Definitely not a meaningless game
I know people have been using this phrase a lot this week; but in the NFL there is no such things as a “meaningless game.” At bare minimum, there’s always pride on the players’ side and fandom means being always invested. For the Buffalo Bills coming into their season finale against the New England Patriots, there was plenty of meaning beyond the bare minimum.
While the win/loss may not have mattered for the Bills, Josh Allen had his games started streak on the line. The Bills were also looking to set the NFL record for most players to catch a touchdown pass in the regular season and James Cook was looking to match or break O.J. Simpson’s single-season record of 16 rushing touchdowns in a regular season. Von Miller was looking for a $1.5 million bonus with another sack with various other incentives in striking distance across the team.
The Buffalo Bills fell short of some of their goals, but managed to get bonuses earned for Von Miller and Sam Martin, as well as some good news for James Cook. The Patriots came away with a win in a game that looked like all parties were trying to lose at the end.
The New England Patriots started with the ball after a Tyler Bass kickoff resulting in a touchback. After a run for minimal gain, a false start, and an incomplete pass; Von Miller earned his bonus right out of the gate with a nine-yard sack of Drake Maye to end the drive.
Bryce Baringer’s punt dropped right around midfield allowing Josh Allen to continue his games started streak with a short field. James Cook ran for four yards and Allen ran a bit further to get to the sideline to end his day. A Mitch Trubisky pass to Curtis Samuel nearly moved the chains which was followed by a Trubisky sneak that didn’t quite get the first. Sean McDermott kept the offense on the field and Trubisky was stopped short a second time, handing the ball back to the Patriots at the New England 45.
New England also pulled their starting quarterback with Joe Milton coming in for Drake Maye, making this officially a preseason game transported into Week 18. Milton completed his first NFL pass to Demario Douglas for 12 yards. A run by Antonio Gibson and passes to Gibson and Douglas kept the drive going. Two runs for a loss left New England with 3rd & 13. Milton once again completed his pass to Kayshon Boutte inches short of the first. A QB keeper after the pass gave the Patriots another first down. Gibson caught a Milton pass and pushed just short of the goal line. It took two tries with Milton’s legs, but the Patriots put the first points on the board with a touchdown.
Bills 0, Patriots 7
Ty Johnson returned the kickoff to the Buffalo 25-yard line. Not all starters were resting with Keon Coleman catching a Trubisky pass for nine yards, followed by a James Cook run for zero and then six yards. The Bills looked mostly toward Cook and Mack Hollins to move the ball with some assistance from a New England roughing the passer call to put them at the 14-yard line. James Cook carried the ball twice to close the quarter, resulting in 3rd & 1 at the New England seven.
End of the first quarter
Buffalo got the second quarter going with an unexpected Reggie Gilliam carry to put them with first down at the three. James Cook predictably got the ball again but lost three on the carry. Another unsuccessful Cook run was followed by a short pass to Mack Hollins also short of the goal line. Going for it on fourth down, Trubisky found Ray Davis for a passing touchdown. Unfortunately, Davis already counted toward the Bills’ receiving touchdown list this season, leaving one record in the waiting. The Bills were however the first NFL team to ever score 30 passing touchdowns and 30 rushing touchdowns in a single season.
Bills 7, Patriots 7
After a touchback to set them up at the 30, New England lost three on a heads-up tackle by Ja’Marcus Igram, gained nine of it back, then set themselves back five with a false start. Milton continued his debut with a 14-yard pass to Boutte for the first down. Soon after, Milton and Boutte completed a 48-yard touchdown catch and run when Buffalo’s defense left Boutte wide open on the back end with Milton scrambling.
