If you heard champagne popping at around 11:30 p.m. ET on Sunday night, it was probably the ’72 Dolphins.
The last unbeaten team in 2025 has a loss, as the Patriots pulled off an upset to defeat the Bills, 23-20, in Western New York on Sunday Night Football.
Second-year quarterback Drake Maye put together his first game-winning drive, with a couple of completions setting up rookie Andy Borregales’ go-ahead 52-yard field goal with just 15 seconds left on the clock.
Maye showed some significant growth in his first primetime start, completing 22-of-30 passes for 273 yards. He had just one incompletion in the second half, going 13-of-14.
Many of those passes went to former Bills receiver Stefon Diggs, who caught 10 passes for 146 yards on 12 targets. It was Diggs’ best performance since 2022 — when he caught 10 passes for 148 yards in a Buffalo win over Kansas City.
While Rhamondre Stevenson had his third lost fumble in the last three games during the first half, he rushed for two touchdowns in the second half to help the Patriots build a lead.
There was not much scoring in the first half of Sunday’s contest, with the Patriots netting two field goals and the Bills just one. It was a particularly sloppy first half for Buffalo, as the club committed eight penalties as well as two turnovers in the first 30 minutes.
But Buffalo started to correct all that just after halftime, when Josh Allen threw his eighth touchdown pass of the season to end the opening drive of the third quarter, giving Buffalo a 10-6 advantage.
But then Stevenson put in his first touchdown of the day, putting the Patriots back up 13-10. And Allen threw an interception deep in New England territory to keep the Bills off the board. The Patriots put together an 11-play, 90-yard drive with the extra possession, going up 20-10 with Stevenson’s second TD.
From there, however, Buffalo did get going. Keon Coleman caught a 2-yard touchdown from Allen to make the score 20-17. The Bills got the ball back and got to the Patriots’ 27-yard line. But the drive stalled from there, leading Buffalo to settle for a 45-yard field goal from Matt Prater to tie the game.
Buffalo, however, left New England too much time for Maye.
Allen ended the game 22-of-31 for 253 yards with two touchdowns, an interception, and a lost fumble. He also led the Bills with 53 yards on nine carries. James Cook had 49 yards on 15 carries, averaging 3.3 yards per attempt. Dalton Kincaid led the team with six catches and 108 yards.
Now at 3-2 after a big divisional road victory, the Patriots will be on the road next weekend to face the 1-4 Saints.
The 4-1 Bills will have an extra day to stew over this loss, as they’ll face the 2-2 Falcons, who are coming off their bye, next Monday night.