Buffalo Bills’ 23-20 defeat to the New England Patriots felt heavier than the scoreboard suggested. Something was fundamentally broken. As even the perpetually optimistic, cannon-armed leader, Josh Allen, decided he’d seen enough. 

“We just played sloppy,” Allen said after the game. “Not gonna win a football game turning the ball over three times in our red zone. Gave them one in their red zone. That’s just bad, bad football…We shouldn’t even have been in it with three turnovers. That’s just piss poor offense.” It’s a sentiment his head coach, Sean McDermott, asserted as well.

“You can not turn the ball and expect to win, three times… the numbers don’t lie,” he said. He wasn’t wrong, and the tape doesn’t lie, and our takeaways don’t either.

The first of those turnovers came with a little over 8 minutes to go in the first quarter. Tight end Dawson Knox, trying to receive the ball off Allen (22 of 31 for 253 yards and 2 TDs), while in motion, ended up losing the ball to the Patriots’ Joshua Farmer. 

The next turnover came later in the 1st quarter itself when receiver Keon Coleman had the ball punched out of his hands by a Patriots defender. The ugliest moment, however, was Allen’s red-zone INT, which was snagged by Marcus Jones. The Bills’ offense wasn’t just struggling; it was actively sabotaging itself with 3 turnovers and a whopping 11 penalties for 90 yards, while the Patriots managed a cleaner game.

What separated the Patriots from Josh Allen and Co.

WR Stefon Diggs torched his old team, hauling in 10 catches for a massive 146 yards and reminding everyone in Buffalo what an elite weapon looks like.

While the Bills got a stellar game from Dalton Kincaid (6 catches, 108 yards), Diggs was on another level. 8 of his 10 catches resulted in 1st downs, while the remaining two saw the Patriots venture deep into Bills territory and eventually led to touchdowns.

The thing is, the Patriots didn’t even play a perfect game. They were just… steadier. Drake Maye showed the kind of poise that was glaringly absent on the other sideline, finishing with a clean, efficient 273 yards on 22-of-30 passing with 0 INTs.

On the game’s final, decisive drive, he was surgical, hitting a scrambling Diggs before delivering a pinpoint dart to Kayshon Boutte. That set up rookie kicker Andy Borregales, who calmly drilled a 52-yard field goal to seal the win. 

Lastly, while the Bills finished with 3 turnovers to their name, the Patriots had just 1. A turnaround from here begins by taking accountability, something that the HC has already done. 

Next week, the Bills will take on the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. While their own struggles have them sitting at 2-2, the Bills will know better than to be complacent.