Patriots vs. Bills: Live updates, score, news, game details, for NFL ...

The New England Patriots are back on the road in Week 16 to take on MVP favorite Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

The game marks the start of the Patriots’ final three-game stretch, which features another matchup against the Bills. The next three weeks could very well determine head coach Jerod Mayo’s future with the organization.

Follow along here for all your live updates from Sunday’s action.

Sunday, December 22, 4:25 p.m. ET | Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY | Inactives | Game day roster | Broadcast information

After losing the coin toss, the Patriots started with the football and started with strong field position after a 42-yard kick return by Antonio Gibson. New England got on the move with a pretty third-down conversion to Hunter Henry — with Maye calm against pressure — and then a DPI to Rhamondre Stevenson that netted 14 yards. Facing the next third-down, Maye dropped a ball perfectly in the bucket to Kayshon Boutte for a 28-yard touchdown. [Patriots 7 : 0 Bills]

New England’s defense continued the strong start on Buffalo’s first possession. After Josh Allen picked up one first-down, strong coverage by Kyle Dugger on second-down and a pass breakup by Alex Austin on third-down forced a punt.

Starting their next drive inside the 10 after Alex Erickson’s punt return went nowhere, Stevenson found some running room while Maye connected with both of his tight ends to march across midfield. Maye’s legs then moved the chains on a third-and-long situation to help overcome an earlier penalty before going back to Henry to convert the following third-down after another negative play. Buffalo’s defense then drew a pair of penalties as Maye’s cadence converted a third-down before Pop Douglas drew a DPI. New England then had a penalty of their own on a designed QB run, but Stevenson quickly got the yardage back as he rumbled through defenders for a 14-yard touchdown. [Patriots 14 : 0 Bills]

Buffalo’s offense picked up a pair of first downs on their next drive to move across midfield. James Cook then struck as he took a handoff 46 yards to the house — with more of the usual problems surfacing for the Patriots run defense — to get the Bills on the board. [Patriots 14 : 7 Bills]

New England’s offense could not continue their earlier momentum on their third drive. Maye had a rare miss over the middle to an open Boutte on first-down while his third-down pass was then complete but just short of the sticks to Kendrick Bourne.

Buffalo went back to James Cook to start their next drive as the speedy back took a swing pass 16 yards on the first play from scrimmage. After a Kyle Dugger TFL and false start set Buffalo back into a 3rd-and-16, Allen uncorked a deep bomb to the end zone which was intercepted by Marte Mapu, who then tried to return it and was tackled at the one-yard line.

A QB sneak and pair of short completions picked up a first-down to get New England off their own goal line. Then facing a third-and-short, a run to Gibson was stuffed for no gain. Lined up to punt on fourth-down, Jerod Mayo dialed up the aggressiveness with a fake with the snap going to personal protector Dell Pettus who powered through to move the chains. New England was not able to take advantage of the new set of downs, as Maye’s third-down pass was complete but a yard short of the line to gain. Bryce Baringer then punted away following the two-minute warning.

Buffalo’s drive started by Marte Mapu driving on a crosser to breakup, and almost intercept, Allen’s pass. Two completions to Mack Hollins then picked up a pair of first downs before Brenden Schooler’s longhorn package helped slow their momentum. Facing 3rd-and-10, Allen’s long ball to Khalil Shakir fell incomplete with Jon Jones in coverage.

With 13 seconds left, Maye hit Douglas on a 13-yard catch-and-run and came back to Hooper over the middle for 11 yards. Using their last timeout with two seconds left at their own 44, a short pass to Boutte saw the receiver take it 31 yards before running into a wall of Bills defenders and laterally it to Gibson, who took it out of bounds.

Starting the second half with the ball, Buffalo turned back to James Cook who took his first handoff 25 yards to the right sideline. After another handoff to Cook, Allen found his rookie receiver, Keon Coleman, for 17 yards over the middle. Two more carries for Cook moved Buffalo inside the red area and setup a third-down, where Allen quickly beat a cover-zero blitz to find Dalton Kincaid. Then facing 3rd-and-goal, Allen lofted one to Cook out of the backfield for a touchdown. [Patriots 14 : 14 Bills]

Back tied, New England turned to the ground game. That came with poor results, as Stevenson fumbled on his second straight handoff which Buffalo recovered.

Taking over at the Patriots 42 following the fumble, Buffalo went back to the ground game to pick up a first-down. After a strong PBU by Jon Jones in the end zone and a run stuff by Christian Elliss, Buffalo faced a 3rd-and-10 where pressure got home to sack Josh Allen — which was credited to Jeremiah Pharms. Tyler Bass’ 50-yard field goal was good. [Patriots 14 : 17 Bills]

Trailing for the first time, New England turned to the ground game with Antonio Gibson before the back helped in pass protection to create time for Maye to hit Boutte off-platform for 22 yards. Then facing 3rd-and-8 over midfield, a screen to Stevenson saw the back pick up 13 yards. The next play, Maye went to the end zone for Austin Hooper, who got beat in traffic as the pass was intercepted.

Back with the ball, Buffalo got on the move as Allen picked up first downs with his legs and arm. Buffalo then put two footballs on the ground but were able to recover both as they marched into New England territory. Facing a 3rd-and-9 after a false start, Allen’s pass slipped out of his hand and fell incomplete. Buffalo then punted.

Starting inside their own 10-yard line, disaster continued to strike for the Patriots. A backwards pass to Stevenson saw the ball go off the backs hands and roll into the end zone which the Bills recovered for a touchdown. [Patriots 14 : 24 Bills]

Trailing by 10, Maye got New England’s offense back on the move with his arm and legs. Facing a 3rd-and-6 by midfield following a delay of game, Maye’s pass to Henry was incomplete. With 8:26 remaining New England then punted away.

Backed up inside their 10-yard line, New England got Buffalo into a 3rd-and-1 but gave up a 17-yard catch-and-run to Ray Davis out of the backfield. Setting them into a 3rd-and-10, Allen tired to escape Keion White but was brought down for just three yards. Buffalo then punted.

Needing two scores with 4:29 left in the game, a short completion to Bourne and then a DPI penalty got things started for the offense. A read-option keeper picked up 14 yards by Maye on 4th-and-1 before Maye hit Hooper up the seam for 25 yards — which drew an unnecessary roughness penalty as well. Inside the five, Boutte drew a DPI in the end zone on 3rd-and-goal. Following the two-minute, Maye’s next 3rd-and-goal pass to Bourne drew another DPI flag. At the one, Maye rolled to his left and hit Pop Douglas for a score but the play was overturned upon review. After a dropped snap led to an eight-yard loss, Maye bounced back to hit Hunter Henry for a touchdown. [Patriots 21 : 24 Bills]