The Buffalo Bills didn’t get a game ball after their Week 4 loss to the New England Patriots, and based on what unfolded Sunday, they might need to hand a few back.
Josh Allen is usually the kind of player who gets a pass because he’s, well, Josh Allen. Not this time.
He looked uncomfortable, and he was sloppy with the football again. For a quarterback in year nine, the decision-making wasn’t what Buffalo needed, especially with so many chances to put New England away sitting right there.
That was the story of the afternoon for the Bills: opportunities came, and they went. Buffalo had enough openings to take control of the game, but too often the Patriots were the ones making the decisive play. The breakdowns were spread across the field, and the result was an ugly one.
Still, a few Bills escaped the kind of full-scale criticism that was waiting for most of the roster.
Keon Coleman was the clear bright spot in the passing game. He finished with six catches for 116 yards, but the box score only tells part of the story.
On Buffalo’s fourth-quarter scoring drive, Coleman pulled down a remarkable catch off a deflection on third down to keep the series alive. Later, with the Bills pushing to seize control late, Allen went right back to him.
Coleman answered with back-to-back grabs for 58 yards combined, and the second one was the go-ahead touchdown with less than five minutes left.
Those were huge moments, and Coleman delivered in all of them. In his third season, he’s starting to settle into a groove, and Buffalo needed exactly that from its receiver group on Sunday.
James Cook also did his part every time the Bills actually gave him the ball. He averaged more than six yards per carry for the second straight game, which makes it even harder to understand why he only got 12 carries.
There are times when an offense has to move on from the run because it’s not working. This wasn’t one of those days.
Cook was productive, Buffalo needed steadiness, and somehow the touches just never added up.
Then there was the pass rush, where Greg Rousseau and Bradley Chubb spent a big chunk of the day making Drake Maye uneasy. Rousseau’s streak of two sacks in every game came to an end, but that doesn’t mean he disappeared.
He posted eight quarterback pressures, at least four hits on Maye, and was disruptive against the run as well. He also seemed to have a strip-sack before the play was overturned, though it still felt like intentional grounding should have been on the table.
Chubb was active too, especially against the run, and he came up with a big third-down pressure late in the first half that helped get the ball back to Buffalo’s offense. He got hands on Maye several times throughout the game, and while the sacks haven’t shown up yet, the pressure is building.
The issue for Buffalo wasn’t creating heat. It was what happened after that.
When Maye held on just long enough to look downfield, the Bills’ secondary kept giving him places to throw. That’s where things started to unravel.
Buffalo is still 3-1, and one bad Sunday doesn’t erase what happened in the first three weeks. But after what happened against New England - especially with another rough offensive outing a week earlier against a struggling Los Angeles Chargers team - brushing this off as just another fluke would be a mistake.
In Other News...
Bills Patriots Finish Sparks Officiating Debate Buffalo Fans Wont Ignore
The Bills-Patriots matchup left Buffalo fans with plenty to dissect beyond the final 29-26 score, and Julian Edelman added fuel to the conversation by publicly questioning the officiating. A game that was already tight turned into the kind of bruising, penalty-heavy finish that tends to linger, especially when calls like an illegal hands-to-the-face flag and a holding penalty against Patriots coach Mike Vrabel became part of the postgame debate.
Bill Vinovichs crew was in the middle of it all, and the scrutiny did not come out of nowhere. His officiating team has already drawn attention for controversial calls earlier this season, which only made the latest round of criticism land harder in Buffalo. For Bills fans, the frustrating part is not just what happened in the game, but the sense that the conversation afterward is once again about the officials instead of the plays that decided it. [Read more 🡒]
C.J. Gardner-Johnsons Blunt Bills Message Will Fuel This Patriots Debate
The Bills unbeaten start ended in a 29-26 loss to the Patriots, and the aftermath has already turned into more than just a routine early-season setback. Buffalo had been riding momentum into the game, but New England found a way to land the first punch of the year, leaving the Bills to sort through both the result and the way it unfolded. C.J. Gardner-Johnson added to the conversation afterward, pointing to a key catch by Patriots receiver Efton Chism III while still expressing confidence in his own teams ability to bounce back.
For Buffalo, the loss now doubles as a test of how quickly it can reset. Joe Brady stressed the importance of the response and the need for individual improvement, which is exactly the kind of message that tends to matter most after a game like this. The Patriots, meanwhile, have given the Bills another point of reference in the division race, and Gardner-Johnsons blunt assessment only adds another layer to what could become a bigger debate as the season moves on. [Read more 🡒]
Josh Allen Took The Blame After Buffalos First Loss
The Bills first loss of the season ended in familiar fashion for a team built around Josh Allens arm, legs and late-game confidence, but this one came with a costly mistake attached. Buffalo fell 29-26 to the Patriots, and Allen still managed to account for a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown while keeping the offense in the fight throughout the afternoon.
Afterward, Allen didnt try to shift the blame or soften the moment. He pointed to a late interception as the play he wished he had back, saying he should have simply thrown the ball out of bounds instead of forcing it. For a Bills team that has leaned on its quarterback to make the right call when the game tightens, the answer now is how quickly he and the offense can turn a tough lesson into the next snap. [Read more 🡒]