The Patriots returned home to Gillette Stadium for a rare Saturday night matchup with the rival Buffalo Bills.
With a win, the Patriots would clinch their 11th consecutive AFC East title and remain on track for a first round bye in the playoffs as the two seed.
Check out all the best sights and sounds as they occurred over social media from the game below.
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LET'S GOOO.#BUFvsNE | #GoPats pic.twitter.com/7kJd4T1vfz
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 21, 2019
In the first quarter, the Bills made it known earlier this team was different than past years.
A forced fumble by safety Jordan Poyer gave the Bills an opportunity for points and a lead.
Poyer forced fumble.
Recovered by Hyde.#BUFvsNE | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/oJw9zt68fS— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 21, 2019
A Stephen Hauschka 35 yard field Goal gave the Bills the early road lead.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Patriots' 1st opening-drive turnover since 2017/Week 14 (33 games in between).
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 21, 2019
The Patriots responded, with quarterback Tom Brady finding tight end Matt Lacosse for a 7-3 lead after a quarter.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208506488953692161?s=20
https://twitter.com/giseleofficial/status/1208505845220286465?s=20
Press-box announcement: Matt LaCosse is the 76th different career TD target for Tom Brady, extending Brady's own NFL record.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 21, 2019
The second quarter opened with Brady continuing his hot start, passing aside, Brady also showed off his rare blocking abilities.
Tom Brady is 10 of 10 for 93 yards with a TD. Decent.
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) December 21, 2019
A Nick Folk 36 yard field goal pushed the lead to seven. 10-7 Patriots midway through the second.
That 36-yard FG by Nick Folk caps off a 17-play, 81-yard drive that lasted 8 minutes, 58 seconds. Patriots dig out from their own 1.
While they would have liked a TD, that is one of the best drives of the season for the offense.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 21, 2019
With the clock winding down on the first half, the Bills continued to show their resiliency and creativity.
A big man touchdown for Bills lineman Dion Dawkins tied the game at ten going into halftime.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1208523130240565248?s=20
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Bills got ball w/ 33 seconds left and scored a TD before half; it's just the 3rd time since Bill Belichick took over (since 2000) that a team got the ball with under a minute left in a half and scored a TD against the Patriots (Dolphins/2014 & Dolphins/2018).
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 21, 2019
Rex Burkhead bounced back from his earlier mistake to setup a go-ahead field goal with career highs in receiving yards.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208530444821643264?s=20
A 13-10 Patriots lead following a Nick Folk 51 yard good attempt.
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Rex Burkhead's career-high in receiving entering the night was 68 yards. He's topped that through 3 quarters (72).
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 21, 2019
Once again the Bills battled back on the heels of Josh Allen’s arm.
And that's why they call him SMOKE! #BUFvsNE | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/NpN4sik0Uh
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 21, 2019
A John Brown 53 yard touchdown pass Allen gave the Bills a 17-13 after three quarters.
Needing a spark on offense, who else but Julian Edelman to get it going for the Patriots to open the fourth quarter.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208539565318905856?s=20
The Bills defense held up, and the Patriots had to settle with a Nick Folk 20 Yd Field Goal to cut the deficit to one at 17-16.
With five minutes to go in the game, and the Patriots defense remaining stout, a Brady QB sneak setup the go-ahead winning score.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208543523424940033?s=20
A Rex Burkhead rushing touchdown following by a successful two-point conversion to Julian Edelman gave the Patriots a 24-17 lead.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208542319718391808?s=20
https://twitter.com/BrycenNFL/status/1208571226165264385?s=20
Now trailing by seven, Allen and the Bills had one more opportunity to keep the game alive and force overtime.
https://twitter.com/BuffaloBills/status/1208543885661749253?s=20
A defensive stop inside the 15 gave the Patriots the victory and a division title.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208565671841468416?s=20
THE BEST DEFENSE IN THE NFL DOES IT AGAIN! THE #PATRIOTS WIN THE AFC EAST! pic.twitter.com/Cok0aAUKGk
— Binge Sports (@BingeSports) December 22, 2019
The Patriots move to 12-3 with a 24-17 victory over the Bills.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1208552442318774273?s=20
https://twitter.com/nflnetwork/status/1208555030682296325?s=20
From @ESPNStatsInfo: Tom Brady completed 79% of his passes Saturday, his best in a game since 2017 Week 11. Brady hadn't reached 56% completions in his previous 5 games.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 22, 2019
Tom Brady's final stats: 26 of 33 (78.8%) for 271 yards (8.2 YPA), 1 TD, 0 INTs; passer rating, 111.0.
That 78.8 completion percentage is Brady's best of the season.#Patriots #Bills #NFL
— Sean Glennon (@SeanGlennon) December 22, 2019
Despite the obviously vastly improved @BuffaloBills, the @patriots sweep a season series with Buffalo for the FIFTEENTH time of the Belichick/Brady Era.
— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) December 22, 2019
The Patriots avoid losing consecutive home games for the 1st time since 2008.
Per @EliasSports, the Pats have gone 103 straight home games including playoffs without a 2-game losing streak.
The next closest streak in NFL history is 88 games, done by the Dolphins from 1976-86. pic.twitter.com/Q5o2ydHgXh
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/OnlyInBOS/status/1209186913438990336?s=20
Lawrence Guy placed some elves on the podium for Belichick pic.twitter.com/ctoqDVW2dG
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) December 22, 2019
Happy Holidays from Bill Belichick and the Patriots! pic.twitter.com/6XPQQLM0va
— Meghan Ottolini (@Meghan_Ottolini) December 22, 2019
So this was cool.@mccourtytwins | @curtismartin pic.twitter.com/wGoHHl8Uco
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 22, 2019
So true…appreciate your kindness-Dmac
— Devin&Jason McCourty (@McCourtyTwins) December 22, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6bYPENHtlC/
Christmas came early.
Locker room pics: https://t.co/NmQ0oLQwxr pic.twitter.com/YDk9Oxdheq
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 22, 2019
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6YUH3QlFar/
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https://twitter.com/KVN_03/status/1208589419197939717?s=20
https://twitter.com/mattdolloff/status/1208792704706109441?s=20
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