Patriots took their best shot of the year. Then disaster struck. | What Happened?

The 3-11 New England Patriots put together their best half of the season, leading 14-7 at halftime against the 11-3 Buffalo Bills.

Then disaster struck.

After three turnovers in quick succession, a team that was quickly turning into the 3-12 Patriots let the game slip away. Meanwhile, the 12-3 Bills came away having gone through little more than a speed bump.

What happened in Sunday’s game in Buffalo? Here are my observations in the immediate aftermath. FINAL SCORE: Bills 24 - Patriots 21

-- Ouch. The Patriots played their best half of the season and immediately let the lead slip away in the second half. Leading 14-7, New England didn’t do much to slow down Buffalo’s opening drive of the half.

-- Double ouch. New England turned it over on their first drive as Rhamondre Stevenson coughed it up.

-- It did not escape notice that Stevenson remained on the sideline for much of the following drive. That was his seventh fumble of the season. He had just six in his first three seasons combined.

-- Triple ouch. Drake Maye threw an ugly interception in the endzone, firing a pass well short of Austin Hooper, who fell down on the play.

-- That’s seven straight games with an interception for Maye. That’s the longest active streak in the NFL.

-- Quadruple ouch. Things completely unraveled when Maye tried to make an easy swing pass to Stevenson in the backfield. Instead, the ball went backwards -- and off of Stevenson’s hands. The Bills bounced on it, recovering in the endzone for an easy defensive touchdown.

-- The turnovers are an issue. However, Maye can make some insane throws. Moving to his right and firing deep over the middle, this kid can fire off some laser beams.

-- If you’re ever sitting there wondering, “Wow, why did Maye throw that away so quickly? Why didn’t he have any time in the pocket?” I would like to point the blame directly at right tackle Demontrey Jacobs, who had a positively terrible game, especially against veteran pass rusher Von Miller.

-- The Patriots had some bad breaks with turnovers. The Bills got some lucky bounced. Buffalo coughed it up twice on the same drive early in the fourth quarter and came up with it both times. Sometimes, that’s what happens with fumbles.

-- That lateral to Stevenson was close. That interception on the pass to Hooper was a weird play. We’ll see whether those are issues New England can iron out with its rookie quarterback.

-- Maye later hit Hooper for a big gain in the fourth quarter. But the rookie had his hands over his head after the tight end took a big shot. It looked like he regretted throwing a high-risk pass with a defender barreling down.

-- New England’s coaching staff has been reluctant to call designed runs for Maye all year. But with a chance for a huge win on the line, Maye took the ball on multiple sneaks and QB keepers. It’s clear that they were going deep into their playbook to try and make this work.

-- Even with the third quarter disaster, the Patriots made it a game in the closing minutes. A bumpy, ugly fourth-quarter drive ended with Maye finding Hunter Henry in the red zone. The offense lost a ton of time in the process. But the unit converted.

-- To be honest, that’s what the Patriots are chasing at this point. Things worked, but they need polishing.

-- There was a world where the Patriots did enough to win this game. It just wasn’t the one where they turned it over three times, including that brutal lateral play.

-- The Patriots have a run defense problem. James Cook’s first three carries went for 75 yards. That’s not a good way to make your dreams come true. Things didn’t get much better.

-- CBS’ Ian Eagle summed it up matter-of-factly after a carry by James Cook. “They can’t stop him.”

-- That’s not what you want to hear from the play-by-play man in a game.