Live updates: Patriots even with the Bills, 14-14 on a pair of TD passes from Mac Jones
Bills #Bills
Welcome back to football! This afternoon, it’s the regular-season finale for the Patriots and Bills, live from Orchard Park. New England is facing a win-and-you’re-in situation when it comes to the postseason.
It been an emotional week in Buffalo following the collapse of Damar Hamlin. The Bills defensive back’s remarkable improvement after suffering cardiac arrest in the first quarter of last week’s game against the Bengals meant Orchard Park was a joyous environment on Sunday.
Can the Patriots pull off the upset and reach the postseason? Can Buffalo reassert itself in the AFC playoff picture? We’ll get answers to all the big questions this afternoon.
If the Patriots falter, they can still reach the playoffs if the Dolphins lose to the Jets and the Steelers lose to the Browns.
Keep it here all day long — we’ll have analysis, in-game updates, and all the most important quotes from the postgame press conferences.
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Opening drive ends with an interception — 2:51 p.m.
A Tre’Davious White interception on the goal line gives the ball back to Buffalo. A huge, huge play on one of the few bad balls of the afternoon from Mac Jones. The Bills will have the ball at their two-yard line with 9:32 left in the third quarter. The game is still tied at 14.
Checking in on other action — 2:42 p.m.
The Jets and Dolphins are tied in the third quarter, and the Steelers have a 10-7 lead at the half. If New England loses, the Patriots would need wins from the Jets and Browns to advance to the postseason.
Halftime analysis with the Patriots and Bills tied, 14-14 — 2:32 p.m.
Two quarters are in the books in Orchard Park, and the Patriots are tied with the Bills at 14.
Mac Jones: 13-16, 119 yards, 2 TDs
Rhamondre Stevenson: 3 carries, 25 yards
DeVante Parker: 4 catches, 4 targets, 39 yards 1 TD
Josh Allen: 12-20, 96 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
Stefon Diggs: 5 catches, 7 targets, 49 yards
· After taking that bruising opening shot, New England played well for the rest of the first half, eventually tying the game at seven after the opening return for a touchdown, tying the game again late in the second quarter, and keeping the Bills out of the end zone with a big pick from Devin McCourty. There’s a lot of football left to play, but given the emotional nature of this game from Buffalo’s perspective, this has been an impressive two quarters for the Patriots.
· The Bills were converting nicely on third down for the first quarter-plus, but the New England defense forced two first-half punts from Buffalo. Given how rare Bills’ punts have occurred recently in New England-Buffalo games, that’s a nice feather in the Patriots’ cap.
· Defensive highlight was the red-zone interception from McCourty, who picked off Allen with less than a minute to go to keep the game tied at 14 heading into the half. Big, big play.
· Two impressive scoring drives for the New England offense. The first was a nine-play, 74-yard sequence where they were able to stay out of third-and-long situations and Parker (who had a pair of catches to help move the chains). Under the circumstances, it was a really impressive answer by Jones and the offense, a series that was punctuated by an excellent catch in the end zone by Meyers.
· The second saw the emergence of Kendrick Bourne, who had three nice catches, as well as Stevenson, who had a big 18-yard carry. On the two scoring drives, Mac Jones was a combined 12-for-12. The New England offense has struggled at times this year, but Jones and the offense has played well here at out of the gate. Who would have thought that the Patriots would have more plays of 20-plus yards than the Bills over the first two quarters?
· Special teams certainly started on a down note with the 96-yard kick return for a touchdown from Buffalo’s Nyheim Hines — in a game with no margin for error, it was an awful way to start. Other than that, it’s been a passable performance.
· The Patriots will get the ball to start the second half. An early score here could make things very interesting, and start to put some pressure on the Bills.
· Even if the Patriots lose, they can still reach the playoffs if the Dolphins lose to the Jets and the Steelers lose to the Browns. The Steelers lead the Browns, 10-7 at the half, while the Dolphins and Jets are tied 3-3 in the third quarter.
