6 takeaways from the Patriots upset win over the Bills

After blowing out the Carolina Panthers last week, the New England Patriots' next opponent found them on the other end of the NFL spectrum this Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills. Billed as a measuring-stick game for this young New England program under head coach Mike Vrabel the Patriots did more than measure up.

Instead the Patriots walked out of Buffalo with a 23-20 win after being more than a touchdown underdog. With that, the Patriots are over .500 for the first time beyond Week 1 since December of 2022.

What worked for the Patriots to pull off the upset? While this was a measuring-stick game, one individual in particular stood out. We'll start there with this week's takeaways...

While this was a measuring-stick game for the Patriots as a whole, that can specifically be said about second-year quarterback Drake Maye as well. Throughout the week Maye drew comparisons to Bills quarterback Josh Allen, and then had to go toe-to-toe with the reigning MVP.

In the end, it was Maye that came out on top. He completed 22 of his 30 passes for 273 yards, and while he didn't throw any touchdowns he also played his second turnover-free game in a row.

It's not just the raw numbers though. Maye made some incredible individual throws, elevating the offense around him. The highlight was an off-platform throw up the sidelines to Stefon Diggs (more on him in a bit), plus another shovel pass to Diggs late in the game that he threw with a defensive tackle hanging off of him to jump start the final drive.

When it comes to the topic of Maye's development, Sunday night showed significant growth. He was calm and comfortable, in command in the offense, and he finally got his first fourth-quarter game-winning drive.

One other observation on Maye that shows his growth. The Patriots had a 3rd & 5 from the Buffalo 34 with 1:07 left in the game, after the Bills had used all their timeouts. They elected to pass the ball, but nobody was open.

Rather than throwing it away and gifting the opponent an extra timeout - like he did against the Miami Dolphins in a similar situation in Week 2 - Maye fought his way back to the line of scrimmage. While he didn't gain any yards on a play that went in the books as a zero yard 'sack,' it kept the clock running and allowed the Patriots to take another 40 seconds off the clock before kicking a field goal.

Back to the big picture - Part of what allowed Maye to be so efficient was the job by the offensive line. Maye was pressured just four times according to PFF's initial charting. In particular it was the Patriots' more recent first round pick in Will Campbell that really stepped up. Campbell was tabbed with just one pressure by PFF, despite his toughest matchup yet against Joey Bosa.

Let's go back one more first-round draft pick as well. This was Christian Gonzalez's second game back after missing time with a hamstring injury. The first half still looked like a bit of a feeling-out process as he allowed a couple of catches, but he came up with two massive pass breakups late. His third-down breakup on a pass to Khalil Shakir late in the fourth quarter in particular stands out, as he had to time it up perfectly to avoid a pass interference call. In total Gonzalez allowed two catches for 36 yards on five targets.

Time to get to Diggs. His return to Buffalo couldn't have gone much better. He walked away with 10 catches for 146 yards, and the win.

It looked like the Patriots further built on Diggs' role that began expanding last week. He was effective both from the slot and on the boundary, and Maye hit him in places where he was able to create after the catch. On top of that he made two solid downfield grabs on the sideline.

Diggs accomplished all of that despite only playing 30 of the Patriots' 60 offensive snaps. 26 of those were passing plays so there wasn't much mystery as to what was going to happen when he was on the field.

Now with back-to-back 100-yard games, Diggs looks to be in a rhythm after going through a bit of a feeling-out process to start the season, both in a new offense and coming off of his torn ACL. He obviously won't have the motivation of facing his former team every week, but if he can continue to give the Patriots some version between what he's been the last two games, he'll be a true weapon for Maye.

The defensive side of the ball also got a major impact from this year's free agency class. Milton Williams and Harold Landry were regulars in the Buffalo backfield, leading the team with five and four pressures respectively. Both were also credited with two run stops each.

That was part of a larger theme, as the Patriots' defensive front held what has been one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL in check. The overall rushing numbers weren't terrible for Buffalo, but that's mainly due to a couple of scrambles from Allen. James Cook managed just 49 yards on 15 carries. It was the first time since Week 1 he didn't go over 100 yards in a game, and the first time all season he didn't find the end zone.

Coming into this game the Bills hadn't lost the turnover battle in 26 games in a row. Given the Patriots' turnover issues early in the year, that stat loomed large heading into this one.

