Bills at Patriots Recap
The Buffalo Bills lose their regular season finale 23-16 to the New England Patriots. The victory, accompanied with Browns, Giants, and Titans losses, knocks the Patriots from the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft to the fourth. Buffalo didn’t seem to mind helping New England edge out the victory and prevent them from securing the top pick. In that regard, it was a strange game, so this will be a much different recap than most. It wasn't easy to judge the game because it felt like a preseason game, especially with how it was handled on both sides.
Bills at Patriots Sunday, January 5, 2025
Preview Hits and Misses
Hits
Joe Andreessen started the game and called the plays on defense. He finished the game as the Bills leading tackler with 10 on the day. He struggled in coverage but was a sure tackler in the most regular-season action he saw this year.
Austin Hooper didn’t have a big game but did haul in four catches to get his $125k bonus. Kayshon Boutte followed up the best game of his career in the first meeting with the Bills by having another career game. He finished the day catching all 7 of his targets for 117 yards and a touchdown.
Misses
Kaiir Elam did not have a good game, but it wasn’t bad either. The Bills’ secondary was not helped much with a non-existent pass rush. He gave up three catches on four targets for 46 yards for a 112.5 passer rating.
I thought the Bills would win in my preview. It was obvious to me that they were ok not scoring again after Cook’s touchdown. Nobody will remember the game because of the Bills’ loss. They will remember the Patriots losing the number one overall pick and their head coach being fired after.
5 4 Things I Liked
Back to Back - James Cook eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for the second consecutive season. He also ran in his 16th touchdown on the season, tied for the NFL lead, and tied for the most in a season by a Buffalo Bill.
Coaching Staff - I liked how the coaching staff handled the game. They gave players opportunities to hit incentives along with personal goals. The playcalling on both sides was very simple to limit tipping their hand to any playoff opponents. Even in a loss, they won by preventing the Patriots from getting the number one overall pick.
Incentivized - Mack Hollins, Sam Martin, and Von Miller all hit incentive goals on Sunday. It was nice to see the team’s reactions to Martin and Miller hitting theirs.
No Injuries - The Bills played some starters longer than I expected, but they finished the game without any additions to the injury report. This will be the healthiest that the Bills have been entering the playoffs since 2020.
5 4 Things I Didn’t Like
PAT Miss - Tyler Bass nailed his 49-yard field goal attempt but missed a PAT. This was his fifth missed PAT in the year, which makes up half of his career misses. He finished the year 24-29 on FGs, the same as last year. It was encouraging he made his fg because that’s the range he has struggled with the most this season. Hopefully, that continues in the playoffs.
No Record - I wanted the Bills to break the record for different players to have a receiving touchdown in a season. Reggie Gilliam was never targeted in the passing game as the only pass catcher without a touchdown heading into the game. The chance of an OL going out on a route seemed unlikely.
Safety Play - Damar Hamlin and Taylor Rapp had bad games on Sunday. Rapp blew the coverage on the touchdown pass to Boutte. They looked lost at times in coverage, so hopefully, this was because of communication issues from playing with guys they don’t normally play with and won’t linger into the postseason.
QB Targets - This is a Keon Coleman appreciation statement. Coleman was targeted 10 times and had 2 catches on the day. He had zero drops. He was not given much opportunity for success Sunday.
Notable Plays From the Game
Stat(s) of the Game
BillsBanter Group Chat Quote of the Game
“I would hate to not go undefeated in the division but to have New England not have the #1 pick would also be sweet”
Postgame Quote of the Game
Postgame Perspective
A challenging game to judge. I am happy that the Bills were able to rest some key players and use the week as a bye for them, along with Allen. As New England begins their head coaching search, the Buffalo Bills prepare for their Wild Card opponent, Denver Broncos. On to the playoffs. Go Bills!
Up Next: Buffalo vs. Denver - Sunday, January 12th 1:00 PM
