New England's 29-26 win in Buffalo came down to a two-point conversion. Drake Maye hit Rhamondre Stevenson with 1:50 left to push the Patriots' lead to three, and that single decision is why Buffalo's last drive ended the way it did.
Here's the math of the moment. After Maye's 23-yard touchdown pass to Efton Chism III, the Bills got the ball down three with 1:14 left, and Craig Woodson intercepted Josh Allen's deep left throw intended for Joshua Palmer at the NE 19. From the 19, a field goal ties the game at 29-26. It does not win it. Kicking the extra point instead would have left Buffalo a field goal away from a win anyway, so the two-point attempt cost New England nothing and bought it everything.
Maye was the reason the Patriots had that choice. He went 22 of 37 for 269 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, a 97.7 rating, and added eight carries for 54 yards with a long of 26. That 6.8 a carry beat both backs behind him: Stevenson ran 13 times for 47 yards and a score, TreVeyon Henderson 14 times for 42.
The ball got spread around. Romeo Doubs caught six of nine targets for 58 yards and two touchdowns. Hunter Henry caught all five of his for 62. Mack Hollins turned four targets into three catches and 53 yards. Chism's two catches went for 42, the 23-yarder the biggest of the day. Kyle Williams didn't catch either of his two targets but returned three kickoffs for 81 yards, 27 a return with a long of 34.
Maye also fumbled three times, losing one and recovering two. On a day the passing game hummed, that's the number that keeps this from reading as a clean win, and it's the one that travels.
On defense, Robert Spillane made eight tackles, five solo. Christian Elliss had six and four. Elijah Ponder finished with four tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, two quarterback hits and a fumble recovery.
Buffalo's side lists four different rushing leaders, James Cook III, DJ Moore, Allen and Ty Johnson, with nobody separating from the group. That's the shape of the whole afternoon: the Bills distributed the work and lost it on the one throw Allen forced.
New England is 2-2 because its staff went for two at the right time, Maye found Chism on the biggest throw of the day, and Allen threw into coverage from the 19. Every piece of that is narrow. Maye can't put the ball on the ground three times a week and keep this up, and a backfield running 3.6 and 3.0 a carry isn't a run game. One decision and one bad throw separated these teams, and that's not a gap. I'll take Buffalo in the rematch.
