Final score, recap, highlights: Buffalo Bills 47, New England Patriots 17

ORCHARD PARK - In case you hadn’t heard, it’s cold in the land of the Buffalo Bills.

But the mere description “cold” doesn’t really do it justice because the conditions for Saturday night’s AFC wild-card showdown against the arch rival New England Patriots are so bitter, so severe, that this game may go down as the second-coldest the Bills have ever played.

The Bills have been playing since 1960, so that covers an awful lot of territory. If the forecast is correct and the temperature at game-time is around five degrees, that would mean the only game played in colder temperatures occurred - interestingly enough - 28 years ago to the day, Jan. 15, 1994 - when Buffalo defeated the Los Angeles Raiders 29-23 in an AFC divisional round playoff game.

Bills report card: Offense has perfect game with 7 straight TDs as Buffalo buries Patriots

Maiorana: Bills, Josh Allen utterly dominate Patriots to turn the tables on Bill Belichick

More: Who would Bills play in next round of the playoffs? It could be Chiefs or Bengals

The good news is that there is almost no wind blowing at Highmark Stadium, so the wind-chill won't come anywhere close to matching the minus-32 on that day against the Raiders. Still, it figures to be below zero and the big question is going to be which team - both are accustomed to wintry weather - will rise above it and move on to the next round?

Sal Maiorana and Ryan Miller will have live updates on what’s happening all night from Highmark Stadium.

Final: Buffalo Bills 47, New England Patriots 17

Buffalo's offense put together a record-breaking performance. The Bills scored touchdowns on their first possessions, the first team in NFL playoff history to do so, and toyed with the New England Patriots.

Josh Allen has more touchdown passes than incompletions. He completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards and a Bills playoff record five touchdowns. Devin Singletary's emergence continued with 81 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 16 carries and Dawson Knox became the first tight end in NFL history with two touchdown catches in the first quarter.

The Bills defense had three sacks and intercepted Mac Jones twice.

Kendrick Bourne catches second TD of game - Bills 47, Patriots 17

New England scored a meaningless touchdown with less than two minutes left. Mac Jones threw his second TD of the game to Kendrick Bourne. The only thing in jeopardy is the Bills scoring on every possession. So far they are seven for seven, which is an NFL postseason record.

Big-man touchdown! Tommy Doyle catches TD pass - Bills 47, Patriots 10

Doyle rules! Offensive tackle Tommy Doyle caught a 1-yard touchdown pass to put the Bills up 47-10.

Buffalo started at the Patriots' 39-yard line after Micah Hyde returned a punt 52 yards. Hyde would have scored had he not tripped over teammate Tyrel Dodson. The Bills were in the end zone three plays later. Dawson Knox made a 38-yard catch to the 1-yard line, Zach Moss ran up the middle for no gain and then Doyle hauled in the touchdown grab.

Josh Allen TD to Gabriel Davis gives Buffalo 40 points - Bills 40, Patriots 10

Six possessions, six touchdowns. Buffalo responded to New England's touchdown with a 77-yard touchdown drive and Josh Allen's fourth touchdown pass. Allen threw a 19-yard TD strike to Gabriel Davis to extend the Bills' lead back to 30.

Allen has completed passes to eight different receivers.

Mac Jones puts together an impressive drive; Bills lead 33-10

Finally, the Patriots found the end zone with 4:12 left in the third quarter as Mac Jones threw a three-yard TD pass to Kendrick Bourne who got himself wide open in the back left corner of the end zone.

Bourne had the biggest play to get the Patriots in position as he caught a 43-yard pass from Jones on a ball that Bills cornerback Dane Jackson just missed breaking up.

The drive covered 75 yards in 11 plays and took 4:36.

Stop me if you’ve read this; Another Bills TD - Bills 33, Patriots 3

The Patriots gave the ball away on the opening possession of the second half as Matt Milano tipped a pass that was picked off by Levi Wallace.

And guess what? The Bills made it five possessions and five touchdowns as Josh Allen fired a 34-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders and even though Tyler Bass had his second extra point blocked, the Bills are now up 33-3.

This time, it took Allen just six plays to cover 58 yards. He is now 16 of 20 for 223 yards with three TD passes.

Bills get another interception to start half - 12:58 2nd quarter

New half, same story. Buffalo cornerback Levi Wallace picked off Mac Jones at the Bills' 42 after the pass was tipped. It's Jones' second interception of the game. This will be Buffalo's best field position of the

Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas pump up crowd at halftime

Halftime: Bills 27, Patriots 3

That was sheer dominance. Buffalo has scored four touchdowns in four possession and has handed New England its largest halftime postseason deficit in team history.

