Bills rally from 21-point deficit to beat Patriots 35-31, stay alive in AFC East race

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are still in good position to win the AFC East. But the Buffalo Bills made sure it would have to happen on another day, against a different opponent.

Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes, and James Cook ran for two TDs and caught another as the Bills rallied from a 21-0 deficit to beat New England 35-31 on Sunday, preventing the Patriots from clinching the division title.

Allen finished 19 of 28 for 193 yards. Cook ran 22 times for 107 yards, and Dawson Knox had two TD catches for the Bills (10-4), who avoided being swept by a division opponent for the first time since 2019 and moved within one game of the Patriots. Buffalo reached 10 wins for the seventh consecutive season.

“No matter what the score is, if it’s in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter, whatever it is, if we’ve got a chance and we’ve got the ball, we feel like we like our chances," Allen said.

The Bills overcame a double-digit deficit for the third time this year after previously rallying in their opener against Baltimore (down 15 points in the fourth quarter) and last week against Cincinnati (down 10).

The Patriots (11-3) lost their first division game of the season and their 10-game win streak ended. They haven’t won the AFC East since 2019.

Quarterback Drake Maye had a pair of touchdown runs, and TreVeyon Henderson ran for scores of 52 and 65 yards. Henderson finished with 14 carries for 148 yards.

Trailing 35-31 with 2:43 to play, the Patriots had fourth-and-5 on their own 22. Maye was flushed out of the pocket and had a pass batted down by Joey Bosa.

The Bills ran out the clock from there.

“We just have to be better when we’re up,” Maye said. “I didn’t feel like we relaxed, just didn’t make enough plays.”

With light snow falling, the temperature at kickoff was 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius). The conditions didn't slow down a Patriots offense that scored on four of its first five possessions to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.

Buffalo punted on all but one of its first-half possessions. But it marched down the field on the first drive of the third quarter, getting a 58-yard kickoff return by Ray Davis and a 20-yard run by Allen to set up Allen’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Knox.

After a three-and-out by New England, the Bills needed just over five minutes and 11 plays to cap a 70-yard drive with Cook's 3-yard TD run.

Maye had a deep pass intercepted by Tre’Davious White on the Patriots’ next drive. The Bills took over on the New England 9 and drove across midfield, where they faced fourth down on the Patriots 45.

Allen kept the drive alive, completing a 37-yard pass to Dalton Kincaid. He then found Knox for a 14-yard TD to put the Bills in front 27-24.

That lead lasted just 14 seconds. On New England's next offensive play, Henderson scampered down the sideline for a 65-yard score.

The Bills struck right back, capping a seven-play, 65-yard drive with Cook's 11-yard touchdown run that made it 35-31 with 6:48 remaining. The series included a third-down pass-interference call on New England's Carlton Davis III.

“That’s how this game goes. A few small plays make the difference,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said.

Bosa returned for Buffalo after a one-game absence with hamstring and wrist injuries. The Bills played without linebacker Terrel Bernard (elbow) for the third straight game, as well top cornerback Christian Benford (toe).

Those absences were evident as the Patriots moved the ball at ease early. Maye used a 30-yard pass to Kayshon Boutte to set up his own 8-yard touchdown run that capped an eight-play, 73-yard opening drive.

Maye's 7-yard scramble for a TD put the Patriots up 14-0.

White is looking ahead to a potential third meeting with the Patriots this season.

“Both of us are playoff teams. So in order to win the Super Bowl, we’ll see them again," he said.

With his two TD catches, Knox has 26 for his career, surpassing Pete Metzelaars for the most by a tight end in Bills history.

Henderson has four TD runs of at least 50 yards this season. He is only the second player in NFL history to have multiple games in a season with two rushing TDs of 50-plus yards, joining Chris Johnson (2009).

The Patriots held a moment of silence for the victims of a mass shooting at Brown University on Saturday that killed two students and wounded nine others. The Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island, is located about 20 miles south of Foxborough.

Bills: DT Jordan Phillips walked off on his own power in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

Patriots: CB Carlton Davis III left in the third quarter with a groin injury but returned.

Bills: Visit Cleveland next Sunday.

Patriots: At Baltimore next Sunday night.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

New England Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins, top, catches a pass over Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White (27) during the first half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

New England Patriots running back Treveyon Henderson (32) runs toward the end zone to score against the Buffalo Bills during the first half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Buffalo Bills outside linebacker Matt Milano (58) reacts after sacking New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) passes against the New England Patriots during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Buffalo Bills running back James Cook III, top, celebrates with offensive tackle Spencer Brown (79) after scoring against the New England Patriots during the second half of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

SYDNEY (AP) — A bystander seen in a widely circulated video disarming a gunman during a deadly shooting rampage at a popular Australian beach is being heralded as a hero who saved lives.

Video footage posted to social media shows a passerby dressed in a white T-shirt and dark pants crouching behind a parked car before sneaking up behind a gunman, grabbing him and wrestling away his firearm. The bystander then points the weapon at the gunman, who falls to the ground.

The intervention drew wide praise, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns called it the “most unbelievable scene.”

“A man walking up to a gunman who had fired on the community and single-handedly disarming him, putting his own life at risk to save the lives of countless other people,” Minns said. “That man is a genuine hero.”

The bystander was identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al Ahmed by 7NEWS Australia, which interviewed his cousin.

He was shot twice, with wounds to his arm and hand and needed to undergo surgery, according to the cousin identified by the news outlet as Mustafa. He said his cousin is a fruit shop owner and father of two from Sydney.

“We hope he will be fine," Mustafa said. "He’s a hero. One hundred percent, he’s a hero.”

New South Wales Police acknowledged the bystander’s actions, but could not confirm his identity. “Inquiries are continuing and we are still endeavoring to identify all involved,” police said in an e-mailed statement.

Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing 16 people and wounded dozens of others. The attack is being called an act of antisemitic terrorism.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular and iconic beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those episodes and Sunday’s shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

Emergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)