Bill Belichick wasted a challenge and timeout on the first play of the second half on a 15-yard completion from Josh Allen to Dawson Knox.
The review was quick.
The tight end clearly had both feet in bounds before stepping out, giving the Bills a first down on their own 40. Moments later, Buffalo scored again, as Stefon Diggs bounced off a pair of would-be tacklers and crossed the goal line for his second of three touchdowns.
“No team in this league is ever going to give up,” Diggs said later, recounting pregame conversations with his teammates. “And they’re still a good team in my eyes. They don’t have some of the same pieces they had in the past, like Tom Brady … but they’re still a good team.”
One of the greatest coaches in NFL history could do nothing to stop the AFC East champion Bills from embarrassing his Patriots 38-9 on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium. Buffalo swept the season series for the first time since 1999, handed Belichick his first losing season in 20 years and moved another step toward securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. It was the most lopsided loss the Patriots had experienced since the Bills' 31-0 win to open the 2003 season.
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Allen has done every bit as much to earn the honor, even if oddsmakers have him third on the list of front-runners behind Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, writes Vic Carucci.
The Bills (12-3) are for real, and they’re spectacular.
Diggs caught nine passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns, setting the Bills’ single-season record for receiving yards previously owned by Eric Moulds.
Allen completed 27 of 36 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns. He set the single-season franchise record with 34 passing TDs, surpassing Jim Kelly’s 33 TDs in 1991, while spreading the ball to 10 different receivers. It was such a laugher, he was replaced by Matt Barkley with an entire quarter to play.
“It’s an extremely well-coached team,” Allen said about the Patriots, “and I know this game tonight, if they didn’t want to admit it, it meant a lot to both sides. There’s a lot of pride on the line, for us, we’re trying to get the No. 2 seed, and we put ourselves in a position where we can go get that in Week 17.”
Buffalo dispatched New England (6-9) just as easily as it punished Denver 48-19 last weekend to secure the division crown for the first time since 1995, an experience nobody associated with this franchise will soon forget, including the stars of yesteryear.
Thurman Thomas recounted the experience last week.
Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs absolutely toyed with the New England Patriots, writes Jay Skurski.
“Once we knew that the game (against the Broncos) was in hand, my phone started blowing up from the group text with Jim (Kelly) and Bruce (Smith) and Andre (Reed) and Darryl (Talley), Will Wolford, Chris Mohr, Steve Tasker,” Thomas said. “Cornelius (Bennett) started it off by saying, ‘I can’t stop smiling.’ And I was like, ‘I’m almost about to cry.’ And other guys were like, ‘I’m already crying. I’m so happy. I’m smiling.’ And just from that group text, man, it was something that I’ll remember for a long, long time, just because it hasn’t happened in 25 years.
“Everybody put up a picture of their victory drink of what they were drinking at that point in time, and it was pretty special for all the guys. When they accomplish things like this, obviously it brings up a lot of memories for us, but to see this group, this young group come together like they have, man, it’s been special to watch it. I’ll tell you that.”
It had been nearly as long since the Bills last swept the Patriots – almost 21 years to the day.
From 2000 through last season, the Patriots went 35-5 against Buffalo on the way to winning 17 division championships and six Super Bowls. But the Patriots just aren’t the Patriots without Brady.
Bills coach Sean McDermott wanted no part of any discussion about a "changing of the guard" or "exorcising demons." A New England reporter tried to compare the Bills' victories to what happened in 2004 between the Red Sox and Yankees.
"Good try. I appreciate that," McDermott said with a smile. "It’s one win. We have a lot of respect for the team up here and the coaches."
But McDermott did allow that he appreciated an embrace and the kind words from Belichick after the game.
"Pretty cool," McDermott said. "He’s a legend in terms of what he’s able to do and I’m humbled by it."
The Bills won the first matchup at home this season 24-21 in Week 8, when Justin Zimmer forced Cam Newton to fumble deep in Buffalo territory in the final minutes of the game.
New England still had something to play for at that point. But with the Patriots eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since ’08, when Brady was lost for the season to a knee injury in Week 1, they were playing for pride. And they folded like a table at a tailgate in Orchard Park.
Does the season sweep represent the end of the Patriots’ dynasty? Or was it already over?
“I couldn’t sit here and tell you,” Thomas said, “because when you look at Belichick’s teams now and what they’re doing, it took all the way to (Week 15) for them to be eliminated from the playoffs, and basically he didn’t have anything. A lot of their guys opted out of their contract to not play this year (because of the Covid-19 pandemic). They’ve got guys on their roster now that I look at and I don’t even know who the (heck) they are. But they continue to make plays every time I watch them.”
With few exceptions, that wasn’t the case Monday night.
Don't miss Mark Gaughan's quarter by quarter look at the Buffalo Bills' 38-9 victory over the New England Patriots on Monday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.
Newton broke free from a near sack by Mario Addison and scrambled for a nine-yard score in the second quarter, but Nick Folk missed the extra point that would have tied the game at 10-10.
It was far from the Patriots’ only mistake. Damiere Byrd dropped a wide-open touchdown on a trick play. The Bills converted a fake punt when nobody bothered to line up across from Siran Neal. Belichick threw that curious challenge flag.
Newton completed 5 of 10 passes for 34 yards and was replaced by Jarrett Stidham with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter. Stidham went 4 of 11 for 44 yards.
“Yeah, it’s not the old Patriots,” Thomas said, “but I can’t really say whether this is the end of the Patriots or not, because over a 20-year run they’ve been fabulous. And is it over? I don’t think it’s over until Belichick hangs up his cleats. Or hangs up his hoodie. I just don’t.”