The Bills have drives of 70 yards, 80 yards, 81 yards and 89 yards for 300 yards of total offense in the first half. Josh Allen has two touchdown passes two Dawson Knox and Devin Singletary has two touchdown

Well, there won’t be a shutout; Pats on the board

The Patriots closed the half with a nice drive to Nick Folk’s 44-yard field goal with one second left.

Mac Jones drove them 49 yards in 10 plays, hitting a fourth-and-5 pass to Jakobi Meyers that put the ball at the Bills 26 and set up Folk’s kick.

The Bills hold a 27-3 lead, and the Patriots will get the ball to start the third quarter. It's New England's largest postseason halftime deficit in team history.

Ho hum, another Bills touchdown - Bills 27, Patriots 0

Make that four possessions, four touchdowns for the Bills in what is rapidly becoming one of the most stunning postseason games - for either team - recent memory. The Bills now lead 27-0.

This time, after the defense forced yet another New England punt, Josh Allen trotted out to his own 11-yard-line and promptly threw a 19-yard pass to Isaiah McKenzie and a 45-yard deep shot to Stefon Diggs moving the ball to the Patriots 30 in the blink of an eye.

And then there was a nine-yard Allen run, followed by Devin Singletary’s 16-yard scamper to the end zone. So, 89 yards, four plays, and it took all of 1:31.

Three possessions, three TDs, and Bills are running away - Bills 20, Patriots 20

Josh Allen continued putting on a dazzling clinic of offensive wizardry as he directed Buffalo’s third straight touchdown drive and incredibly, the Bills are now up 20-0 with still 7:20 left to play in the second quarter.

This time, Devin Singletary played the starring role as he carried six times for 28 yards and covered the final three yards to the end zone on a play that survived instant replay. And one of his runs also drew a 15-yard facemask penalty on the Patriots. Tyler Bass' extra point was blocked, though, the first miss he's had all year.

This one was a 10-play, 81-yard drive that chewed up 6:03. The Bills have now had the ball for 16 of the 22 minutes. It simply isn’t possible for the Bills to play any better on offense than they have in the first quarter and a half.

Patriots go three-and-out - 13:23 2nd quarter

Buffalo has thrown the ball around the field and racked up 150 yards in two possession. New England gave Damien Harris three straight carries and punted. Harris had gains of 5, 2 and 2 yards and Jake Bailey punted 47 yards to the Bills' 19-yard line.

Buffalo offense is unstoppable on first two possessions - Bills 14, Patriots 0

Josh Allen is on fire and now the Bills have a 14-0 lead with 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Allen has already completed 9 of 12 passes for 86 yards and run three times for 46 yards, and he threw his second TD pass to Dawson Knox.

This one capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive after safety Micah Hyde made a touchdown-saving end zone interception to kill New England’s first offensive possession.

The Patriots have no answers no matter Allen does. He is making good decisions when he throws, and when he takes off and runs, the Patriots have been unable to prevent big plays. The last one on this drive was an Allen keeper up the middle that converted a third-and-4, and two plays later, Knox caught an 11-yard TD.

Micah Hyde intercepts Mac Jones in end zone - 5:40 1st quarter

New England started its drive at its 14-yard line after Gunner Olszewski decided to bring out the kickoff. Mac Jones completed to Kendrick Bourne for 9 yards and a first down and then Jones converted a third-down with a 30-yard completion to Hunter Henry. Three plays later, Jones scrambled for 16 yards on third down but then was picked off in the end zone. Safety Micah Hyde made a sliding interception on a pass intended for Nelson Agholor

Buffalo takes early lead on Allen legs, arm - Bills 7, Patriots 0

Well, it didn’t take long for Josh Allen to get heated up on this bitterly cold night. The Bills took the opening kickoff and marched down field 70 yards in nine plays with Allen ripping off runs of 26 and 15 yards before throwing a nine-yard TD pass to Dawson Knox.

Allen looked awesome on that drive, in complete control of what he wanted to do, reading the defense correctly, and then on the touchdown, it was simply a remarkable play.

There was no one open, so Allen scrambled out to his right and kept the play alive before lofting one to the back right corner of the end zone where Knox made a tremendous leaping catch while getting both feet in bounds.

That’s quite a start for the Bills.

