Maye, Patriots score upset road win over Allen, Bills

The New England Patriots scored one of their biggest upset wins in years Sunday night at Highmark Stadium, defeating the Buffalo Bills 23-20 on "Sunday Night Football."

Patriots quarterback Drake Maye finished 22-for-30 passing for 273 yards (101.1 passer rating), while No. 1 target Stefon Diggs stepped up big against his former team with 10 catches for 146 yards. Bills QB Josh Allen, meanwhile, was 22-for-31 for 253 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception, plus a lost fumble in the defeat. Penalties hurt both teams, but especially Buffalo, who got flagged 11 times.

The story of the first quarter was not scoring, but turnovers. Buffalo gave it away twice, first with a botched snap that New England rookie defensive tackle Joshua Farmer fell on to get the ball to his team. Rhamondre Stevenson's fumbling woes continued, however, as the Patriots running back lost it after a catch on the very next play. Late in the quarter, Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane ripped the ball out of the hands of Bills receiver Keon Coleman for a forced fumble, recovered by the Pats' Jaylinn Hawkins.

Rookie kicker Andres Borregales converted his first field goal try after the Bills defense held from their own 11-yard line, as the Patriots scored both the first points of the game and the first points off a turnover to go up 3-0.

The Bills responded with a strong drive, as Allen powered them by going 3-for-3 for 39 yards through the air. But the Patriots defense answered the Bills unit with a red zone stop of their own, holding the home team to a Matt Prater field goal that tied it 3-3.

Milton Williams scored a sack on Allen to force a Bills punt, as the Patriots generated some much-needed pressure with a five-man rush. The Patriots had a golden opportunity to find the end zone, as Maye drove the offense all the way to a first-and-goal situation from the Bolls 7-yard line. A third-down defensive pass interference penalty on Buffalo set up New England with first-and-goal from the 1, but only four seconds on the clock. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels opted to call a pass play, but it glanced off Hunter Henry's hand. Borregales made the end-of-half field goal try to give the Patriots a 6-3 halftime lead.

The Bills offense finally found a groove and avoided any critical mistakes on its first drive of the third quarter. Allen went 5-for-5 for 47 yards, capping the drive with a simple swing pass to a wide-open Curtis Samuel for the Bills' first touchdown of the night, and their first lead of the night at 10-6.

Maye and the Patriots offense answered with authority. The quarterback went 3-for-3 for 64 yards passing, most notably escaping the pocket and completing an impressive 32-yard pass to Stefon Diggs, who also made a tough catch against closing coverage. Stevenson finished off the drive with a touchdown run on the following play, and the extra point was good to give the Patriots the lead once again at 13-10.

After that, it was the defense's turn to make a big play. Allen looked as if he was carving them up for a second straight drive, threatening for the end zone again. But instead, cornerback Marcus Jones undercut a second-down pass attempt to make his first interception of the season, getting the ball back to the Pats with a chance to extend their lead to multiple scores.

And the offense delivered on the promise. Key to this drive was a third-and-7 conversion from deep in their own territory, when Maye escaped the pocket and made another impressive throw to Diggs on the run, which kept the chains moving. Maye completed two more to Diggs, plus a 24-yard completion to Henry, and Stevenson finished the drive off with his second touchdown run, which put the Pats up 20-10 with 12:10 left in the fourth quarter.

The Bills were able to answer back, but with some help from the Patriots defense, who gifted them with two personal fouls on consecutive plays. Allen took advantage, ultimately finding Keon Coleman in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, which made it 20-17 Patriots.

Given a chance to deliver a dagger, Maye and the offense stalled. A false start by Vederian Lowe on third-and-inches made it third-and-6, and Maye couldn't find an open receiver on third-and-6. That forced the Patriots to punt it away and get the ball back to the Bills with 5:52 left, clinging to a three-point lead.

Buffalo marched into New England territory on the ensuing drive, but cornerback Christian Gonzalez made a clutch pass breakup on third-and-10 to force the Bills to settle for a game-tying field goal attempt. Veteran Matt Prater converted from 45 yards to make it a 20-20 game.

Given a chance for a clutch fourth-quarter drive in prime time, Maye completed 2 of 2 passes for 31 yards to help get the Patriots into field goal range. They bled the clock down as much as they could, and rookie kicker Andres Borregales drilled a big-time 52-yard field goal with just 20 seconds left. The Bills couldn't answer on their last-gasp drive, and the Pats finished off a huge win.