The Buffalo Bills’ game-losing drive against the New England Patriots was not a simple case of Buffalo collapsing by itself. There was plenty of help from New England, and the sequence had a little of everything: pressure, soft coverage, a bad throw, and one huge catch.
Still, if the Bills are looking for the main reason the game slipped away, the defense has to take the biggest share. Buffalo had already allowed two fourth-down conversions and let the Patriots convert 42% of their third downs. Even more damaging, two of the six stops that weren’t tied to the end of the game came after New England handed the ball back with two of the flukiest turnovers imaginable.
That left the Bills in the spot that really matters: the offense had put them ahead by five late in the fourth quarter, and all the defense needed was one stop to finish it. It didn’t get done.
On the first snap of the drive, Deone Walker got enough penetration and raised a hand high enough that a tip felt possible. But Hunter Henry had slipped into a very soft area of the field, where three defenders were slow to react, and the Patriots picked up an easy completion.
The second play was the kind of moment Buffalo had been waiting for all game from Drake Maye. Under pressure from Greg Rousseau, Maye tried to bail and ended up literally tripping over himself while attempting to throw the ball into the turf. If he had stayed on his feet, there may have been something available a half-second later.
Play 3 left Cole Bishop in a one-on-one situation with Romeo Doubs, and Bishop was late changing direction. Doubs came free for a wide-open catch. Maye didn’t even begin his throwing motion until he saw Doubs break open, but Bishop had no chance to recover in time.
On the next snap, New England went right back to Doubs, who had a half-step on his defender. Maye earned credit here for throwing with anticipation as Doubs was coming open, and the placement was good enough that Doubs couldn’t run under it.
Efton Chism found a soft spot in the zone on Play 5, and Maye got him the ball. This one looked a lot like Play 3 in one important way: Maye wasn’t throwing with much anticipation and waited until the last possible moment.
Chism had to sit and then jump for the pass. It wasn’t a perfect throw, but it was enough.
Play 6 was a straightforward run, and the Patriots took five yards on first down. That’s a solid gain, but it was hardly a backbreaker for Buffalo.
Then on Play 7, Maye needed to be perfect with the throw. He wasn’t.
For all the criticism Maye deserved earlier in the drive for his timing, that complaint disappears on the touchdown. It was easily the best-timed throw of the series, and Efton Chism III made a miraculous catch to finish it off.
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Bills Face A Rams Shift That Could Decide Monday Night
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On the other side, the Rams defense has been built around a steady dose of Cover 1 man coverage, with safety Trent McDuffie playing at a high level and Byron Young emerging as the top edge threat off the outside. For Buffalo, the matchup is less about one isolated wrinkle than the way all those pieces fit together, because the Rams have enough shifting parts to make Monday night feel like a test of patience as much as execution. [Read more 🡒]