Josh Allen's legs doing damage on opening drive

Buffalo received the ball first and Isaiah McKenzie returned the opening kickoff to the Bills 30-yard line before fumbling out of bounds. Buffalo gained one first down before Josh Allen scrambled for 26 yards into New England territory. Three plays later Allen converted a third-and-3 with 15 yards on a designed run.

Patriots pass rush has been struggling

In the last four games, three of which they lost, the Patriots have not been able to affect opposing quarterbacks, and that included Josh Allen when the teams met on Dec. 26.

They have only four sacks, and their best pass rusher, Matt Judon, piled up 12.5 in the first 13 games and has none since. In fact, he doesn’t even have a QB hit.

And while they haven’t gotten heat, that has stressed their secondary and they’ve allowed a completion percentage of 62% with Allen completing 30 of 47 (63.8%) for 314 yards and three TDs.

Meanwhile, the Bills’ offensive line is playing the best it has all season. In the last three games, Allen was sacked just once.

“Matt Judon is an exceptional football player, both in Baltimore and now in New England,” center Mitch Morse said. “Kind of fits that New England mold and understands his role, and when he gets his opportunities he takes advantage of them. So for us, we understand it’s going to be a great competitive environment against that whole defensive front and that front seven, especially Judon.”

Key defensive players return for the Patriots

The Patriots will be without starting cornerback Jalen Mills on Saturday night, but they are getting a handful of reinforcements back in the lineup.

Defensive tackle Christian Barmore (knee), safety Kyle Dugger (hand), linebacker Dont’a Hightower (knee) and linebacker Jamie Collins (ankle) are all active for the Pats’ wild card matchup. Dugger, who is donning a wrap on his right hand, and Hightower return after missing the team’s regular-season finale. Barmore and Collins suffered injuries in that game and were limited last week.

Barmore’s game status is the most surprising. The standout rookie was carted off the field in Miami. The MRI results, however, came back clean. That’s a very good thing for the Patriots as the rookie has been one of their best defensive linemen this season.

The Patriots have one surprise inactive player: receiver Kristian Wilkerson.

The Pats elevated Wilkerson from the practice squad on Saturday. He looked outstanding in his first start against Jacksonville, finishing with four receptions, 42 yards and two touchdowns. Wilkerson was active over N’Keal Harry on that day. Tonight, Harry gets the nod along with receivers Jakobi Meyers, Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne.

Also inactive for the Patriots: Isaiah Wynn (ankle), Devin Asiasi, J.J. Taylor, Jarrett Stidham, Carl Davis and Chase Winovich.

With Wynn out, the Patriots started Justin Herron at left tackle. The second-year player replaced Wynn in the lineup last weekend in Miami. Herron started four games this season, mainly filling for Trent Brown at right tackle.

- By Mark Daniels, Providence Journal

Marquez Stevenson among Bills inactives

Once again, the Bills are not going to use rookie Marquez Stevenson in the return game, their trust in him clearly gone, so he is inactive for the game.

It’s uncertain what the Bills will do, but if history holds, Isaiah McKenzie will probably be deep on kickoffs, and Micah Hyde will field the punts.

The other inactives are defensive linemen Efe Obada and Eli Ankou, linebacker Joe Giles-Harris, running back Matt Breida, offensive lineman Bobby Hart and tight end Tommy Sweeney.

Ankou and Giles-Harris were both elevated from the practice squad Saturday, but their services will not be required.

Bills are remarkably healthy for wild-card game

I’m not sure how often this has happened before in the NFL playoffs, but the Bills had an injury report that was completely clean. No players carried a game night designation, meaning everyone the Bills deem inactive will be healthy scratches.

This is not the case for the Patriots. Left tackle Isaiah Wynn, though listed as questionable on New England’s lengthy injury report, has already been ruled out. In his place the Patriots might start Justin Herron, the player who took over when Wynn got hurt last week in Miami.

Or, they could switch Trent Brown from right to left and start Michael Onwenu at right tackle. Brown, who has played left tackle in the past, hasn’t been there this year.

Also already ruled out for New England is cornerback Jalen Mills because of COVID-19. Like Wynn, that costs the Patriots are good player, and the Patriots enter the game a little thin at corner which could be problematic against the Bills’ passing game.

Mills has been outstanding this year. Per Pro Football Focus, Mills has allowed just 35 receptions on 60 targets this season (58.3%). In the two games against Buffalo, Josh Allen targeted him seven times and completed only three for 34 yards.

In all, the Patriots had 13 players as questionable, though it seems likely that everyone else besides Wynn and Mills will play. The Patriots, after all, typically overload their injury report.