Bills 7, Patriots 14
Buffalo’s next drive started at the 30 thanks to a touchback. Buffalo leaned on Ray Davis early with two runs gaining a first, and a short pass ending in a loss of one. Davis (again) gained it right back and then some with a 23-yarder to the right side. A three-yard run by Ty Johnson was called back by Buffalo’s first flag of the day; offensive holding on Tylan Grable. The Bills gained six of that back to set up 2nd & 14. A deep shot to Coleman was caught but with only one foot in bounds, to record the game’s first incompletion. Quintin Morris caught the ball for seven to cut the distance in half. On 4th & 7, the Bills gave Tyler Bass some extra practice with a 48-yard field goal to close the gap with New England.
Bills 10, Patriots 14
Bass’ kickoff landed short of the landing zone, setting the Patriots up at their own 40-yard line. Buffalo’s defense started off struggling, allowing two easy first downs. A loss of one was followed by a near sack on Milton. The defensive coverage held and Milton tossed the ball away to force his first incomplete of the day after 11 straight completions to start the game. Another false start and one more loss of one resulted in 4th & 17 for New England and the two-minute warning. With a field goal try officially in the “very long” range, the Patriots elected to punt, which was downed at the Buffalo five-yard line.
Taking possession with 1:51 left and three timeouts, I’m sure we’d have all been very optimistic about the Bills taking the lead before the half and a potential double dip. Buffalo moved the ball to the 27 before taking their first timeout with 1:02 remaining in the half. With 36 seconds left, the Bills took their second timeout from the Buffalo 40. An offensive holding flag on Reggie Gilliam pushed Buffalo back ten yards, but never fear as Mitch Trubisky scrambled to gain eight of them back on the next play, wisely running out of bounds to conserve their final timeout. A long-developing pass to Ty Johnson behind the line of scrimmage burned a lot of time but gained zero yards.
Buffalo took their final timeout with 15 seconds left. With it 3rd & 8, New England took their first timeout, presumably to get Buffalo to swap to their second-favorite play for this situation. A good pass from Trubisky toward Ty Johnson was met with even better coverage by Christian Ellis. Buffalo punted the ball which burned the remainder of the clock to enter halftime.
End of the half. SCORE
The second half got rolling with a touchback to give the Bills the ball at the 30. The Bills sputtered to start with a minimal gain by Ray Davis and dropped pass by Mack Hollins in tight coverage. A 20-yard catch by Keon Coleman kept the drive going but was followed by a run of no gain by Davis. Two catches by Morris gained 13 yards as the Bills inched forward further into Patriots territory. That was of course followed by a Ray Davis run for no gain. Two incomplete passes followed, including an attempted kill shot to Coleman. The Bills elected to punt in an attempt to get Sam Martin a salary bonus for punts downed inside the 20. Reid Ferguson downed the ball at the New England six after Ja’Marcus Ingram batted it away from the end zone with an impressive leap to do Martin a solid.
New England started off big with a 15-yard gain. Joe Milton tried to hand the ball off, but the botched exchange led to a fumble with Javon Soloman recovering for the Bills.
Ray Davis and Mitch Trubisky moved the ball closer to the goal line, gaining a first down at the New England three. Still looking for records, James Cook was brought back into the game. Cook’s first try from the three only gained two yards. On his second try, he tied O.J. Simpson’s single-season rushing touchdown record of 16 touchdowns! Tyler Bass missed the extra point, slightly diminishing the celebration mood.
Bills 16, Patriots 14
Tyler Bass kicked a bouncing ball in the landing zone, confirming my suspicion that Buffalo was practicing squib kicks within the new kickoff rules, with the return putting New England at their own 23. Milton continued his impressive game with a 10-yard completion followed by a 14-yard one. The latter was called back thanks to an ineligible player downfield call. The Patriots continued to perform against the Bills, helped a bit by an offside flag on Dawuane Smoot. The Patriots looked to have another first down with Milton bobbling the football on his way to a gain of nine on a scramble. The play was challenged by Buffalo and the call was upheld.
At the Buffalo 19-yard line on 2nd & 6, a fantastic pitch and catch by New England for a first was negated by a holding call. A lob to the pylon looked like a possible touchdown for the Patriots but Cole Bishop and the ground combined to dislodge the ball to create an incomplete pass. Now 3rd & 16, the Patriots took a timeout to regroup and likely remind the offense that they’re supposed to be trying to lose the game for draft position. The resulting play moved the ball closer to end zone for a Joey Slye field goal of 41-yards.
