One Stat Recap: Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots

The Buffalo Bills lost to the New England Patriots 16-10 to end their undefeated season and move to 3-1. The Bills’ defense is the reason they were able to keep it close and even have a shot to win it at the end, despite multiple critical mistakes from their offense and their special teams. Their play resulted in a stat that hasn’t been seen in a Bills-Pats box score since 2016.

On Sunday at New Era Field, the Bills accumulated more offensive yardage than the Patriots for the first time in nearly three years. The last time the Bills out-gained the Pats was October 30th, 2016. On that day the Bills posted 19 more yards than the Patriots. In Sunday’s game the Bills posted 151 yards more than the Patriots—the largest margin since November 30th, 1998.

When people usually talk about out gaining an opponent they’re complimenting the offense. Not in this case. This was not a situation where the Bills’ offense exploded for 600 yards and that’s why they out gained the Patriots. The reason the Bills out gained the Patriots was their impressive defense. They held the Patriots to 224 yards of total offense—the fewest yards allowed by a Bills— defense against the Patriots since 2009.

In other words, the Bills’ defense is legit and they played lights out against one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.