Bills defeat of the Patriots 27-21 sets up the AFC East championship game in Miami.
Through Associated Press
Rasul Douglas, a cornerback, was acquired by the Buffalo Bills at the trade deadline in order to bolster their defense and stop their team’s downward trend in the standings.
With the performance that ballhawking Douglas gave on Sunday, Buffalo is now just one win away from another playoff berth.
The 29-year-old Douglas helped the Bills defeat the New England Patriots 27-21 on Sunday to keep their unblemished postseason path intact. He returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown and tipped a pass to force a third turnover.
Safety Micah Hyde commented, “I don’t know what we gave up to get him,” about the trade that also saw Buffalo receive a fifth-round draft pick by giving a third-round pick to Green Bay. “But we won that trade.”
Josh Allen made up for his lackluster throwing with two 1-yard touchdown runs, and the three-time division winner Bills (10-6) are now ready for the season-ending matchup with Miami (11-5) that will determine the AFC East championship the following weekend.
Buffalo has already beaten the Dolphins this season, and Miami’s 56-19 loss to Baltimore on Sunday cost them a chance to secure the division. The Bills could secure a postseason berth on Sunday if they lose or draw at Seattle against Pittsburgh and lose or draw at Kansas City against Cincinnati.
Nevertheless, a patchwork defense that has been without linebacker Matt Milano (right leg) and cornerback Tre’Davious White (torn Achilles tendon) for the majority of the season came through in forcing four turnovers and holding the Patriots to 16 first downs and 294 yards. Douglas tipped a throw, which tackle Ed Oliver intercepted, and cornerback Christian Benford forced a fumble by taking the ball away from receiver Pharaoh Brown.
“Toughness. relentless. We argue all the time,” Douglas stated. “I think that we got our identity now and know what we are capable of doing.”
Despite an uneven offense that settled for a score and two field goals off three defensive takeaways inside the Patriots 30 in the first half, Buffalo won its fourth straight and fifth in six games. The Patriots took the lead early in the game with a touchdown kickoff return by Jalen Reagor of 98 yards, after which the Bills also replied.
Douglas’s first interception at New England’s 14 set up Allen’s first 1-yard run with 6:37 remaining in the first quarter, which put Buffalo up 10–7 and they never looked back. Two and a half minutes into the second quarter, Douglas scored on his 40-yard interception return to make it 20–7.
In a game where it had little to play for, New England (4-12) showed resilience, but it also displayed sloppiness in a season that will see the Patriots finish with their most losses since going 2-14 in 1992. It might be the fewest victories under head coach Bill Belichick, who began in 2000 with a 5-11 record.
“Clearly a horrible opening twenty minutes. After that, we fought hard, but it was clear that we had given them too much of an advantage and were unable to fully recover “Belichick stated. “Simply cease turning it over. We were competitive after we accomplished that.”
Bailey Zappe scored on an 18-yard run and completed 16 of 26 passes for 209 yards.
Patriots center David Andrews stated, “I don’t think it was difficult to keep fighting because it was more about us than it was about them.” “That’s not possible for the first half. The ball cannot be turned over four times. However, nobody lost hope. Nobody lost hope. Of course, nobody gave up.”
In the first six possessions, Zappe had more interceptions (three) than the Patriots had first downs (two). But with 11:01 remaining on a 6-yard run by Ezekiel Elliott, the Patriots closed the gap to 27-21.
The following possession for New England ended in a three-and-out, and they never recovered.
On Buffalo’s last drive, Allen converted three third-down situations to run out the final 5:02. On third-and-3 from the Patriots 16, he lowered his head for a 4-yard run to end the tedious drive.
Allen gained 169 yards and one interception on 15 of 30 completions. He regretted not locking the game away sooner.
“Three possessions down there in the first quarter, and we only scored one touchdown, so that’s not good enough,” he stated. “Our defense had a tremendous game, and we were fortunate. merely looking for a method to prevail.”
BY THE PIXELS
One touchdown short of matching the franchise record set in a 14-game season by O.J. Simpson in 1975, Allen scored his team-leading fifteenth touchdown on the ground. … At 23, Allen’s run of consecutive games with a touchdown pass came to an end. It took WR Stefon Diggs four receptions to surpass 100 yards this season. He joined Antonio Brown (2013–18) and Marvin Harrison (1999–2002) as the only NFL players with 100 catches in four or more consecutive seasons.
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