The Buffalo Bills have had three Victory Mondays to start out their 2026 season…until now. The Bills suffered their first loss of the season as the New England Patriots walked into Orchard Park and repeated recent history of beating the Bills in their home stadium. New England left Buffalo with a 29-26 win after Efton Chism made a one-handed touchdown grab that ended up being the game-winner.
It didn’t matter that Drake Maye looked horrific in his first three games, because he showed up and showed against the Bills to get the Patriots just one game behind Buffalo in the AFC East.
This was a bad game overall for the Bills, despite the score being close. While they had some shining moments, there is a lot more to clean up than celebrate about going into Week 5 for a primetime Monday night matchup against the Rams.
Winners and losers from Bills' first 2026 season loss against Patriots
Winners
WR Keon Coleman
Who would have thought that the Bills would have a bad game, but Keon Coleman would end up being the best player for the Bills by a mile? I think it’s safe to say not a lot of people, if anyone at all.
Even though DJ Moore ended up leaving the game with a shoulder injury (re-injuring it from Week 2 against the Lions), Coleman stepped up and had one of his best games of his career. He finished the game with 6 catches for 116 yards along with a beautiful 34-yard touchdown pass from Josh Allen that had put the Bills up over the Pats in the 4th quarter.
Coleman had just over 100 yards in the last two games, and he had his breakout game that fans had been looking for since Week 1 of last season against the Baltimore Ravens.
WR Khalil Shakir
Sticking with the receivers, Khalil Shakir became Josh Allen's go-to guy as he led the Bills in targets and finished the game with 7 catches for 82 yards. While he did have a fumble near the end of the first-half, it was great to see Shakir get more invovled in the offense.
DT Deone Walker
Walker only had one huge play late in the game where he broke through the line and made TreVeyon Henderson lose 5 yards. He continues to step up against the run and create interior pressure. The stat sheet won't show it, but Walker was breaking through the line of New England and putting some pressure on Drake Maye.
Losers
DC Jim Leonhard
I wouldn’t say it’s time to hit the panic button on Jim Leonhard, but it’s definitely time to have it ready. Through four games, Leonhard’s defense hasn’t produced the results as a unit that fans were hoping for. Sure, they have made critical stops when needed and Greg Rousseau has six sacks on the year.
At the same time, the adjustments aren’t there on a consistent basis. Not to mention, the Patriots came into this game with one of the worst offenses, but his unit let New England gain over 400 yards of offense. That is beyond pathetic and quite frankly, unacceptable.
WR Joshua Palmer
After scoring back-to-back touchdowns in the first two weeks, Joshua Palmer has now had back-to-back quiet weeks. Against New England, Palmer was targeted 4 times, but came away with just 1 catch for 3 yards. Meanwhile, in the second quarter, Josh Allen launched a perfect pass to Palmer who was open and would have had the chance to score, but it fell right through his hands.
If I'm the Bills, I'm seriously considering making a change and having rookie Skyler Bell take Palmer's spot in Week 5 and see what he can do against the Los Angeles Rams.
OL Dion Dawkins
Another game, and more struggles for Buffalo's left tackle. Dawkins had multiple penalties on him and he gave up an early sack to Elijah Ponder, who went right past Dawkins to take Allen down.
It's been a very rough season for Dawkins, and it makes you wonder if he has lost a step.
TE Dalton Kincaid
If you thought last week was a quiet game for Kincaid, this game against the Patriots was complete silence. Kincaid was targeted just two times and only had 1 catch for 7 yards. With DJ Moore going down, the Bills were down their No. 1 receiver, but Kincaid wasn't able to step up and help the offense get going.
CB Maxwell Hairston
There is no denying that Maxwell Hairston was the worst overall player for the Bills in this game. In coverage against Romeo Doubs, Hairston couldn't make any kind of play. He gave up two touchdowns to Doubs and it just felt like he couldn't stick with him.
Hairston's performance puts serious doubts amongst Bills Mafia that he can develop his game. The Bills were better off putting rookie corner Kani Walker out there to replace him in hopes of trying to create a spark in the secondary.
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