Patriots turn the ball over four times, lose to Bills 27-21 in Week 17

BOSTON -- The Patriots played the Bills tough in Week 17 and had a chance to steal a win despite four first-half turnovers. But the New England offense ultimately came up short and the Patriots fell to 4-12 on the season with a 27-21 loss in Orchard Park.

The New England defense continued its strong play and stymied Josh Allen for much of the afternoon, holding the Bills quarterback to just 169 yards off 15-for-30 passing. But the New England offense let the defense down once again, with Bailey Zappe throwing three interceptions.

All three of those picks came in the first half, along with a Pharaoh Brown fumble. Buffalo scored 20 points off those New England mistakes in the first half.

"Just a terrible first 20 minutes," Bill Belichick said after the loss. "Guys hung in there and battled but, obviously, just gave them too big of a lead and couldn't get back. Turnovers were a big story of the game. … They had a big edge there."

"It was tough," said Zappe. "You can't win football games when you turn the ball over."

The Patriots opened the game with a bang, as Jalen Reagor returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to give New England a 7-0 lead. It was New England's first kickoff return for a touchdown since the 2018 season.

But after the defense forced a three-and-out, Zappe's first pass of the day was picked and the Bills got the ball at the New England 21. It was the second straight game that Zappe's first pass has been intercepted.

But the New England defense held the Bills to just a field goal despite Buffalo's drive starting at the Patriots' 21-yard line. Zappe was picked again on his third attempt, with Rasul Douglas jumping DeVante Parker's route intercepting the quarterback's pass. Douglas' pick gave Buffalo the ball at the New England 14, and the Bills' offense did not squander their second opportunity deep in Patriots' territory.

Allen rushed in his first of two touchdowns after that Zappe pick, giving Buffalo a 10-7 lead. The Bills added a field goal to that score after Brown fumbled Zappe's first completion of the afternoon at the New England 31. It was 20-7 Buffalo a few plays later, when Douglas picked Zappe again and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter. 

The New England offense scored its first points on its next possession though. Running back Kevin Harris took a short pass from Zappe and turned it into a 48-yard pickup, setting up a 17-yard touchdown run by the quarterback on New England's next play. That 48-yard catch-and-run by Harris is New England's second-longest pass play of the season after Brown's 58-yard touchdown against the Jets in Week 3.

Despite those four first-half turnovers by New England, Buffalo led just 20-14 at halftime. But Allen hit Dalton Kincaid for a 51-yard pass on Buffalo's drive to open the second half, and capped it off with another 1-yard touchdown run to put the Bills on top 27-14. 

New England's first possession of the second half was an 11-play drive that resulted in no points. Chad Ryland missed a 53-yard field goal attempt -- which would have been his second miss of the day after he was wide left on a 47-yard attempt in the first half -- but was negated by a Delay of Game by the Patriots.  New England opted to punt, and the defense forced a Buffalo punt six plays later.

That's when the Patriots' offense woke up a bit and embarked on a 7-play, 84-yard scoring drive. Zappe hit Reagor for a 39-yard connection down to the Buffalo 30, and the drive ended with a six-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott to make it a 27-21 game.

The New England defense forced another Buffalo punt on the Bills' next possession, but that punt landed at the Patriots' 3-yard line. Zappe and company went three-and-out and had to punt it away again, giving Buffalo the ball at midfield with five minutes to play.

The Pats got the Bills into a third-and-7, but Allen picked apart the New England zone and hit Khalil Shakir for 11 yards and keep the drive alive. On a third-and-1 a few plays later, Allen got a nice shove from his linemen and picked up another first down 

The Patriots will now close out the franchise's worst season since Bill Belichick took over with a Week 18 home matchup against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. The 10-6 Bills, meanwhile, will play for the AFC East crown against the Dolphins in Miami.