Bills assert new authority in AFC East by crushing Patriots

The Buffalo Bills already had secured the AFC East title entering Monday night’s game. But after two decades of having sand kicked in its face by the New England Patriots, there was no letup for Buffalo.

The Bills crushed the Patriots 38-9 as quarterback Josh Allen threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns – 242 more passing yards than New England quarterbacks Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham managed put together. Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs caught nine passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns.

Buffalo also beat the Patriots 24-21 on Nov. 1, so Monday night’s victory in Foxborough, Massachusetts, gave the Bills a sweep of their annual home-and-away series with New England for the first time since 1999. Buffalo also won its first game against the Patriots in 2000. After that three-game winning streak, the Bills won only four of their next 39 games against New England entering the 2020 season.

One of those four Buffalo victories was a 31-0 win on Sept. 7, 2003. Monday night’s game was the Patriots’ most lopsided loss since that contest.

Ten players from Alabama high schools and colleges were at the Buffalo-New England game:

· Mario Addison (Tarrant, Troy) started at right defensive end for the Bills. Addison made three tackles.

· Byron Cowart (Auburn) started at defensive tackle for the Patriots. Cowart made one tackle.

· Patriots offensive tackle Korey Cunningham (Montevallo) played but did not record any stats.

· Patriots running back Damien Harris (Alabama) was designated as a game-day inactive. An ankle injury kept Harris sidelined for a second straight game.

· Patriots outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings (Dadeville, Alabama) made two tackles. Jennings walked slowly off the field with an injury late in the game. He entered the game with a questionable designation on the New England injury report because of a shoulder ailment.

· Jonathan Jones (Auburn) started at right cornerback for the Patriots. Jones led New England with eight tackles and forced a fumble, which Buffalo recovered.

· Bills safety Siran Neal (Eufaula, Jacksonville State) made a special-teams tackle, registered a quarterback hit and recorded his first NFL reception. With Buffalo facing fourth-and-5 in punt formation at its 35-yard line, safety Jaquan Johnson threw a 13-yard pass to Neal as part of a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. The Bills left their offense on the field on fourth down on two other occasions in the first half and converted both times.

· Cam Newton (Auburn) started at quarterback for the Patriots. Newton completed 5-of-10 passes for 34 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and ran four times for 24 yards and one touchdown. Newton scored on a 9-yard run with 10:39 left in the first half for New England’s only touchdown in their past three games. With his 12th rushing touchdown in 2020, Newton tied for the second-most by a quarterback in one season in NFL history. The Patriots’ Steve Grogan had 12 rushing TDs in 1976. The only QB with more rushing touchdowns in one season than Newton has in 2020 is Newton, who had 14 for the Carolina Panthers in 2011. In the 10 seasons since he entered the NFL as the first player picked in the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton has run for 70 touchdowns, more than any other player in that span.

· Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham (Auburn) completed 4-of-11 passes for 44 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Stidham took over for Newton with 8:21 left in the third quarter and New England trailing 31-9. Stidham had the Patriots’ only two completions that gained more than 9 yards in the game with a 22-yarder in the third quarter and a 10-yarder in the fourth quarter for two of New England’s 11 first downs. Buffalo had 31 first downs.

· Levi Wallace (Alabama) started at right cornerback for the Bills. Wallace made one tackle and broke up one pass.

Buffalo running back T.J. Yeldon (Daphne, Alabama) wasn’t eligible to play after being placed on reserve/COVID-19 on Monday.

At 12-3, Buffalo will end its regular-season schedule against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday with a chance to secure the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.

At 6-9, New England will host the New York Jets on Sunday to end its first losing campaign since 2000, which was current coach Bill Belichick’s first year at the Patriots’ helm.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

New England Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones tackles Buffalo Bills running back Zack Moss during an NFL game on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.Billie Weiss/Getty Images

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New England Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham passes during an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.AP Photo/Elise Amendola

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