Josh Allen did a great job keeping the play going and finding a Bills player for a touchdown.
The Buffalo Bills entered "Thursday Night Football" two games behind the 5-5 New England Pats. The Bills were tied with the Miami Dolphins for the top spot in the division, but were still winless in the division.
The Bills beat the Pats with ease on Thursday and pushed the Pats further from the playoffs.
Josh Allen threw passes for the first time since he injured his elbow against the Jets. After a week of practice, this is a step in the right direction.
It was the same thing that happened in the Bills' victory over the Pats. The Buffalo team that put up dominating performances before the Week 7 bye was closer to being the team that defeated the New England offense in three straight games.
The Bills held on to a double-digit lead in the second quarter and were able to double the time of possession for the rest of the game. Allen became the first player in NFL history with three seasons of 25 passing touchdown and five rushing touchdown when he completed 22 of 33 passes for 222 yards and two scores.
The key series for the Bills' offense and Allen was a 15-play, 94-yard drive in the second half that took almost nine minutes off the clock. Buffalo was able to lead a drive and put the game away.
The Bills got the running game started with James Cook. After three such drives all season, the ground attack helped establish two drives of seven-plus minutes, including a 15-play drive that was the longest of the season.
The offense had three straight scoring drives to start the game, but they fell into a lull at the end of the second quarter and into the third. Even though the offensive line isn't at its best, Cook still showed how dynamic he can be.
The game was necessary win.
White played the second-most snaps of any Bills defensive back. It's a significant step in the right direction for White, as he makes his way back from a torn knee. White played 15 snaps against the Lions, and the Bills felt comfortable enough for him to play every series. The news that Von Miller was placed on injured reserve is significant for the defense.
In the second quarter, Allen was close to the sideline on his pass to Davis. It was the closest to the sideline since the start of Next Gen Stats. Hurts threw a touchdown from the sideline against the Cowboys.
The next game is against the Jets. It's Sunday.
In Thursday night's loss to the Buffalo Bills, the New England offense sank even lower, ranking in the bottom third of the league in several key categories.
There wasn't any juice. A chance to lose.
The Bills were in control of the game from start to finish.
There was a lot of promise in Mac Jones' first season as a starter.
The buck stops with the coach when it comes to the offense, according to him. He decided to replace Josh McDaniels with two coaches who have experience on defense and special teams.
The players said the goal was to allow them to play quicker.
It did not work.
ThePatriots were 31st in the red zone, 30th in intercept percentage, 26th in sacks taken per pass play, 27th in first downs and 25th in third down conversions.
Thursday night was even worse.
The game should be described as offensive. It was difficult to watch.
Jones is still struggling as the offense doesn't seem to have anything that defines itself. He had one touchdown and 195 yards. The results have been bad when opponents have pressed Jones. He had no touchdown and five turnovers when pressured this season. Only the Jets' Wilson had a lower QBR in those situations. Jones was 5-of-13 for 25 yards on passes.
Josh Allen deserves a lot of credit for throwing a touchdown pass to a receiver in the second quarter, but why did the defensive backs stop playing when he was near the sideline? A delay-of-game penalty on a punt, as well as a bungled handoff on third-and-1 on the team's initial offensive drive, were costly mistakes that continued to show up for the New England.
One of the best players on the field was Josh Uche. He had two sacks in the first half. He was credited with 5 quarterback pressures in the first half. That was a good one.
Marcus Jones reached a high speed of 20.88 mph on his touchdown catch in the first quarter.
The next game is at the Cards. The time is Monday.
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