The Buffalo Bills forced a Cam Newton fumble in the closing seconds Sunday afternoon and secured a 24-21 win over the New England Patriots at Bills Stadium in Buffalo, New York.
In a defensive battle in the first half, Buffalo (6-2) would strike first. The Bills would find the endzone helped by a 19 yard scramble run by quarterback Josh Allen, and a 21 yard run by Zack Moss. Moss would finish off the 79 yard drive with an eight yard touchdown run. New England (2-5) would get on the board on their third possession early in the second quarter on a 43 yard Nick Folk field goal to cut it to 7-3. JC Jackson would intercept Allen late in the half that would lead to another Folk field goal this time from 33 yards to make it 7-6 at halftime.
Buffalo took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and would go 75 yards in five plays that took just 2:51, set up by a 41 yard reception from Stefon Diggs. Moss scored his second TD of the day on a four yard run to extend to an eight point advantage. New England came back with their second possession of the second half when they went 47 yards on five plays, and Damien Harris scored on a 22 yard run. Newton then found Jakobi Myers on a two point conversion to make it 14-14 with 3:09 left in the quarter. The Patriots decided to try an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, but the Bills recovered setting up their next scoring play that would occur early in the fourth quarter. Allen would finish that short drive with a two yard TD run to give Buffalo the lead back with still 13:12 left to play. Once again New England would respond, and it was Harris leading the way with 39 yards rushing on the 72 yard drive setting up a Newton short two yard TD run to make it 21-21. Tyler Bass gave the hosts a three point lead when he hit a field goal from 28 yards with 4:10 remaining. The Pats were in position to at least tie and maybe win the game driving to the Bills 19 yard line with 37 seconds left, but Newton on a scramble was stripped of the ball at the 14 by Justin Zimmer and Buffalo recovered to end it.
Newton finished 15-25 passing for 174 yards, and added nine carries for 54 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots fourth straight loss. Harris had 16 rushes for 102 yards and the lone score, and Myers led the receiving core with six catches for 58 yards. Devin and Jason McCourty, Jon Simon, Jonathan Jones, and Ja’Whaun Bentley all had four tackles each to anchor the defense. Allen was 11-18 passing for 154 yards with an interception for the first place Bills. Moss and Devin Singletary both had 14 carries, with 81 and 86 yards respectively and Moss scoring the two touchdowns. Diggs had six catches for 92 yards, and Jordan Poyer had 11 tackles to lead the defense. New England next will visit the winless New York Jets (0-8) next Monday night at 8:15 p.m.
