Mac Jones tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki with 15 seconds left in the fourth quarter on Sunday afternoon, leading the New England Patriots to a 29-25 upset win over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The victory also earns coach Bill Belichik his 300th career regular season win, just the third coach in the league to achieve that feat joining all-time leader Don Shula (328), and also George Halas (318).
New England (2-5) led most of the game against their AFC East Division rival. A Chad Ryland field goal on the first possession of the game made it 3-0, and then after Jabrill Peppers intercepted Josh Allen on the first possession for Buffalo they extended their first quarter lead to 10 on a 2-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott. The teams exchanged field goals in the second, as it was 13-3 Patriots at the half.
Allen got the Bills within 13-10 with an 8-yard TD pass to James Cook in the third quarter, before Ryland pushed it back to six with a 49-yard field goal. After Buffalo failed on a 4th down and 2 at the New England 33-yard line on an incomplete pass by Allen with 13:50 left to play, Jones engineered a 66-yard drive culminating with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne. The two-point conversion pass attempt failed, and the Pats led 22-10 with 7:40 remaining. The Bills went right down the field in eight plays, with Allen connecting with one of his favorite targets Stefon Diggs for a 25-yard score. With 5:32 to go, New England needed to move the ball and the chains to try to sew up the win. That didn’t happen however, as Jordan Poyer punched the ball out of the hands of Bourne after a completion and Terral Bernard recovered the fumble at his opponents 29-yard line. Allen scored on a 1-yard run with 1:58 left on the clock to give his team their only lead of the afternoon. He would find tightend Dawson Knox for the two-point conversion to make it 25-22 Buffalo. Jones though would connect with Rhamondre Stevenson for a 34-yard gain on a screen pass to begin the game winning drive. He also completed passes of 14 yards to Hunter Henry, 8 yards to DeVante Parker, and 10 yards to Stevenson to get into scoring position. A pass interference call in the endzone against Christian Benford trying to defend Douglas would set New England up at the 1-yard line with no timeouts left. After an incomplete pass to Demario Douglas on 1st and goal, Jones put it up where Gesicki would be the only one to have a chance to catch it and the big tightend hauled it in to help end the Patriots three game losing streak.
Jones went 25-30 passing for 272 yards and two touchdowns in the win for New England. Stevenson had nine carries for 34 yards rushing, also adding six receptions for 51 yards. Bourne had six catches for 63 yards and a touchdown, and Douglas reeled in four passes for 54 yards. Kyle Dugger and J.C. Jackson each had five total tackles. Allen was 27-41 for 265 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the loss for 4-3 Buffalo. Cook has 13 run attempts for 56 yards, and three receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown. Dalton Kincaid had eight catches for 75 yards, while Diggs had six for 58 yards and a score. New England is back on the road next Sunday against another AFC East Division rival when they take on the Dolphins in Miami at 1 p.m.
Story by Chris Lessner