McCourty with the pick — 2:27 p.m.
Giant takeaway there by the veteran Devin McCourty. New England blunts that Buffalo drive, and will take over at is own 33 with 16 seconds left in the first half.
Bills 14, Patriots 14 | 3:45, second quarter — 2:14 p.m.
The Patriots have just tied with the touchdown coming on a two-yard touchdown pass from Mac Jones to Devante Parker.
Good, steady drive that saw Mac Jones and the offense take quality yardage — much of which came off play-action — that culminated with the flip to a wide-open Parker in the end zone. An impressive series for New England.
Rhamondre Stevenson went over 1,000 yards on the season on an 18-yard carry midway through the second quarter. It’s the first 1,000-yard season for New England since 2016, when LeGarrette Blount rushed for 1,161 yards, and the 17th time in team history that a player has reached 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
Kendrick Bourne had 34 yards on that drive with three catches, including a key third-down reception in the Buffalo red zone.
Patriots come up with a stop — 2:04 p.m.
The Patriots picked up an excellently-timed third down stop, as Daniel Ekuale picked up his second sack of the season to force the punt.
New England will take over at its own 26 with 9:16 left in the first half. Through a quarter-plus, the Patriots have forced two Buffalo punts. Given what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, that alone represents a win for the New England defense.
Hamlin’s recovery is something to celebrate in Buffalo — 1:58 p.m.
Damar Hamlin was everywhere.
He was on the warm-up shirts — “Love for Damar” — worn by his Bills teammates, by Bill Belichick, and by the Patriots as they passed and punted through the milky gray morning before kickoff.
Hamlin’s remarkable improvement after suffering cardiac arrest in the first quarter of last week’s game against the Bengals meant Orchard Park was a joyous environment on Sunday.
Read more on the scene from Buffalo
Patriots forced to punt again — 1:53 p.m.
The Patriots go three-and-out, and the Bills will get the ball back at their own 35-yard line with 12:44 left in the first half. It’s still 14-7, Buffalo.
This feels like a key stretch for the New England defense, which needs a stop and a Bills punt to be able to continue to hang around.
Bills 14, Patriots 7 | 14:15, second quarter — 1:47 p.m.
The Bills take a 14-7 lead on a four-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen to Dawson Knox. There’s 14:15 left in the first half.
Buffalo did really well on third down on that drive, as Allen connected on a series of pass plays to keep the chains moving and the drive alive. The Bills’ offense was stagnating a bit early, but a third-down catch from Diggs that went for 16 yards gave Buffalo a little spark. An Allen-to-Diggs pass play picked up another 16 yards later in the drive. McCourty had a terrific pass breakup in the end zone to deny the Bills a touchdown, but an 18-yard pass play to Gabe Davis — as good a second option in the passing game as you’ll find these days — ultimately set up Buffalo for the score.
Diggs is starting to flex his muscles a bit. A home-run hitter by nature, he’s done well do nail some singles and doubles against the New England pass defense, most of them, against either Jonathan Jones or Marcus Jones. He has four catches on four targets for 43 yards.
All even through the first quarter — 1:42 p.m.
First quarter is done — game is tied at seven.
Mac Jones: 6-7, 61 yards, 1 TD
Damien Harris: 2 carries, 8 yards
DeVante Parker: 2 catches, 2 targets, 28 yards
Patriots 7, Bills 7 | 5:45, first quarter — 1:29 p.m.
The Patriots have just tied the game on an impressive toe-tap of a two-yard touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers.
Excellent response by Mac Jones and the New England offense, a drive that was highlighted by a third-and-short pass play to Meyers that went for 20 yards, the largest gain of the afternoon for the Patriots, and that was followed by a 17-yarder to Parker, his first catch in weeks. (Parker added an 11-yard reception a couple of plays later.)
Those two catches from Parker certainly make you think about what this offense would have looked like with a healthy Parker for all 17 games.
