What They Re Saying Nationally About Patriots Upset Over Bills

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 4:11 AM

what they re saying nationally about patriots upset over bills

The Patriots shocked the NFL world when they upset the Buffalo Bills in primetime on Sunday with a 23-20 win. Stefon Diggs torched his former team with 10 catches for 146 yards, Drake Maye set up the game-winning drive that ended with a 52-yard Andy Borregales field goal and the Patriots handed the Bills... It was a statement win for the Patriots, who now go into Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints with a slew of momentum on their side. Here’s what those around the NFL are saying about New England’s upset. “Patriots QB Drake Maye said the game would be a “great gauge and checkpoint to see what we’ve got and what we can handle” -- and they gave the five-time AFC East champs all... Given this is just the fifth game of coach Mike Vrabel’s tenure, it reflects progress for his program.

At the same time, the Bills were uncharacteristically sloppy -- some of which was caused by the Patriots, but it was also self-inflicted." New England Patriots fans are over the moon after beating the Buffalo Bills 23-20 on the road during Sunday night. The Patriots entered the matchup with a decent 2-2 record to start the 2025 NFL season. They aspire for playoff contention but to do that, they needed to get past a division rival in the Bills. With a 52-yard field goal from Andy Borregales, they took the final lead of the night to get the job done. Borregales from 52 for the lead with 15 seconds to go!

NEvsBUF on NBC Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/nyJzbGSgZg Fans came in droves to react to the win, celebrating the fact they beat one of the best teams in the NFL. Here are some of their reactions. The New England Patriots stormed into Orchard Park and defeated the Buffalo Bills in a thrilling Sunday Night Football game. A great team performance all around led to the Patriots earning a 23-20 upset victory over the Bills on the road. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was sensational in the clutch by leading the team on a game-winning drive in primetime.

He finished the game by going 22-of-30 passing for 273 yards. Most of his passes were caught by veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who had a tremendous night in his return to Buffalo. He hauled in a team-high 10 receptions for 146 yards. It was the second straight game that he went over the 100-yard receiving mark. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson had a fumble early in the game, but he responded by punching two runs into the end zone for the Patriots. On the defensive side of the ball, New England held the high-powered Bills offense mostly in check.

Quarterback Josh Allen struggled to find explosive plays, and Bills running back James Cook was held to only 49 rushing yards. Patriots fans were understandably hyped after the game, and we have compiled some of the best social media reactions. October 6, 2025 / 1:24 AM EDT / CBS Boston The New England Patriots sent a message to the NFL on national television Sunday night. A few messages, actually. In upsetting the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium, defeating the last undefeated team in the league, the Patriots put the rest of the NFL on notice.

Drake Maye had his breakout game for the Sunday Night Football crowd, showing the world that he has indeed arrived. Stefon Diggs showed everyone he still has what it takes to be a No. 1 receiver in the league. Mike Vrabel's defense showed it's going to continue to make plays in key moments, and New England's special teams showed it will keep making an impact as well. The New England Patriots are now 3-2 after becoming the first team to beat the Bills, 23-20, this season. It wasn't perfect, as the Bills came back and made Maye and company make plays in the final minutes of the contest.

But the Patriots made the plays they had to in those key and clutch moments. They did so on the road, against last year's reigning MVP and a team with a Super Bowl run on its mind. Sunday night is the biggest win for the Patriots since the days of Tom Brady. Don't look now, but the New England Patriots are on the rise. Drake Maye and Co. put the nation on notice as they went into Highmark Stadium under the "Sunday Night Football" lights and pulled off an upset win over the Buffalo Bills.

This wasn't your run-of-the-mill one-off upset, either. This was the biggest victory of the post-Tom Brady era for the Patriots, and validation that this new regime, led by Maye and first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, has the arrow pointing up. And Sunday's statement win could prove to be the tip of the iceberg. New England exits Week 5 at 3-2 on the season, and the road ahead sets the franchise up to go on a significant run. The Patriots possess the easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NFL, with their opponents possessing a combined win percentage of .305. The next easiest schedule (belonging to the Denver Broncos) has an opponents combined win percentage of .411.

Specifically, the next month is a window where the winning should continue, starting in Week 6, where they travel to New Orleans to face the Saints as a 3.5-point favorite. After that, they face the Tennessee Titans on the road before back-to-back home games against the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons. Those opponents currently have a combined record of 5-14 through Week 5. New England will likely be favored in every game over the next month, meaning it could be looking at a 7-2 record entering Week 10. That's a remarkable development considering that it would nearly double the Patriots' win total from each of the previous two seasons (New England went 4-13 in both 2023 and 2024). And that's not accounting for matchups later in the season against more sub-.500 teams, including two against the currently winless New York Jets.

At FanDuel Sportsbook, New England is -150 to record 10 or more wins and -210 to reach the playoffs, so the odds are telling us that this trajectory is expected to slow down. Meanwhile, if the Patriots meet those expectations, Mike Vrabel's current odds of +1000 to win Coach of the Year have tremendous value. Already, this hype train has steamed out of the station thanks to this high-profile win over Buffalo, but the schedule is set up in such a way that the Patriots could be the hottest... In his return to Buffalo, a motivated Stefon Diggs delivered the most prolific performance from a Patriots wideout in years. The former Buffalo Bill caught 10 passes for 146 yards, moving the chains eight times in a shocking 23-20 upset victory for New England. The 146 yards are the most for any Patriots receiver since DeVante Parker (156) in 2022.

The highlight of Diggs’ evening was a scramble-drill 32-yard catch. With Maye rolling to his right, Diggs improvised down the field, shaking cornerback Tre’Davious White and tapping two feet in bounds after the quarterback delivered a laser. Diggs spent four year in Buffalo (2020-23), making the Pro Bowl every season. Prior to the game, Diggs told the NBC broadcast that he’d been looking forward to coming back to Highmark Stadium. “(Feeling) nostalgic,” Diggs said. “It’s been a long time.

Obviously I’ve got a lot of love and respect for this team and fanbase. I’m excited. I’m ready. I waited all week for it.” ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The Patriots had their opportunities.

In the first half, the defense had two turnovers from a talented Josh Allen-led offense. The Bills were also called for eight penalties compared to two for the Patriots in those first two frames. The Patriots’ offense was twice within scoring distance, at one point just 11 yards and later even 1 yard from the end zone. Drake Maye’s group even got to midfield five times in that half. Despite all that, Mike Vrabel’s team led 6-3 at the half. Inside a loud Highmark Stadium, the Patriots had a chance to make an even louder statement against the reigning MVP and the AFC East kings.

This was the type of matchup where a typical Patriots team would blow it - and the signs were there with several missed opportunities in the first half. The Jerod Mayo era started with a bang for the New England Patriots as they pulled off the upset of the weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals. Thanks to a terrific defensive showing, a steady performance from Jacoby Brissett and strong running from Rhamondre Stevenson, New England played consistent, mistake-free football en route to a huge win to start the season. The win caught much of the NFL by surprise. Here’s how media across the country is reacting to the Patriots starting out with a huge win over Joe Burrow and the Bengals: “Better than Bill Belichick?

OK, OK … but New England Patriots rookie HC Jerod Mayo, 38, who earned a ring with the Pats while playing for BB in 2014, does have the better winning percentage – likely for... “Yes, the Patriots are 1-0. That’s the most important aspect to New England’s victory over the Bengals, except that it isn’t. Mayo’s first victory as head coach may turn out to pay long-term dividends for the Patriots in that it has taken the organization exactly 60 minutes of football to distance itself from the looming...

What They Re Saying Nationally About Patriots Upset Over Bills

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