Patriots Beat Bills 29-26 Behind Late TD, Game-Sealing INT

The Patriots went into Orchard Park and did the thing that usually goes the other way for them up there: they won, 29-26, and they won it by making the last two plays of the game a touchdown and a pick. Efton Chism III hauled in a 23-yard touchdown pass from Maye with 1:50 left, Rhamondre Stevenson caught the two-point conversion to make it 29-26, and Craig Woodson intercepted Josh Allen on the next Buffalo series to end it. That's the whole game in three sentences, but my nerves need a few more paragraphs to settle down.

This one went back and forth like a toddler with the remote. Maye found Romeo Doubs for a 14-yard touchdown in the first quarter — Patriots 7, Bills 0 — and on the replay you can see him sell the play-action hard enough to send half of Buffalo's defense the wrong way. Buffalo tied it at 7 on James Cook III's 8-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Stevenson punched one in from a yard out to make it 14-7, Allen answered with a 2-yard sneak to tie it at 14, and Tyler Bass drilled a 27-yard field goal with two seconds left in the half to send Buffalo to the locker room up 17-14. Doubs got his second score of the day — a 2-yard fade he basically mugged with one hand — to put New England back on top 21-17 in the third. Bass hit another one, 38 yards, to make it 21-20 in the fourth, Keon Coleman then hauled in a 34-yard touchdown from Allen to put Buffalo up 26-21 (the two-point try failed, and that matters by the end), and then Chism's diving grab and Stevenson's two-point catch made it 29-26 Patriots with 1:50 on the clock. Woodson's interception closed the book.

Drake Maye, man. 22-of-37 for 269 yards, three touchdowns, one pick, AND he led the team in rushing with 54 yards on 8 carries. Doubs had both touchdowns on 6 catches for 58 yards, Hunter Henry quietly topped the team in receiving yards with 62 on 5 grabs, and Mack Hollins added 53 yards on just 3 catches. On the ground, Stevenson (13 carries, 47 yards, a score, plus that two-point grab) and TreVeyon Henderson (14 carries, 42 yards) did the kind of between-the-tackles work that never makes the highlight reel — as a guy whose own career highlight was a well-placed fair catch, I've got nothing but love for backs who just keep taking it and falling forward. Robert Spillane led the defense with 8 tackles, Elijah Ponder had the lone sack, and Woodson's pick was the biggest defensive play of the day, full stop.

New England out-gained Buffalo 405 yards to 340 and held the ball for 33:41 to Buffalo's 26:19, so this wasn't some fluky survive-and-advance win — they controlled most of the afternoon. But Maye fumbled three times, losing one, and threw the pick too, which is two New England turnovers against a Bills team that will make you pay for every single one. The Patriots also went 2-for-2 on fourth down and 3-for-3 in the red zone, which covers for a lot, but that turnover column is the kind of thing that keeps a guy like me up at night.

Three things I can't stop thinking about: Maye playing like nothing fazes him anymore, Woodson's interception as the biggest individual defensive play of this Patriots season so far, and the fact that this team is 2-2 and somehow feels like it's trending up. Next: the Raiders come to town Sunday, October 11 at 1:00 PM ET.