Maye’s late touchdown and two-point pass lift Patriots past Bills 29-26

Buffalo’s second-quarter surge flipped the afternoon

New England set the opening terms and then had to keep answering them. Maye’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs at 7:01 of the first quarter gave the Patriots the only points of the period, and it established a connection that Buffalo never fully solved. Doubs would catch six passes for 58 yards, but the bigger damage came in the red area, where he turned two short opportunities into touchdowns.

Buffalo’s best stretch arrived in the second quarter. James Cook tied the game on an 8-yard run at 14:15, Stevenson restored the Patriots’ lead from 1 yard out at 5:38, and Josh Allen answered again with a 2-yard scoring run at the 1:00 mark. Tyler Bass then nudged the Bills in front 17-14 with a 27-yard field goal as the half expired.

That sequence mattered because it forced New England to win the game more than once. The Patriots had opened cleanly, then watched Buffalo turn a 7-0 deficit into a halftime lead. At that point, the game had already become a test of which offence could finish drives with the least waste.

Doubs kept New England close; Chism finished it

The Patriots regained control in the third quarter with another scoring strike to Doubs, this one from 2 yards at 8:15. It was Maye’s second touchdown pass of the day and pushed New England back ahead 21-17, a useful reminder that the Patriots were doing more than moving the ball between the 20s. They were cashing in.

Buffalo stayed within reach and then made one more push in the fourth. Bass trimmed the margin to 21-20 on a 38-yard field goal with 11:07 left, and Allen found Keon Coleman for a 34-yard touchdown at 4:27. The failed two-point pass left the Bills with a 26-21 lead rather than a seven-point cushion, a small detail at the time that became the hinge of the result.

Maye made Buffalo pay for that opening. With 1:50 remaining, he hit Chism III for a 23-yard touchdown, then added the decisive pass to Stevenson for two points. It was a fitting finish for a New England offence that had spread the work across the field: Hunter Henry led the club with 62 receiving yards, Chism added 42 on only two catches, and Maye also topped the Patriots on the ground with 54 rushing yards.

Our take: New England finished where Buffalo stalled

The clearest statistical edge in this game was not turnover margin, because both teams gave it away twice. It was New England’s ability to extend the day and complete possessions. The Patriots ran 73 plays to Buffalo’s 54, held the ball for 33:41 and produced 405 total yards. Just as important, they went 3-for-3 in the red zone and 2-for-2 on fourth down. That is a sturdy profile for a road win decided by three points.

Buffalo still generated enough offence to win. Allen threw for 253 yards and a touchdown, Cook ran for 75 yards and a score, Coleman broke through for 116 receiving yards, and Khalil Shakir added 82 more. The Bills also averaged 6.3 yards per play, better than New England’s 5.5. But the shorter play count left less room for empty red-zone trips, and Buffalo had two of them, finishing 2-for-4 inside the 20.

That is where the game separates into useful lessons for both teams. For New England, Maye’s line — 22 completions on 37 attempts, 269 passing yards, three touchdowns and 54 rushing yards — shows a quarterback carrying both volume and late-game responsibility. For Buffalo, the explosive plays were there, but the missing points were there too. In a 29-26 result, the distance between those truths is the whole story.

The defensive contributions were modest compared with the offence, but they were not irrelevant. Craig Woodson’s interception gave New England one of its two takeaways, while Buffalo got an interception from Dee Alford and also recovered a Patriots fumble. Neither side turned those mistakes into a defensive touchdown, so the game stayed where it began: in the hands of the offences, and finally in Maye’s.

Scoring moments

1. Period 1 · 7:01

   Romeo Doubs 14 Yd pass from Drake Maye (Andy Borregales Kick)

2. Period 2 · 14:15

   James Cook III 8 Yd Rush (Tyler Bass Kick)

3. Period 2 · 5:38

   Rhamondre Stevenson 1 Yd Rush (Andy Borregales Kick)

4. Period 2 · 1:00

   Josh Allen 2 Yd Rush (Tyler Bass Kick)

5. Period 2 · 0:02

   Tyler Bass 27 Yd Field Goal

6. Period 3 · 8:15

   Romeo Doubs 2 Yd pass from Drake Maye (Andy Borregales Kick)

7. Period 4 · 11:07

   Tyler Bass 38 Yd Field Goal

8. Period 4 · 4:27

   Keon Coleman 34 Yd pass from Josh Allen (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)

9. Period 4 · 1:50

   Efton Chism III 23 Yd pass from Drake Maye (Drake Maye Pass to Rhamondre Stevenson for Two-Point Conversion)