By CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist
And then there were none.
Going into Sunday’s games, the NFL’s two remaining unbeatens seemed safe for 5-0 starts. Both were solid favorites and playing at home.
Instead the Eagles imploded in a 21-17 loss to Denver. Then, that night, the Bills endured a self-inflicted 23-20 defeat by New England that effectively wasted the 41-40 decision they stole from Baltimore in the season opener.
Sadly, for Buffalo fans, they could see this galling loss coming. From the first series, it was obvious the Bills were flat. There was much more passion from the 70,802 fans in the stands than there was from the players on the field.
IN THE first half, Buffalo’s possessions were: fumble, punt, fumble, field goal, punt. It was vintage Bills 1985.
New England’s 6-3 lead at intermission hardly left the crowd in need of Natrol, quarterback Josh Allen’s sleep aid of choice.
Over the opening 30 minutes, the Bills turned the ball over twice — fumbles by Allen and wide receiver Keon Coleman — and were flagged for eight (8) penalties that were accepted.
In the second half, Allen threw an ugly interception, leading him to assess:
“We just played sloppy … you’re not going to win a football game turning the ball over three times, one of them in our red zone (inside the 20-yard line).
“It was just bad football. We just did not play good enough to find a way to win that one but we shouldn’t have even been in it with three turnovers.”
He added, somewhat indelicately, “That’s just piss-poor offense.”
Allen was responsible for two of the three turnovers though his numbers were fair: 22-of-31 for 253 yards with two touchdown passes (6 yards to Curtis Samuel, 2 yards to Keon Coleman) the interception and a 102.3 passer rating.
BUT HERE’S why the Bills should be worried.
As Buffalo did when Jim Kelly retired, New England has been looking for a franchise quarterback since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay after the 2019 season.
The Pats found one in Drake Maye who was 22-of-30 for 273 yards against Buffalo including a gaudy 10 connections with wide receiver Stefon Diggs for 146 yards. The biggest completion came late in the fourth quarter when Maye, about to be sacked, found the former Bill for a first down that kept the game-winning drive alive.
AFTERWARD, Buffalo coach Sean McDermott lamented, “We beat ourselves. Obviously, it was not the performance we were looking for. We turned the ball over three times and they got 10 points. We got one takeaway and didn’t get any points.”
He added, “There was not enough complementary football. Offensively we went off schedule and when we did we had penalties and self-inflicted wounds.
“In the second half our pass defense wasn’t god enough, we gave up some chunk (plays) and overall we just weren’t good enough.”
And, on this day, neither were the Bills collectively.
NOTES FROM the Bills 23-20 loss to the Patriots, Sunday night at Highmark Stadium:
— The defeat ended Buffalo’s streak of 14 straight regular-season home victories.
— At 4-1, Buffalo still leads the AFC East over the Patriots (3-2), but New England (2-0) has a half game lead over the Bills (2-1) in division record.
— In the first quarter, both teams lost fumbles on back-to-back plays. First tight end Dawson Knox collided with quarterback Josh Allen with the loose ball recovered by rookie defensive tackle Joshua Farmer. On the next play, Patriots running back Rhamondre Stephenson, after catching a short pass, fumbled when hit by linebackers Shaq Thompson and Matt Milano with middle linebacker Terrel Bernard recovering.
Then, on a subsequent possession, wide receiver Keon Coleman fumbled when hit by linebacker Robert Spillane with safety Jaylinn Hawkins recovering.
A fourth fumble on a kickoff return by Antonio Gibson in the first half was created by a brutal hit from Bills defensive back Cam Lewis, but the Patriots recovered .
— New England’s interception of Allen was recorded by safety Marcus Jones, his second, tying him for the team lead.
— Buffalo had four sacks of Pats’ QB Drake Maye. One was shared by edge rusher A.J. Epenesa, his second, and tackle Deone Walker with one each going to end Greg Rousseaum, safety Cole Bishop and linebacker Shaq Thompsoin.
— New England’s only sack of Allen was shared by defensive tackle Milton Williams, his third, and Hawkins.
— Inactive for the Bills were defensive tackle Ed Oliver (ankle), linebacker Dorian Williams (knee), cornerback Jordan Hancock (neck), defensive tackle T.J. Sanders (knee), wide receiver Elijah Moore, cornerback Brandon Codrington and offensive tackle Chase Lundt. Cornerback Dorian Strong (neck) went on injured reserve.
Linebacker Jimmy Ciarlo was signed from the practice squad and defensive tackles Zion Logue and Phidarian Mathis were elevated from the practice squad.
