Buffalo 38, New England 9

When: 8:15 PM ET, Monday, December 28, 2020

Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Temperature: 41°

Head Official: Ron Torbert

Attendance: 0

The Buffalo Bills have their first 12-win season since 1993 and recorded their first sweep of the Patriots in Bill Belichick’s 20-year New England tenure. It was also the Patriots’ worst loss since 2003.

Bills QB Josh Allen threw three of his four touchdown passes to Stefon Diggs as the playoff-bound Buffalo Bills routed the New England Patriots 38-9 on Monday in Foxborough, Mass.

Allen, who completed 27 of 36 passes for 320 yards, found Diggs for an 8-yard score early in the fourth quarter to set a franchise record with his 34th passing touchdown of the season. The total surpassed the mark set by Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly in 1991.

Allen, and Alex Smith, (Opening Night in 2017 for Kansas City) are the only visiting QBs to throw 4+ TD passes with no INTs in a game at Gillette Stadium.

The Bills have scored at least 24 points in each of their last eight games, the longest such streak in franchise history.

Diggs, who leads the NFL in receptions and receiving yards, had nine receptions for 145 yards for the Bills (12-3), who currently hold the second seed in the AFC by virtue of their 26-15 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers (12-3) on Dec. 13. Buffalo can clinch the No. 2 seed with a win over visiting Miami on Sunday or a Pittsburgh loss at Cleveland.

Tight end Lee Smith had a touchdown reception and rookie Zack Moss added a scoring run as the Bills completed a season sweep of the Patriots (6-9) for the first time since 1999. Moss rushed for a pair of touchdowns in Buffalo’s 24-21 home win over New England on Nov. 1.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott was asked about the significance of that achievement after the game.

“Well, it feels great,” McDermott said. “It’s hard enough to win in the NFL regardless of who you’re playing and this is an organization, being the Patriots, that have given the Bills fits over the years and so to win both games this year against the Patriots and then to win the way we did tonight, I think it just speaks volumes about our players and the coaches and again the team that Brandon [Beane] has put on the field.”

Cam Newton recorded his 12th rushing touchdown of the season early in the second quarter to tie Steve Grogan (1976) for the Patriots’ single-season mark among quarterbacks.

Newton completed 5 of 10 passes for 34 yards before being pulled early in the third quarter in favor of Jarrett Stidham, who went 4 of 11 for 44 yards.

Nick Folk missed the extra-point attempt following Newton’s 9-yard touchdown to keep Buffalo’s lead at 10-9 before Allen started his scoring frenzy.

Allen tossed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Smith, then used play action to find Diggs, who scored from 50 yards out to stake the Bills to a 24-9 lead late in the first half.

Allen and Diggs certainly weren’t done, as the wide receiver split a pair of defenders for an 18-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. The duo capped the scoring in the fourth, with Diggs tying his career high for receiving touchdowns in a game, a mark he initially set against the Philadelphia Eagles on Oct. 13, 2019.