Bills dominated by Patriots at line of scrimmage,…

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills knew the New England Patriots were running the football. Every person sitting in Highmark Stadium knew they were running the ball.

But the Patriots (9-4) were still able to do it, milking the clock and controlling the game to maintain first place in the AFC East and the conference’s top seed for the playoffs. The Bills fell to 7-5 with a 14-10 loss as the offense was unable to string together sustained drives and settled for field goals or no points despite opportunity.

Buffalo will next travel to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-3) on Sunday with another matchup against the Patriots in two weeks.

With Patriots quarterback Mac Jones attempting three passes and completing two, the Patriots were able to do what they wanted and dominated the line of scrimmage, rushing for 222 yards.

New England attempted one first-half throw, the fewest by any team since at least 1978, as far back as the data was tracked, per Elias Sports Bureau. Despite that, New England was able to run for 96 yards in the first quarter alone, including a 64-yard touchdown by Damien Harris following a fumble by Buffalo’s Matt Breida.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen finished 15-of-30 for 145 yards and one touchdown pass to Gabriel Davis that came after a turnover. Outside of that, Allen threw some impressive passes in the wind but struggled to connect with his receivers.

Tight end Dawson Knox dropped two passes and receiver Stefon Diggs dropped a deep pass to the end zone, his first drop of the year. Knox, who did not have his best game, was called for a pivotal false start on third down on the Bills’ final drive. The tight end finished with two receptions on six targets for 14 yards.

While the defense allowed the Patriots to run the ball up and down the field, the offense’s longest drive was its last — 67 yards — but finished with no points. Buffalo struggled to establish any sort of consistent running game, averaging 4.0 yards per carry and finishing with 99 yards on the ground.

Coach Sean McDermott’s clock management in the second half also ended up being a factor. He challenged the spot on a Jones fourth-down rush and the call stood due to a lack of evidence to overturn. Buffalo burned another timeout before Allen was sacked in the red zone. Buffalo had one timeout for the key final minutes.

Troubling trend: This is obvious from all of the above, but opponents know that they can run on the Bills’ defense. The Titans did it, the Colts did it and the Patriots relied on it. Overall, the run defense’s numbers aren’t the worst in the league, and most games it has been enough, but despite the return of defensive tackle Star Lotulelei after missing three games on the COVID-19 list, the run defense continues to have issues. The Patriots attempted three passes and won. Enough said.

QB breakdown: Allen played well overall, all things considered, especially with the role that the wind played. Most of the plays that were off with his receivers were drops, but Allen also had moments when he placed the ball too high or out of his receiver’s reach.

Interceptions had been a major issue for the quarterback as of late, but Allen did not throw one against the Patriots. It was his first game without an interception since Week 8.

Pivotal series: On the Bills’ first drive of the fourth quarter, starting with 13 minutes left in the game, they had a chance to take the lead. But with the ball at the New England 6-yard line thanks to a horse collar tackle, the Bills proceeded to get zero points. After a gain of no yards on a Zack Moss run, coach Sean McDermott called timeout, leaving Buffalo with one for the half.

Allen was promptly sacked for a loss of 9, and then threw an incomplete pass to Knox in the end zone. Kicker Tyler Bass then missed a 33-yard field goal into the wind, giving the Patriots the ball back.