The Buffalo Bills haven't been on Monday Night Football since 2009, while the New England Patriots have been a mainstay in prime time for what seems like decades. No one, even many Buffalo Bills fans, thought the Bills could be the first team to hand the Patriots a loss this season.
Buffalo would receive the ball first on offense and went three and out. The result was a New England drive that featured plenty of penalties, one of which negated a Tom Brady interception. Ultimately, the Buffalo Bills defense managed to hold the Patriots to a field goal. The Bills failed to answer in the next series, instead getting another penalty forcing them to punt. Despite one blown defensive play, the Bills were able to force the Patriots to punt on the next series. It was 3-0 Patriots at the end of the first quarter.
Buffalo came out in the second quarter with good defense and moved the chains on offense. An under thrown pass to Chris Hogan from quarterback Tyrod Taylor on third down forced the Bills to settle for a field goal. The Bills defense proved to be solid and frustrating for Tom Brady in the second quarter. Brady was forced to throw into the ground several times as he was consistently under pressure.
Buffalo would get the ball later in the second quarter and had a chance to score a touchdown but Taylor's long pass to LeSean McCoy was broken up. The Bills thought they would settle for a field goal but Dan Carpenter failed to convert when his 48-yard field goal kick hit the upright and was no good.
With less than two minutes left in the second, Tom Brady did what he always does: he led his team to a touchdown. This time, a short pass to running back James White and a missed tackle by Corey Graham led to six points for the Patriots. The extra point made it 10-3 in favor of New England at the half.
The Patriots first series of the second half had everything from an inadvertent whistle, a flag for coach interference and a missed field goal. In the end, the Patriots failed to convert when usually automatic Stephen Gostkowski missed a field goal.
Buffalo would take advantage with a drive that ended ultimately with a LeSean McCoy diving touchdown to tie the game 10 -10 early in the third quarter. New England responded as Brady found Danny Amendola for a 41-yard reception, later ending in a six-yard rushing touchdown from James White, his second of the game.
With less than three minutes left in the third, Leodis McKelvin fumbled the ball on the Patriots kickoff and the Patriots recovered it, fumbled it and the ball went out of bounds. The result was a field goal and the Patriots widen their lead to 20-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Patriots had the ball at the beginning of the fourth. After a long completion to Rob Gronkowski, cornerback Stephon Gilmore intercepted Tom Brady and the Bills got the ball back at the Buffalo six-yard line. The drive resulted in a punt and the Patriots got the ball back again.
New England ended up not scoring and the Bills got the ball back again. The drive included a huge one-handed catch from Sammy Watkins but the Bills were only able to get a field goal making it 20 -17. The Patriots would get the ball back with less than four minutes to go and ran out the clock. The Patriots improved to 10-0 and the Bills fall to 5-5, dimming their chances of a postseason appearance, once again.