Wrapping up the Buffalo Bills

The Patriots got back in the race with an impressive 29-26 victory over the Bills at the new Highmark Stadium on Sunday.

After a disastrous 36-5 loss to the Jaguars last week, the Patriots went into Buffalo with plenty of questions surrounding the quarterback, the coaching staff and just about everything else. Instead, Mike Vrabel's team delivered the kind of response you want to see from a team that believes it can compete.

The Patriots are now 2-2, and suddenly that ugly afternoon in Jacksonville feels a little less significant.

Vrabel spent the week preaching accountability and challenging his players to hold each other to a higher standard. The Patriots needed to show that the Jaguars game wasn't representative of who they are.

They did exactly that.

New England stood toe-to-toe with Josh Allen and the Bills in a hostile environment before Drake Maye led his second fourth-quarter comeback and third game-winning drive of his young career.

" It gets us back in the race," Vrabel said. "We knew it was going to be a battle. Josh (Allen) is unbelievable. Drake went toe-to-toe with him."

That last part is particularly important.

There had been no shortage of discussion about Maye through the first three weeks of the season. The young quarterback had struggled with turnovers, inconsistent decision-making and a tendency to abandon clean pockets. After the Jacksonville disaster, there were legitimate questions about how he would respond.

Would Maye fold under the pressure, or would he bounce back?

He bounced back decisively.

Maye finished 22-of-39 for 269 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 15-yard scramble during an opening 12-play touchdown drive. More importantly, he looked far more comfortable operating within Josh McDaniels' offense.

That was perhaps the most encouraging part of the afternoon.

During the first three weeks, Maye occasionally appeared to lose patience when his initial read wasn't immediately available. Against Buffalo, he trusted the concepts, worked through his progressions and allowed his receivers time to get open.

The opening touchdown to Romeo Doubs was a perfect example. New England used a bluff screen to DeMario Douglas, hoping to manipulate the Bills defense into jumping the screen while opening something behind it. Buffalo stayed disciplined, so Maye worked back to the opposite side and found Doubs breaking inside.

It was the type of play that requires patience from the quarterback.

Maye showed it.

That connection with Doubs is also beginning to look increasingly promising. The two have had some obvious miscommunication through the first month, including an interception on a low throw intended for Doubs on Sunday, but the overall trend is moving in the right direction.

Doubs finished with six catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns, including two important fourth-down conversions.

His second touchdown was particularly impressive. Lined up alone outside against Maxwell Hairston, Doubs won on the goal-line fade and made the catch through contact.

That's the type of play the Patriots signed Doubs to make.

And then there was Efton Chism III.

With Mack Hollins leaving the game with a calf injury, Chism was given an opportunity and made the most of it. His one-handed 23-yard touchdown catch on the game-winning drive gave New England the lead and provided the exclamation point on one of the biggest wins of the season.

Chism ran a go route while Rhamondre Stevenson released into the secondary on a wheel route, giving Maye two potential one-on-one opportunities. Buffalo brought pressure with safety Damar Hamlin coming off the slot, forcing Maye to roll right and buy time.

The quarterback found Chism, and the rookie delivered.

"I saw it in the air, and Drake gave me an opportunity, and you got to come down with those opportunities," Chism said. "When I'm out there, and the ball's in the air, I kind of black out. I'm kind of in that little flow state."

Will Campbell summed up the confidence the Patriots have in their quarterback even better after the play.

"When he threw that last touchdown and we came off the field, I said that's who the (expletive) you are. The best in the (expletive) world. That's how I feel," Campbell said.

For Maye, this was exactly the type of performance the Patriots needed.

He still turned the ball over twice, so this wasn't a flawless performance. But he produced +0.35 EPA per drop-back compared to Allen's +0.14 EPA per play. Maye finished with 16.2 total EPA, while Allen produced 6.2.

The numbers backed up what the scoreboard showed.

Maye outplayed Allen in Buffalo.

That's a pretty significant statement for a 24-year-old quarterback who entered the afternoon with plenty of pressure on his shoulders.

The Patriots defense deserves plenty of credit as well.

New England's game plan was built around keeping Allen in the pocket and limiting his ability to hurt them with his legs. Without Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots leaned heavily on zone coverage, playing zone on 71.4 percent of Buffalo's drop-backs.

Allen still had some success, but he averaged only 6.8 yards per attempt against the Patriots' zone looks.

When New England needed the knockout punch, however, it went back to man coverage.

The Bills lined up in a tight bunch formation, and the Patriots responded with Cover 1. Up front, Milton Williams and Dre'Mont Jones executed a stunt that allowed Jones to loop inside and pressure Allen.

Allen scrambled and eventually launched a desperation throw toward Joshua Palmer.

Craig Woodson made sure it never got there.

The rookie safety high-pointed the ball for the game-sealing interception, allowing the Patriots to finally close out a game against a quality opponent.

That resilience was evident throughout the afternoon.

The Patriots had to deal with a sloppy end-of-half sequence and were missing two of their most important defensive players in Gonzalez and Christian Barmore. They also allowed James Cook to find plenty of room on the ground.

Cook averaged 6.3 yards per carry, rushing for 75 yards on only 12 attempts. Buffalo finished with a 50 percent rushing success rate, and three of Cook's runs went for more than 10 yards in the second half.

The Patriots will need to clean that up.

The offensive line also remains a concern. Maye was under pressure on 42.9 percent of his drop-backs, according to NextGen Stats. Campbell allowed six pressures, including three hits and three hurries, while Ben Brown and Alijah Vera-Tucker each allowed three pressures.

Maye handled the pressure much better than he had earlier in the season, but asking him to consistently play under that kind of heat isn't a sustainable formula.

The good news is that the running game finally showed signs of life.

The Patriots produced 12 successful runs between Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson and finished with a 45 percent rushing success rate, comfortably their best mark of the season. Some of New England's best runs appeared to come from outside-zone and trap concepts that created lanes for the backs.

There were also encouraging flashes from rookie edge rusher Gabe Jacas.

The second-round pick recorded three quarterback pressures and stuffed a run, including a bull rush against Pro Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins that forced Allen into a throwaway from his own end zone.

Jacas' development could become increasingly important for a defense that needs young pass-rushing talent to emerge.

Special teams also quietly played a role.

Mitch Wishnowsky averaged a 52-yard net on his punts and delivered a huge kick that pinned Buffalo at its own 11-yard line. Andy Borregales was perfect on three extra points, while Marcus Jones made a smart play to recover a batted ball on a Bills punt return.

None of those individual plays are likely to dominate the headlines, but they all contributed to the Patriots winning a game that came down to the final moments.

And that's ultimately what this victory was about.

Resilience.

After getting embarrassed by Jacksonville, the Patriots went into Buffalo and responded against one of the AFC's best teams. Maye answered his critics. McDaniels got the offense moving. The defense made the plays it needed to make. Young players like Chism, Woodson and Jacas stepped up when their opportunities came.

It's one win, and the Patriots still have plenty of problems to solve.

But at 2-2, this team is back in the race.

" It's relieving a little bit. But we still have some work left out there," Maye said after the game. "Coach (Vrabel) always says don't ride the roller coaster, and that's what we are going to do."

That's the message New England needs to take into Week 5.

Enjoy the win in Buffalo.

Then turn the page.

The Raiders are waiting at Gillette Stadium.