The Buffalo Bills erased a three-touchdown deficit in Sunday’s win over the New England Patriots, with quarterback Josh Allen leading a furious comeback in the second half and setting some history while doing it.
Allen completed 19-of-28 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns in the 35-31 victory, keeping Buffalo’s playoff hopes alive while making a historic mark against the Patriots.
Bills Make Historic Comeback
As The Athletic’s Dianna Russini noted, Sunday’s win was the biggest comeback ever from a Patriots opponent in their new stadium.
“Buffalo’s 21-point comeback win is the largest by a visiting team in the history of Gillette Stadium,” Russini shared in post on X.
Gillette Stadium has largely been a house of horrors for the Bills, who were dominated on the road during Tom Brady’s tenure. The Patriots were 15-2 against the Bills at the stadium during Brady’s tenure, with one of Buffalo’s wins coming when he was suspended for four games due to the “Deflategate” scandal.
The Bills had a notable comeback against the Patriots at home, erasing a 21-point deficit to beat Brady early in the 2011 season. But that game was played at Orchard Park in a season where the Bills would ultimately finish the season 6-10, their 11th straight season without making the playoffs.
Allen said after the game that the win was a perfect reflection of Buffalo’s “never-say-die” approach this season.
“No matter what the score is, if it’s in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter, whatever it is, if we’ve got a chance and we’ve got the ball, we feel like we like our chances,” Allen said.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye said his team needed to do a better job of keeping their foot on the gas. They allowed the Bills to score touchdowns on their first four second-half drives.
“We just have to be better when we’re up,” Maye said. “I didn’t feel like we relaxed, just didn’t make enough plays.”
Allen now has seven touchdowns in the last two weeks, jumping back into the conversation for league MVP. Maye had become a frontrunner for the award along with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Bills Notch Another Big Comeback
Sunday’s win marked the third time this season that the Bills overcame a double-digit deficit in the second half of a game. They came back from 15 points with less than five minutes remaining in the season-opening win over the Baltimore Ravens and from 10 points down in last week’s win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Patriots had come into the game on a 10-game winning streak and a perfect record in division games. The Bills were facing elimination from AFC East contention had they lost, but instead will keep their hopes alive while moving closer to clinching a wild-card berth.
The Bills will need to win one more game than the Patriots the rest of the way and have New England lose to either the New York Jets or Miami Dolphins. If all those pieces fall into place, the Bills would win the AFC East for the sixth straight year.
Josh Allen Made History in Comeback Win Over Patriots