The Bills opened Sunday’s game against the Patriots with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, but that was not the start of a runaway win in front of their home crowd.
Mac Jones threw a pair of touchdowns and Patriots safety Devin McCourty picked Bills quarterback Josh Allen off deep in New England territory to kill a scoring chance in the final seconds of the first half. That sent the two teams to halftime with a 14-14 tie.
The Bills are the No. 2 seed in the AFC with a win while the Patriots clinch a playoff berth if they win. A Bills loss and a Bengals win would make the Bills the No. 3 seed for the start of the postseason.
Jones is 13-of-16 for 119 yards overall. Jakobi Meyers and DeVante Parker have the touchdowns for the Pats and Rhamondre Stevenson has chipped in 49 yards from scrimmage.
Allen was 12-of-19 for 96 yards and a touchdown before the McCourty pick. He’s been sacked twice on third downs to force punts, however, and those miscues have joined the interception in keeping things tight in Buffalo.