Live updates: Patriots fall behind by 15 in the first half
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The Patriots are taking on the Bills on Monday Night Football (ESPN, ABC) in their second-to-last game of the season.
We’ll provide updates and commentary throughout. Click here to refresh this page.
Patriots send Stidham in — 10:17 p.m.
The Patriots have turned to Jarrett Stidham at quarterback.
Cam still quarterbacking — 10:09 p.m.
Quarterback Cam Newton remained in the game for the Patriots’ first possession of the second half. Despite a poor showing in the first half, the Patriots stuck with Newton instead of going to backup Jarrett Stidham.
The Patriots went three-and-out on their first drive of the second half.
Diggs scores again — 10:03 p.m.
Stefon Diggs caught an absolute laser of a pass from Josh Allen for his second touchdown of the game. The 18-yard touchdown pass play put Buffalo up, 31-9, with 11:28 left in the third quarter.
Patriots lose challenge — 9:57 p.m.
Not much is going right for the Patriots. On the first play of the second half, Patriots coach Bill Belichick lost a challenge and with it a timeout when he unsuccessfully challenged a Bills reception along the sideline.
Replay review confirmed the play – a 15-yard pass to Dawson Knox – was completed inbounds.
Halftime report — 9:39 p.m.
Buffalo leads, 24-9, at halftime after scoring on its first four possessions of the first half.
For the Bills, Josh Allen completed 15 of 21 passes in the first half for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He has also run twice for 33 yards. Nine players have caught passes for the Bills, and 11 have been targeted.
The Patriots’ passing game continued to struggle. Cam Newton completed 5 of 9 passes for 34 yards. The Patriots had their ground attack working, with four players combining for 130 yards, but how long they can stay with the run game given the deficit will be worth watching.
Diggs off to the races — 9:27 p.m.
Stefon Diggs and Josh Allen connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass play to give the Bills a 24-9 lead with 3:55 left before halftime. Diggs ran a slant route and Allen hit him 12 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Diggs took off for the end zone, outrunning a pair of Patriots en route to the score.
The Bills began on their own 33 but needed just three plays to score. Diggs also had a 17-yard reception on the drive.
Bills score again — 9:14 p.m.
A Josh Allen to Lee Smith pass for four yards gave the Bills a touchdown and an eight-point lead with 5:32 left in the second quarter. Smith, a blocking tight end, was wide-open on a first-and-goal play. The TD capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive that put Buffalo in front, 17-9.
Cam Newton finds the end zone — 9:00 p.m.
The Patriots pulled within one when Cam Newton scrambled his way out of a broken play, shrugging off a near-sack to take off with the ball, and found his way into the end zone.
However, Nick Folk missed the extra point, and the Patriots trailed by one, 10-9, with 10:39 left in the second quarter.
A pair of big runs by Sony Michel (21 yards) and J.J. Taylor (28 yards) fueled a nine-play, 85-yard drive.
Bills drive for first TD — 8:52 p.m.
The Bills had a pair of passes dropped in the end zone, had an apparent interception overturned by an offsides penalty, and needed a trick play to keep the drive alive, but they finally managed to get into the end zone.
A 5-yard run up the middle by Zack Moss put Buffalo up 10-3 with 14:50 left in the second quarter. The touchdown capped a 12-play drive that started at the Bills’ 30.
Trickery from the Bills — 8:40 p.m.
Late in the first quarter, the Bills used a fake punt play to stay on the field after it appeared the Patriots had stopped their second drive.
On fourth-and-5, Jaquan Johnson received a direct snap and passed to his right to Siran Neal for 13 yards and a first down. Neal was left uncovered.
Bills tie it up — 8:29 p.m.
The Bills tied it up at 3-3 on Tyler’s Bass’s 22-yard field goal with 6:46 left in the first quarter. That capped a 10-play drive that began at the Bills’ 47. The Bills started with good field position thanks to a 49-yard kickoff return by Andre Roberts.
Patriots take 3-0 lead — 8:19 p.m.
Nick Folk drilled a 45-yard field goal to cap the Patriots’ opening possession. Sony Michel’s 29-yard run keyed a 6-play drive that began at New England’s 35.
Folk has now been successful on 26 consecutive field goal attempts.
Cam Newton is the Patriots’ starting QB — 8:16 p.m.
After a week’s worth of speculation as to who would play quarterback for the Patriots, Cam Newton started Monday’s game. He had good field position to begin the opening drive – Donte Moncrief took the opening kickoff to the 35..
Game on — 8:15 p.m.
The Bills won the coin toss and elected to defer. The Patriots will have the ball first Monday night.
Volin’s pregame thoughts — 6:52 p.m.
Inactives — 6:45 p.m.
Patriots: LB Ja’Whaun Bentley; DT Lawrence Guy; C Marcus Martin; QB Brian Hoyer; RB Damien Harris; LB Shilique Calhoun
Bills: QB Davis Webb; QB Jake Fromm; TE Reggie Gilliam; DE Trent Murphy.
Pregame scenes — 6:32 p.m.
From Jim McBride at Gillette Stadium:
Pregame roster moves — 6:18 p.m.
From Jim McBride at Gillette Stadium: The Patriots have activated LB Cassh Maluia (standard elevation) and DL Nick Thurman (COVID-19 replacement to the 53-man roster from the practice squad. In addition, they signed center Marcus Martin to the 53. Starting C David Andrews (calf) was limited in practice all week.
From the Bills on Twitter: We’ve activated WR John Brown from IR but have placed Brown, S Josh Thomas and RB Christian Wade on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Per NFL protocols, those players have been defined to have been in close contact with RB T.J. Yeldon, who was placed on the Reserve/Covid-19 yesterday.
By the numbers — 4:50 p.m.
Tale of the tape(NFL rank in parentheses) Patriots Bills Record 6-8 11-3 Total offense 330.8 (24) 386.7 (6) Total defense 345.4 (11) 356.1 (16) Points per game 20.6 (27) 29.1 (5) Points allowed 21.9 (7) 24.3 (16) Turnovers +1 (15) +2 (13T) Total TDS 31 47
SOURCE: Patriots media relations
Pregame reading suggestions — 4:30 p.m.
· Five things to know about the surging Buffalo Bills
· Unconventional Preview: What a strange situation the Patriots are in as the face the possibility of being swept by the Bills
· Western New Yorkers love this Bills team
· Seven players who could be the building blocks of the Patriots’ future
Setting the scene — 4:15 p.m.
The Patriots and those who follow them are in unfamiliar territory Monday night: For the first time since 2000, the Patriots will take the field having already been eliminated from the playoffs.
A loss to the Dolphins in Week 15 left the Patriots at 6-8 and with no mathematical chance of making the playoffs despite an expanded playoff field in both conferences this season because of the coronavirus pandemic.
New England’s opponent, the Buffalo Bills, are 11-3 and have won the AFC East title to punch their ticket to the playoffs. There’s not much for the Bills to play for either, since the Chiefs have locked up the top seed in the AFC playoffs and the only first-round playoff bye.
But there are intriguing story lines nonetheless, including: who plays quarterback for the Patriots (Cam Newton or Jarrett Stidham?), who defends Buffalo’s electrifying receiver Stefon Diggs with top cornerback Stephon Gilmore out with a leg injury, and which other players might get extra playing time to see what they can do?
It’s also still a big divisional rivalry game, and it will be the 122nd time the two teams have faced off. New England leads the all-time series, 76-44-1. The Patriots lost the first meeting of the teams, 24-21, on Nov. 1 when Newton fumbled to end the Patriots’ final drive in the red zone with 37 seconds left.