Winners and losers: 5 takeaways from the Bills' narrow Week 16 win over the Patriots

The Buffalo Bills' Week 16 matchup with the New England Patriots had all the makings of a "trap game" situation, and Sean McDermott's squad nearly fell victim to it.

With Josh Allen finally looking human after setting multiple league records over the last few weeks, the Buffalo offense struggled to get things going early.

On top of being unable to move the football, Bills Mafia got a scare in the fourth quarter when their NFL MVP candidate had to have his throwing arm examined on the sidelines. Thankfully, it turned out to be nothing too serious, as Allen had simply taken a helmet to the funny bone, which caused some temporary discomfort but didn't keep him from returning.

The Buffalo defense struggled early as well, allowing the Patriots to score touchdowns on their first two possessions, putting the Bills in an early 14-0 hole.

As the game progressed, though, both units woke up, and the Bills were able to claw their way back into things, ultimately walking away with a 24-21 victory.

With the win, Buffalo improved to 12-3 for the season but still remain two back of the Kansas City Chiefs (14-1) in the race for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, a race that could end Wednesday if the two-time defending Super Bowl champs win their Christmas Day matchup with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Here's a look at some winners and losers from Buffalo's Week 16 victory over New England.

Loser: Josh Allen

lt's difficult to hand Josh Allen the loser designation given everything he's accomplished this season, but he simply didn't look like the NFL MVP front-runner against the Pats.

After accounting for 14 total touchdowns over the last three weeks, Allen was responsible for just one on Sunday, that being his 4-yard TD pass to James Cook early in the third quarter, which tied the game at 14-14.

He failed to find the end zone on the ground for the first time since Week 9 and also threw his first interception since Week 10 on an errant deep ball in the second quarter.

Allen ended his evening having completed just 55.2% of his passes, his lowest clip since Week 5, and threw for only 154 yards, his fourth-lowest total of the season. In addition, his 67.3 passer rating was his third-lowest of the year.

Winner: James Cook

With Allen having a rough day, James Cook stepped up and provided the spark the Buffalo offense needed to get rolling, breaking loose for a 46-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to put the Bills on the scoreboard.

Cook now has four touchdown runs of 40 yards or more on the year, setting a new franchise record for the most such runs in a single season. As mentioned, he also had a 4-yard TD reception in the third quarter to tie the game.

Overall, Cook rushed for 100 yards on just 11 carries, giving him back-to-back 100-yard games for the first time for the first time in his young career, and added another 26 yards on three receptions.

Winner: Tyler Bass

A week after notching the shortest field-goal miss of any NFL kicker this season, Tyler Bass was perfect in all aspects against New England, hitting all three of his extra-point attempts and adding a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter that gave Buffalo a 17-14 lead.

Given the frigid conditions in Orchard Park on Sunday, it was good to see Bass looking comfortable, as he'll likely be facing similar conditions come January, whether at Highmark Stadium or perhaps at Arrowhead.

Loser: The Bills' first-half defense

It's no secret that the Bills' defense has struggled in recent weeks, allowing 44 points and 457 total yards to the Los Angeles Rams and 42 points and 521 total yards to the Detroit Lions.

And early on against the Patriots, it seemed as if Bobby Babich's unit was in for another long day, as Drake Maye led touchdown drives of 58 and 91 yards on New England's first two offensive possessions.

The Bills were able to get a couple of stops to close the half but still allowed the Patriots to gain nearly 250 yards of offense over the first 30 minutes. The second 30, though, were a completely different story.

Winner: Buffalo's second-half defense

As they've done several times this season, the Bills made some adjustments in the locker room and completely dominated the second half, forcing the Patriots into three consecutive turnovers.

First, they forced a Rhamondre Stevenson fumble, which led to the 50-yard field goal from Bass. Then, Maye was intercepted by Cam Lewis in the end zone, thus putting an end to a four-plus-minute drive and preserving the Bills' lead.

On the Pats' third offensive possession of the half, Maye threw an awkward backward pass toward Stevenson, who was being hounded by Greg Rousseau, with the ball ultimately bouncing off his hands and into the end zone. Taron Johnson was right there to fall on it for a touchdown that gave Buffalo a 10-point lead.

The Bills did allow the Patriots to score a late touchdown, as they went into prevent mode, but it proved inconsequential in the end. There still needs to be far more consistency from this unit, but getting those big stops and forcing three straight turnovers had to be good for overall morale.