FOXBORO -- The Buffalo Bills didn't beat the New England Patriots on Saturday and won't win the AFC East title as a result, but their Week 16 performance did serve as further evidence that they are capable of competing with the conference's best teams come playoff time.
The Bills hung tough with the Patriots and even had a 17-16 lead with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Bills quarterback Josh Allen made several impressive throws, including a 53-yard touchdown strike in the third quarter as he was getting drilled in the pocket. Buffalo's defense also played pretty well, and held the Patriots to a single touchdown for 54 of the 60 minutes played. It wasn't enough, though, as the defending Super Bowl champions ultimately pulled off a late comeback to earn a 24-17 victory and claim an 11th consecutive division championship.
Moral victories are often difficult to accept when you lose a hard-fought game to a division rival, but the Bills proved they have no fear when playing the Patriots or any other AFC contender.
"You play well to an extent, but you want to win the game, so there's no moral victory or any way that we can spin it to make ourselves feel better," Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. "We know we can play with these guys, whether we’re at home or away. So there’s no mystique in that sense. We just have to execute. It’s not something they’re necessarily doing. I think it’s a lot of stuff on what we’re doing -- having good eyes, good fundamentals, and not trying to overcompensate when they make a play."
The Bills are 10-5 after Saturday's loss, and a victory over the New York Jets in Week 17 would give Buffalo its first 11-win season since 1999.
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It's hard to find a really bad loss on the Bills' schedule. Two of the five losses came against the Patriots and both were by one touchdown or less. Another defeat came two weeks ago versus the Baltimore Ravens, who are the AFC's No. 1 seed entering Week 16. Buffalo's late comeback fell short in a 24-17 loss to the Ravens, but Buffalo held Baltimore quarterback and likely league MVP Lamar Jackson to his lowest total yards output of the season. The other Buffalo losses were to the Philadelphia Eagles (potential NFC East winner) and the Cleveland Browns. The Eagles are the only team to beat the Bills by more than one score.
Buffalo now knows it will be playing on Wild Card Weekend, and as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed, it's unlikely the Bills will have a home game in January. For most young teams that lack postseason experience, this would be a genuine problem. The Bills, however, have impressed all season on the road and finish with a 6-2 record away from New Era Field. Recent results on the road have been the most encouraging for the Bills. Let's not forget Buffalo went into Dallas and dominated the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. The Bills also earned an impressive road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week, and on Saturday they nearly became just the second team since Week 4 of the 2017 season to beat the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
"If you look at the type of teams we’ve played the last three weeks, they’re all playoff-type teams," Bills quarterback Josh Allen said. "So, getting that experience against these defenses, teams we might be able to see again, it’s all valuable experience because playing games in December that mean something; not many people are doing that right now and we’re one of those teams. It feels good to be in the situation that we’re in and the position that we’re in. But again, we didn’t do a good enough job today. We’re trying to win a football game. This one hurts for us because we don’t want anybody to win the (division) during our game, that’s one that we’ll take to the heart. So we’ll learn from it."
New England Patriots
It remains to be seen if the Bills offense can score enough points in the playoffs to beat explosive teams like the Ravens or Kansas City Chiefs, who rank first and fourth, respectively, in points per game. What we do know is the Bills' defense is among the best units in the league. Buffalo's D has allowed the second-fewest points per game and ranks in the top five in several other important defensive stats.
The key for the Bills will be eliminating the little mistakes that often prove quite costly in the playoffs, most notably penalties, breakdowns in pass protection and failing to convert on third down. All three of these areas were issues versus the Patriots. The Bills are so close to beating the AFC's best, and correcting these mistakes would go a long way in helping Buffalo earn its first playoff win since 1995.
"We're a playoff team," Alexander said. "... If we want to continue to have an opportunity to win a championship, we have to be able to beat teams like the Patriots, like the Ravens, like the Texans, or whoever we face in the first round because those teams are elite and take their game to another level. We can't do things that beat ourselves."