Bills 16, Patriots 17
Not in any hurry to practice squib kicks, the Patriots booted it deep to force a touchback to give Mike White his first appearance at quarterback starting at the 30. Curtis Samuel got things going on the drive with an illegal shift penalty to go backwards five yards. A handoff to Ray Davis ended the third quarter with a gain of three yards.
End of the third quarter
The fourth quarter started off with a false start by Keon Coleman, making things much harder to get another touchdown to set more records. An incomplete to Morris was followed up by White’s first completion of 14 yards to Curtis Samuel, which was mostly RAC. Sam Martin punted and luckily already had his incentive kick in, with the ball landing at the New England 21 with a return of zero yards.
The Patriots continued to find chunk plays against the Buffalo Bills defense, easily moving to midfield. From midfield, the Patriots found even bigger chunks and moved even more easily to the Buffalo nine-yard line. The Bills finally generated a negative play, stopping Terrell Jennings for a gain of zero. Joe Milton made an uncharacteristic mistake by tossing the ball to the ground to avoid a sack, instead earning a flag for unintentional grounding. Now 3rd & 24, Milton tossed the ball deep to Demario Douglas for a touchdown, scrambling long enough to warrant a Yakety Sax cut of the play. However, thanks to offensive holding on the play, the score was negated. The next play was similar in that it was a deep shot to Douglas and offensive holding was called. The pass was incomplete though this time, and the flag was declined by Buffalo. The 42-yard Slye field goal was good, extending the New England lead.
Bills 16, Patriots 20
The kickoff had to be returned, landing at the Buffalo one. Brandon Codrington fielded the ball and brought it up to the Buffalo 34. Ray Davis got the nod twice for a gain of five then loss of two. Curtis Samuel caught a Mike White pass for eleven yards to keep the drive going, prompting New England to take their second timeout to avoid a flag for too many players on the field. The Ray Davis short gain experience continued unabated leading to an incomplete pass to Keon Coleman on 3rd & 5. In New England territory, Buffalo went for it. The pitch to Curtis Samuel was short of the line to gain, giving the ball to the Patriots at their own 44.
“Surprisingly” the Patriots spontaneously forgot how to move the ball on Buffalo, including calling two deep shots despite their team being ahead by four with less than five minutes to go in the game. The New England punt dropped for a fair catch at the Buffalo 15, with Patriots fans and front office members hoping that the Bills could pull together a Mike White-led 85-yard drive.
The Buffalo Bills were able to out-terrible the Patriots, going three and out after gaining a mere two yards. The Sam Martin punt dropped at the New England 29, with New England returning it to the Buffalo 45.
Would the Patriots take up a collection to pay off Joe Milton to fumble the ball, or would they begrudgingly accept a worse draft position? New England moved the ball in tiny chunks with the Bills taking their timeouts to stop the clock and act like they were trying to win the game. New England continued to be happy not really moving the ball, leading to 4th & 7 to reach the two-minute warning.
Two-minute warning
Joey Slye’s 50-yard field goal was good after the two-minute warning to extend the Patriots lead, despite their best attempts to try not to close the game out.
Bills 16, Patriots 23
The Patriots’ kickoff was right at the goal line, and returned by Brandon Codrington to the Buffalo 29. Mike White lobbed a deep shot to Coleman looking for either a big gain or DPI. While there was plenty of early contact, the refs deemed it didn’t restrict Coleman and result was incomplete. White’s next pass was too high for Coleman. White’s third pass was also toward Coleman and also incomplete, being broken up by Miles Battle. Now in “desperation” mode “trying” to win, White’s fourth down pass was also incomplete with White being hit while thrown.
With only 1:26 remaining and Buffalo out of timeouts, the Patriots had to suck it up and accept a win to miss out on the first overall pick of the 2025 draft.