The New England Patriots opened up a losing streak for the first time since September following their Week 16 home loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Patriots had a golden opportunity to move a bit closer to clinching the AFC East, but Bills quarterback Josh Allen had other plans in mind. The fourth-year Bills passer guided the offense to six scoring drives over the course of the contest, which included a trio of passing touchdowns.

In his post-game press conference, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick spotlighted his defense's inability to contain Allen, where he simply gave props to the Bills' efficiency on offense on the day.

“They did a good job, did a better job than we did,” Belichick said.

As it stands, the Bills are now back in first place in the AFC East standings. Still, if the season were to end today, the Patriots would be playing playoff football as they currently hold the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoff picture.

For now, Belichick aims to take it a game at a time with the Patriots’ remaining pair of regular season games.

“Come in here, look at the film, make corrections from today and get ready for Jacksonville,” Belichick said.

The Patriots' final home game of the campaign will come next week in the clash with the Jaguars, which will then be followed up their regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins.