The race for the AFC East is still on as the Buffalo Bills made one of their most impressive 2nd-half comebacks in recent memory against the New England Patriots. Going into halftime, the Bills were down by 21. Buffalo would then outscore the Patriots 28-7 to win 35-31 in enemy territory.
The Bills move to 10-4 on the season and stay alive in the AFC East. With this win, the Bills snap New England’s 10-game winning streak. It was a comeback that honestly shouldn’t have happened, but Bills fans are super excited about this win.
Winners and losers for Bills in Week 15
Winners
CB Tre'Davious White
No one has been talking about it much, but Tre’Davious White has been having a secretly good season down the stretch and it showed once again today against New England. As the Bills were slowly making a comeback, White picked off Drake Maye while covering former Bill Mack Hollins. He kept Hollins in check for most of the game, limiting Maye in the passing game.
LB Matt Milano
Matt Milano had some great stops against the run from sideline-to-sideline, and he also had a crucial sack on Maye to keep the Bills in the game in the second half. While Milano’s days as a member of the Bills are probably limited, he has been playing good football lately.
QB Josh Allen
After a rough first half offensively, Allen and the offense turned it around against the Pats’ defense. Despite getting sacked twice in the first half, Allen finished the game with 193 yards through the air as well as throwing three touchdowns through the air.
There’s no doubt that Allen has looked like his MVP self the last two games and to do it in two comeback wins is unbelievable.
RB James Cook
James Cook is so reliable for this Buffalo offense. He once again rushed for over 100 yards and he had two touchdowns on the ground. He averaged just under five yards per carry, but he didn’t have any explosive runs like he normally does. He did however fight for yards after contact which is something that we don’t see a lot.
TE Dawson Knox
Dawson Knox had himself a game for sure. Even though he only had 37 yards through the air, he finished with the second highest receiving yards for Buffalo and he had 2 receiving touchdowns which gave him the franchise record for the most touchdowns by a tight end in franchise history, passing Pete Metzelaars.
Losers
Bills' offensive line
While they adjusted in the second half, the first half was a different story for the worst for this unit. They let Allen get sacked twice and specifically, O’Cyrus Torrence was looking lost at one point. Again, they did turn it around but their performance in the first half is what forced Buffalo to play from behind.
WR Joshua Palmer
Palmer was questionable coming into this game with an ankle injury, but he made his return. However, it wasn’t anything impactful. He only had one catch for 16 yards and he had a silly false start penalty early on in the game that put Buffalo in a tougher position than they already were in.
1st-half Joe Brady and Bobby Babich
Both coordinators deserve some criticism for their first half performances. Joe Brady couldn’t get the offense going with his playcalling and Bobby Babich once again had this defense in a bad position that put New England up big early.
Both Brady and Babich have been extremely inconsistent as playcallers this season and it’s getting to a point where Buffalo is relying on the greatness of Josh Allen to get Buffalo out of a jam. While they both adjusted well in the second half, this shouldn’t be the case week in and week out. They need to get off to a better start with their playcalling.