Pats’ D answers — 1:16 p.m.
In their first opportunity of the afternoon, the New England defense was able to hold Josh Allen and Buffalo in check. The Patriots needed to be able to absorb that emotional gut punch out of the gate, and while they took a big shot with the opening kick return, that defensive stop was the sort of stabilizing sequence New England needed. Deatrich Wise finished it with a sack, forcing the punt. The Patriots will take over at their 26 with 10:29 in the first quarter.
Pats go three and out — 1:09 p.m.
That was the exact opposite of what the Patriots’ offense needed out of the gate — a three-and-out that was capped by a nine-yard sack. The Bills will take over at their own 32 with a 7-0 lead.
This could be a very long afternoon for New England.
Bills 7, Patriots 0 | 14:46, first quarter — 1:02 p.m.
That was quite a start — Nyheim Hines returned the kick 96 yards for a touchdown. Let’s see how New England responds to that initial gut punch — Mac Jones and the offense will take over, already at a disadvantage.
Game on — 1:01 p.m.
The Patriots won the coin toss and deferred.
Official Price prediction — 12:50 p.m.
When it comes to today’s game, given everything that’s happened with the Bills over the last week, I think the Patriots are walking into an emotional buzzsaw. Buffalo is going to be a charged environment today, even more than usual, and I have every belief that the Bills are going to feed off that energy.
New England will play well and give a good accounting of itself this afternoon, but today is not really about the Patriots, but a much larger drama. This afternoon is about Bills’ team looking to play — and win — for Damar Hamlin. It’ll be too great a challenge for New England to overcome.
I’ll say Bills 27, Patriots 13.
Pregame scenes — 12:15 p.m.
Both teams wore shirts honoring Damar Hamlin before the game. The defensive back’s No. 3 was prominent inside and outside Highmark Stadium.
Patriots playoff scenarios — 12:08 p.m.
In terms of postseason scenarios for New England today, there are two options:
· If the Patriots win today, they’re in the playoffs.
· However, they can also make the postseason if they lose. If that happens, they would need the Jets to beat the Dolphins and the Browns to beat the Steelers to land the seventh spot. Both the Jets-Dolphins and Browns-Steelers games kick off at 1 p.m.
Football weather in Buffalo — 11:55 a.m.
According to weather.com, temps in Orchard Park this afternoon will be in the low 30s at kickoff, with light winds and almost no chance of precipitation.
Through 16 games, the Patriots are 1-1 when the temps are 80 or above at kickoff, 1-0 when it’s between 70 and 79, 1-2 when it’s been in the 60s, 3-1 when it’s been in the 50s, 1-1 when it’s been in the 30s, and 0-1 in the teens. (Three games — in Minnesota, Arizona, and Las Vegas — have been indoors.)
Inactives — 11:36 a.m.
Patriots: ST Brenden Schooler, S Josh Bledsoe, CB Shaun Wade, RB Kevin Harris, DT Sam Roberts, CB Jalen Mills, TE Jonnu Smith.
Bills: S Jared Mayden, LB Baylon Spector, OL Justin Murray, CB Christian Benford, OL Ike Boettger, TE Tommy Sweeney.
Analysis: Mills (groin) has been unable to go since suffering an injury on Thanksgiving. His loss will again test the back end of New England’s depth chart. Marcus Jones, who is OK to play after sustaining a concussion, will likely get the bulk of the reps in Mills’ place.
Smith (concussion) will be down another week, which means a full workload for Hunter Henry.
Schooler (hip) was limited all well, and questionable coming into the weekend, so the decision to sit him isn’t a surprise. Schooler has impressed as a core special teamer.
Wade, Roberts, Bledsoe, and Harris are all healthy scratches. Given the state of New England’s cornerback position, the decision to sit a (presumably) healthy Wade doesn’t bode well for his long-term career in New England.
