The New England Patriots’ short-lived excitement from their Christmas Eve upset win over the Denver Broncos came crashing to a halt at Orchard Park on Sunday.
Despite a valiant effort, the Patriots failed to overcome a run-in with the AFC East division rival Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.
There were far too many self-inflicted wounds for them to really have a chance on the road against a potential playoff contender. The Patriots turned the ball over four times in total, and the Bills dominated in time of possession.
It’s still amazing that the Patriots were able to keep things competitive, despite all of their mistakes. They dropped a 27-21 loss on the road against one of the hottest teams in football. There’s no shame in losing like that to the Bills.
Here are the studs and duds from the game:
CB Alex Austin: STUD
The Bills and Houston Texans might regret waiving rookie cornerback Alex Austin. In Sunday’s game, Austin undercut Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid for a leaping interception on an underthrown pass from Josh Allen.
That first career pick is a beauty, Alex Austin 👏
📺: #NEvsBUF on CBS pic.twitter.com/LBtyCOPrcb
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 31, 2023
It was a heads-up play from a young defensive back that is clearly playing with more confidence in Bill Belichick’s defense. Austin is scrappy in coverage and flashing skills as a player that could be developed into a serious defensive contributor.
Seeing what he’s doing with the Patriots now makes it even more surprising that two NFL teams passed on him this year.
WR Jalen Reagor: STUD
Jalen Reagor looked like he was shot out of a cannon on the very first play of the game. He blew past Bills defenders for a 98-yard kickoff return to put the Patriots on the board early in the game.
JALEN REAGOR 98-YARD KICKOFF RETURN TD
📺: #NEvsBUF on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/sFjqko01pD pic.twitter.com/VT2hMYoqps— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2023
But his effort as a playmaker didn’t stop there. In the fourth quarter, he also hauled in a reception for 39 yards, which was the second longest of the day for the Patriots.
There’s no question that Reagor is a playmaker with the ball in his hands. It’s going to fall on the Patriots’ coaching staff to continue getting him involved and giving him opportunities to make plays as a returner and receiver.
TE Pharaoh Brown: DUD
Ball security is everything when playing on the road in a hostile environment, and the Patriots clearly struggled in that area on Sunday. Bailey Zappe threw three interceptions, and tight end Pharaoh Brown coughed up a backbreaking fumble.
Turnovers are a big reason why the Patriots are sitting at 4-11 right now, and Brown contributed to those struggles on Sunday. Granted, it has mostly been good for Brown, and the Patriots should look to extend him to a new deal in the offseason.
But his turnover was a huge mistake that ultimately hurt the Patriots in this game.
K Chad Ryland: DUD
After kicking the game-winning field goal against the Denver Broncos, it was back to missing kicks for Chad Ryland on Sunday.
Ryland missed on a 47-yard field goal attempt, and he also missed a 53-yarder that was negated due to a delay of game penalty. For all of the talk of finding a new quarterback, wide receivers and adding to the offensive line, the Patriots could be in the market for a kicker as well in the offseason.
Ryland has been way too inconsistent to trust moving forward. If he’s unable to improve significantly in the offseason, the Patriots might need to cut their losses on the rookie fourth-round draft pick.
RB Kevin Harris: STUD
The arrow continues to point upwards on Patriots running back Kevin Harris, who showed up in the rushing and passing attack in Sunday’s game.
Granted, the Patriots didn’t give him many opportunities to handle the ball on the ground, and maybe that was a mistake considering he plowed his way to 15 yards on just two carries.
The biggest takeaway was his continued improvement as a receiving back. He hauled in two catches for a team-high 54 yards against the Bills. One of those plays came on a 48-yard screen, which was the longest offensive play from scrimmage on the day for New England.
OL Sidy Sow: DUD
This wasn’t Sidy Sow’s best game, when facing a ferocious Bills pass rush that never let up from the start. There was a moment where Patriots offensive line assistant coach Billy Yates was really vocal with the rookie offensive lineman on the sidelines.
Offensive line coach Billy Yates was just extremely demonstrative in a conversation with rookie guard Sidy Sow. Emotions flaring up on the Patriots sidelines as the offense falls apart.
— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) December 31, 2023
It was a rough effort all around on a day when Zappe was sacked three times.
The good news is Sow has shown tremendous upside, and his versatility as both a guard and tackle does give the Patriots hope for the future. So there’s hope that he’ll take it as a teaching moment and bounce back even stronger from this game.
QB Bailey Zappe: DUD
This was a tough one.
Bailey Zappe could have easily been left off this list after a herculean effort in the game, despite throwing three interceptions in the first half. And I get it, not all of those plays were necessarily bad. The Bills’ defenders made the sort of miraculous plays in the game that force you to just tip your cap.
But three interceptions is still three interceptions.
Zappe has to do a better job of taking care of the ball in these kinds of games. The Patriots kept giving the Bills too many easy opportunities to put points on the board in a game where Josh Allen and the offense clearly weren’t playing their best football.
