers with seven receptions and 92 yards, adding a touchdown on the go-ahead score in the second quarter.
- Patriots cornerback and returner Marcus Jones turned a quick pass into a 48-yard touchdown on his first offensive snap of the season.
Bills defense dominates despite injuries
In their first full game without Von Miller, the Bills defense played spectacularly in a matchup they could dominate. Their young defensive ends supplied pressure all night, and the backend of the coverage held up well enough to force multiple three-and-outs and Patriots fans to boo their offense off the field. If not for one explosive play in the first half, the Bills would have been perfect when the game still mattered. — Buscaglia
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Is there any hope for the Patriots?
The Patriots’ offense is broken. Perhaps that’s not a new revolution from this game, but the calendar has turned to December and the same problems remain. They don’t manage the clock well, don’t block effectively in the running game, and don’t have much success in the passing game. They often go three-and-out (including four times against the Bills) and aren’t built to play from behind.
The team’s defense did enough to give the offense plenty of chances, but the offense squandered them over and over. — Graff
How did Tre’Davious White look?
Bills cornerback White played close to a full game in just his second game back from last year’s torn ACL. The Patriots challenged him a handful of times but White really only allowed one intermediate gain. He came out for one series in the first half after getting a stinger, but was quickly cleared to return. He and veteran Xavier Rhodes were the most common cornerback pairing. — Buscaglia
New England struggles against another elite wideout
Bill Belichick’s Patriots used to thrive at taking away what an opposing team did best. Those days seem to be over. Last week, even though everyone knew the Vikings would build their offense around Justin Jefferson, the Pats were unable to slow the wide receiver.
The same thing happened Thursday night against Stefon Diggs. The Pats tried double-teaming him, they tried occasionally playing zone, they tried putting Jonathan Jones on him in man-to-man coverage, and they tried frequently dropping extra defensive backs into coverage. None of it slowed Diggs. — Graff
Highlight of the night
A cross-body throw while in the air for a TD…👀
Oh, and Josh Allen was rolling out of bounds!
🎥 @NFL pic.twitter.com/MyojQsboKj
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 2, 2022
Key stat
With his 10th touchdown reception of the season, Diggs became the first player in Bills history to record multiple seasons of 10-plus receiving touchdowns.
Required reading
- Bills’ Von Miller lands on IR with knee injury. How will Buffalo handle his minimum 4-week absence?
- NFL playoff confidence levels for the Eagles, Chiefs and other key contenders
- Buckley: The Patriots are now the hunters, not the hunted in matchup with Bills
(Photo: David Butler II / USA Today)