How to watch, listen to Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots game

When: 8:15 p.m. Saturday

Where: Highmark Stadium

TV: CBS (Ian Eagle, Charles Davis, Evan Washburn)

Satellite radio: Sirius 81, XM 227

Radio: 96.5 FM/950 AM

Series: Patriots lead 77-46-1 counting playoffs

Tipico betting line: Bills -4.5

Talking points

► Patriots coach Bill Belichick on playing the Bills for a third time: “I’d say what’s a little bit different about this one is just how quickly we’ve played Buffalo with a couple of weeks in between each of the games. We know each other well. I’m sure there’ll be wrinkles, I’m sure there’ll be things that both teams will do that try to keep the other team off balance or to give them a little bit of a different look. I think that’s just part of it, whether it’s three games or you play a team twice every year for multiple years.”

► Patriots QB Mac Jones on the Bills: “I think we’re very familiar with their players and they are very familiar with us. We just have to go there and trust the coaches and our game plan and just execute it a little better than we have in the past games. That’s what it comes down to, execution, and obviously like I said, the teams know each other really well and we have the most respect for the Bills.”

► Patriots LB Kyle Van Noy: “It’s 0-0 to playoff game. The Bills won the division. They’re playing at home. We gotta go up there and win. We have to prepare like this week’s the last week. I mean, it’s all on the line. We have to go in there and be on the top of our game. It hasn’t been working, but what better week to start than this week against a really good team on the road? I’m excited for the challenge, I’m excited to play in a playoff game for all the marbles, and then move on to work another week and get another opportunity.”

NFL rankings

Bills Patriots

Total offense: 381.9 yards (5th); 353.4 (15th)

Rush offense: 129.9 yards (6th); 126.5 (8th)

Pass offense: 252.0 yards (9th); 226.9 (14th)

Points scored: 28.4 (3rd); 27.2 (6th)

Total defense: 272.8 yards (1st); 310.8 (4th)

Rush defense: 109.8 yards (13th); 123.7 (22nd)

Pass defense: 163.0 yards (1st); 187.1 (2nd)

Points allowed: 17.0 (1st); 17.8 (2nd)

Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots individual leaders

Rushing

Bills: Devin Singletary 188 carries, 870 yards; Josh Allen 122-763; Zack Moss 96-345; Matt Breida 26-125; Isaiah McKenzie 9-47; Emmanuel Sanders 2-31; Mitchell Trubisky 13-24.

Patriots: Damien Harris 202-929; Rhamondre Stevenson 133-606; Brandon Bolden 44-226; Mac Jones 44-129; Kendrick Bourne 12-125; Jonnu Smith 9-40; James White 10-38; J.J. Taylor 19-37.

Passing

Bills: Josh Allen 409 of 646, 4,407 yards, 36 TDs,15 interceptions.

Patriots: Mac Jones 352 of 521, 3,801 yards, 22 TDs, 13 interceptions.

Receiving

Bills: Stefon Diggs 103 catches, 1,225 yards; Cole Beasley 82-693; Dawson Knox 49-587; Emmanuel Sanders 42-626; Devin Singletary 40-228; Gabriel Davis 35-549; Zack Moss 23-197; Isaiah McKenzie 20-178; Tommy Sweeney 9-44; Matt Breida 7-72.

Patriots: Jakobi Meyers 83-866; Kendrick Bourne 55-800; Hunter Henry 50-603; Brandon Bolden 41-405; Nelson Agholor 37-473; Jonnu Smith 28-294; Damien Harris 18-132; Rhamondre Stevenson 14-123; N’Keal Harry 12-184; James White 12-94.

2021 Buffalo Bills schedule

9/12 vs. Steelers, L 16-23

9/19 at Dolphins, W 35-0

9/26 vs. Washington, W 43-21

10/3 vs. Texans, W 40-0

10/10 at Chiefs, W 38-20

10/18 at Titans, L 31-34

10/24 Bye week

10/31 vs. Dolphins, W 26-11

11/7 at Jaguars, L 6-9

11/14 at Jets, W 45-17

11/21 vs. Colts, L 15-41

11/25 at Saints, W 31-6

12/6 vs. Patriots, L 10-14

12/12 at Buccaneers, L 27-33 OT

12/19 vs. Panthers, W 31-14

12/26 at Patriots, W 33-21

1/2 vs. Falcons, W 29-15

1/9 vs. Jets, 1 p.m.

1/15 vs. Patriots. 8:15 p.m.

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills 47, New England Patriots 17: Final score, recap, highlights