The season for the 2022 New England Patriots came to an end on Sunday afternoon. Nyheim Hines returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, and the Buffalo Bills intercepted Mac Jones three times in a 35-23 victory at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo.
It was a highly emotional pregame scene, as both teams and their fans honored Demar Hamlin who is in a Cincinnati hospital recovering from cardiac arrest he suffered in a Buffalo game against the Bengals on Monday night. Bills players wore commemorative #3 patches on their uniforms. Hines built off the adrenaline and took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the house. New England scored on their second offensive possession that included a 20 yard pass from Jones to Jakobi Meyers, and a 17 yard connection to Devante Parker. The drive was finished off when Jones hit Meyers in the back corner of the endzone for a two yard touchdown. Buffalo took the lead back 14-7 on a four yard pass from Josh Allen to Dawson Knox early in the second quarter. The Patriots evened it back up on a two yard scoring catch by Parker from Jones to cap off a 74 yard drive. That also included a 20 yard catch by Kendrick Bourne. New England only had one 20 yard play or more the first time they played the Bills, but had two of those plays in the first half. Allen was intercepted late in the half to keep the game tied, as Devin McCourty came up with the play after pressure was put on by Christian Barmore and Matt Judon on a second down play at the Pats 15 yard line.
Both teams turned it over with their first possession of the second half, as Jones was intercepted by Tre’Davious White deep in Buffalo territory at the 2 yard line but then the hosts fumbled it away when Devin Singletary coughed it up and New England recovered at the Bills 11 yard line. The Patriots turned that into a 24 yard Nick Folk for their only lead of the day, 17-14. Hines immediately gave Buffalo the lead back for good on the ensuing kickoff taking it 101 yards for a touchdown. There were only four kickoff returns for touchdowns all season coming into Sunday in the NFL, and Hines becomes the 11th player in history to do it twice in a game and the first since Leon Washington (Seattle) in 2010. They made it 28-17 when Allen found a streaking John Brown for a 42 yard score late in the period. Jones and the Patriots scored once more as he found Parker for a 42 yard touchdown with 11:43 left, but the two-point conversion pass was no good. It took the hosts five plays to take command again when Allen connected with Stefon Diggs for a 49 yard score. Jones would be intercepted two more times in the fourth by Matt Milano and Tremaine Edmunds, as the Patriots ended their season with an 8-9 record.
Jones went 26-40 passing for 243 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris combined for 102 yards rushing on 19 carries. Stevenson finishes over 1,000 yards for the season. Parker had six receptions for 79 yards and two touchdowns, while Bourne (four receptions, 45 yards) and Hunter Henry (six receptions, 42 yards) also chipped in. Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones both had five tackles. New England needed a win or a Pittsburgh loss to Cleveland and a Miami loss to the NY Jets to get into postseason. The Patriots loss and wins by the Steelers and Dolphins though ended that chance. Allen was 19-31 for 253 yard with three touchdowns and one interception for Buffalo (13-3), who clinched the AFC #2 seed. Singletary and James Cook would team up for 74 yards on the ground on a total of 16 carries. Diggs carried the receiving core with seven catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Milano and Jordan Poyer each had seven tackles, with Milano adding the fourth quarter interception. The Bills will host the #7 seed Dolphins next weekend in Buffalo in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs. The teams split their two regular season meetings, both winning on their home fields.
Recap by Chris Lessner