Early on, it looked like turnovers could be a problem for the Patriots again after a clean game last week. In particular, it was Rhamondre Stevenson, who on the first play of the Patriots' second drive put the ball on the ground for the third time this season and 10th time since the start of 2024.

Ultimately though, the Patriots weathered that storm, as the defense forced a punt. However after Antonio Gibson suffered a knee injury, the Patriots had to keep Stevenson in the rotation. While his touches were limited he bounced back as a goal line back - he picked up just 14 yards on seven carries, but scored twice.

As was the case after his two-fumble game against Pittsburgh, Vrabel reiterated that the Patriots are going to "need" Stevenson down the stretch. That might be especially true if Gibson is going to miss significant time. Stevenson admitted after the game he knows he needs to fix his ball security issues, but it doesn't seem like the team is going to turn away from him completely even after another fumble.

On the other side of things, the Patriots' defense had one of its best games turnover-wise in a long time. They came away with three takeaways, their most in a game since the 2022 season finale.

One of those was a botched handoff from Allen, while another was a fumble forced by Robert Spillane deep in the red zone late in the first quarter that kept points off the board. The final one came in the second half, also in the red zone. Marcus Jones jumped a deep route in the middle of the field, making a lunging catch for the interception.

In total, the Patriots' red zone turnovers kept crucial points off the board. In a reversal of their loss to the Steelers two weeks ago, this time it was the Patriots taking the ball away when the opponent was about to score.

Moreso than the turnovers, the penalties nearly came back to bite the Patriots late in this game. The Patriots were flagged 10 times in this game with eight accepted penalties.

Four of those penalties though were avoidable miscues that happened in the fourth quarter, as the Patriots were trying to close out the game. It started with the defensive line getting too aggressive. Rotating the defensive line, backup defensive tackle Cory Durden was called for a roughing the passer penalty, which was followed by a late hit on rookie defensive tackle Joshua Farmer. Those two penalties gave the Bills a quick 30 yards (and also wiped out what would have been negative plays), allowing Buffalo to score a key touchdown to cut the lead to 20-17.

With the Patriots trying to kill the clock on the ensuing drive, they were lined up for a 3rd & 1 at their own 33. A QB sneak initially looked like it worked but Vederian Lowe - in the game as a tackle-eligible player - was called for a false start. Instead, the Patriots ended up punting. On the ensuring drive, Jack Gibbens was called for a pass interference, adding another 19 yards for Buffalo who ended up getting a game-tying field goal.

The Patriots were able to survive those penalties in this game, but that kind of play isn't sustainable. It's still a major issue the team will need to clean up as the season goes on.

For the second time this year, Andy Borregales has hit a major field goal from 50-plus yards. After hitting his 53-yarder late in the game against Miami, this time he knocked through a go-ahead 52-yarder with 15 seconds to go.

That wasn't all Borregales did though. In addition to delivering 11 points with three made field goals and two extra points, Borregales corrected a mistake he made on a similar situation in that Miami game. In that game he left the ensuing kickoff short of the landing zone, giving the Dolphins a short field. Against Buffalo though he knocked a kick right back to the two-yard line, forcing a return. Not only did that lengthen the field for Buffalo, it also drained a crucial seven seconds off the clock and probably limited the Bills to running just one play instead of two late in the game.

Covering tight ends: Dalton Kincaid gave the Patriots issues in this game despite them throwing multiple looks at him. He caught six passes for 108 yards. It's honestly a little surprising Buffalo didn't look his way more. The Patriots still need to find an answer defensively for tight ends.

Better from Boutte: While he didn't put up massive numbers, this was Kayshon Boutte's best game since the opener. He caught three passes for 43 yards, with all three catches going for first downs. That includes an athletic play to stretch the ball past the sticks on a 3rd & 8 early in the game. However he was called for two penalties, a facemask and a false start.

Red zone woes: The Patriots scored just two touchdowns in four trips to the red zone in this one. In particular, the one at the end of the first half stands out. It's one thing to let the clock run to ensure the Bills don't get the ball back for a double-score - Buffalo was even calling timeouts to try to do so, but the Patriots ran six plays from inside the 20 and left with only a field goal. That includes failing to score from the one-yard line, when contact forced Hunter Henry to drop a pass in the flat on the goal line.