Among the notable actives include Marcus Jones, who didn’t play last week because of a concussion, as well as cornerback Jonathan Jones (chest) and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (shoulder), both of whom were listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report. In addition, wide receiver DeVante Parker, who was limited earlier in the week with a concussion, will dress this afternoon.
Meet today’s referee — 11:30 a.m.
Clay Martin will serve as the referee for this afternoon. Martin, in his fifth season as an NFL referee, will be working his second Patriots game of the year — he was the lead official for the November win over the Colts.
According to NFLPenalties.com, on average, Martin’s crew assesses 12.2 flags per game, the fifth-most in the league. His two most-called penalties this season are offensive holding (39) and false starts (36).
Patriots-Bills by the numbers — 11:24 a.m.
A few numbers to consider when it comes to today’s game:
· If the Patriots win today, Bill Belichick will have the all-time lead when it comes to postseason berths for NFL coaches. He’s currently tied with Don Shula at 19.
· If New England wins, the Patriots qualify for the playoffs, and Mac Jones would become one of seven quarterbacks since 2000 to start in the postseason in each of their first two seasons, joining Lamar Jackson, Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Andy Dalton, Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, and Ben Roethlisberger.
· With five total tackles this week, Ja’Whaun Bentley can become the 13th New England player to reach 120 total tackles in a season and the first Patriots player to do so since Jerod Mayo had 147 total tackles in 2012.
· If Kyle Dugger has a pick-6 today, he’d become the first player in franchise history to return three interceptions for a touchdown in a season. If he scores a defensive touchdown today against the Bills, he’d be just the fourth player in NFL history since 1990 to score four defensive touchdowns in a season.
· If Marcus Jones returns a kick for a touchdown today against the Bills, he’d become the first Patriots player to ever return a kickoff for a touchdown and punt for a touchdown in the same season, and the first NFL player to accomplish the feat since 2019 when Jamal Agnew did so for Detroit.
· Rhamondre Stevenson enters this week with 986 rushing yards and needs 14 more to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the first time in his career. It would be the first 1,000-yard season for New England since 2016 when LeGarrette Blount rushed for 1,161 yards and the 17th time in team history that a player has reached 1,000 yards rushing in a season.
· If Matthew Judon has three sacks today, he’d tie the franchise record for most sacks in a season. (Andre Tippett had 18.5 sacks in a 16 game season in 1984.)
· This afternoon, Devin McCourty will move past Stephen Gostkowski for fifth in team history with his 205th game played as a member of the Patriots.
Betting today’s game — 11:18 a.m.
The betting line for this one has stayed pretty steady over the course of the week, with the Bills opening as an 8-point favorite on Monday (per Bet Online) and changing only slightly over the course of the week. (It’s back to 8 this morning, according to most online books.) In addition, the number has held fairly steady — as of Sunday morning, it’s at 43.5.
A few notes, from Odds Shark:
· New England is 1-5 against the spread in its last six games.
· The total has gone under in six of New England’s last nine games.
· New England is 1-4 against the spread in its last five against Buffalo.
· Buffalo is 3-6 against the spread in its last nine games.
· The total has gone under in nine of Buffalo’s last 13 games.
· Buffalo is 10-1 straight up in its last 11 games at home.
Predicting today’s outcome — 11:12 a.m.
Cast your vote now:
Pregame reading list — 10:45 a.m.
The best way to get ready for this afternoon’s contest? Your pregame reading list:
Chad Finn: Football doesn’t seem that important this week, but stakes are there for Patriots and Bills
Nicole Yang: In Buffalo, the Bills got back to work. But Damar Hamlin was on their minds.
Jim McBride: Adrian Phillips’s traditional prayers now include fellow safety Damar Hamlin ahead of Patriots-Bills
Jim McBride: Patriots’ focus has been divided this week, but they know they have work to do
Nicole Yang: ‘To hear him talk to us, it was everything. That’s all we needed’; Bills overjoyed seeing Damar Hamlin on video call
Christopher L. Gasper: The NFL can’t just go back to business as usual after Damar Hamlin episode