By Chad Graff, Joe Buscaglia and Amos Morale III

A Patriots rookie quarterback guided New England to a Week 18 win, but it wasn’t Drake Maye. And the win came at a cost.

Joe Milton scored two touchdowns after relieving a healthy Maye in the first quarter to push the Patriots to a 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. As a result, though, the Patriots will hold pick No. 4 in the 2025 NFL Draft. A loss to the Bills would’ve given New England the No. 1 pick.

Milton posted a 111.4 passer rating while throwing for 241 yards and a touchdown. The 2024 sixth-round pick also added a rushing touchdown. Milton linked up with Kayshon Boutte seven times for 117 yards and a TD.

Joe Milton is balling in his debut! 48-yard TD pass to Boutte!

📺: #BUFvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
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— NFL (@NFL) January 5, 2025

The Bills (13-4) rested many of their starters as they had secured the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs before their Week 18 game.

What’s next for New England

All eyes turn now to Robert Kraft. For the second straight year, the Patriots owner has a massive decision to make.

A year ago, he parted with Bill Belichick a year earlier than planned and pivoted to his hand-picked successor, Jerod Mayo.

But Mayo’s first year was a disaster. The Patriots finished 4-13. They were bad on the field and he struggled with messaging, having to walk back several statements he made to the media.

So the decision for Kraft is this: Does he stick with Mayo for another year hoping that a better roster yields a better performance with him, while making some tweaks to the rest of the coaching staff? Or will he move onto a third coach in three years for a franchise that once exuded stability?

Kraft hasn’t made any public remarks on the topic, which has been taken by some in the building as a sign change is coming. And there’s one other presence that complicates things … — Chad Graff, Patriots beat writer

If Mayo is out, all eyes turn to Vrabel

The fact that Mike Vrabel is a coaching free agent makes Kraft’s decision more complicated. Kraft really likes Mayo. He wants him to succeed. And if one of the two hottest names in the coaching search weren’t a Patriots Hall of Famer, Mayo’s seat probably wouldn’t be quite this scalding hot.

But Kraft has a good relationship with Vrabel, and Vrabel is a far more established coach than Mayo.

So can Kraft really turn down someone he’s close with, someone who’s proven to be a good NFL coach, just to give Mayo another chance with a better roster?

It’s worth keeping in mind that any time Kraft has made a coaching change, he’s been purposeful in knowing the direction he wanted to go with the next coach. That might be the case again this time with Vrabel.

And for Vrabel, the Patriots could offer the two things he told our Zack Rosenblatt he’s looking for — a young quarterback he can win with (Maye) and an ownership group with whom he communicates well. — Graff

Win comes at a cost

In a season where just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Patriots, they capped it off by costing themselves the No. 1 pick in April’s draft.

A loss to the Bills would’ve secured the top pick for the Patriots, and they played with that in mind. They sat Maye and their best offensive lineman, Mike Onwenu, for all but the first drive. They then took more starters out at halftime.

Despite playing mostly backups, the Patriots still found a way to win. They haven’t had the No. 1 pick since taking Drew Bledsoe with the top selection in 1993, and now that streak continues.

The Patriots have so many needs (pretty much everything except quarterback and running back) that the No. 1 pick would’ve been a nice boost for them, potentially letting them trade back to accumulate more high picks.

Instead, a win in a meaningless game that felt more befitting of the preseason cost the Patriots the No. 1 pick. — Graff

Mission accomplished for Bills

The Bills had a few side goals in mind, but the primary goal was clear. Regardless of the outcome, get through Week 18 against the Patriots without suffering any injuries to their core starters. The Bills did just that, shielding most of their top-tier talent from even taking snaps. Josh Allen took one snap to continue his consecutive start streak at 115 and then went to the sideline to let backup Mitchell Trubisky take over.

The only starters that played more than one play were running back James Cook, wide receiver Keon Coleman, defensive end A.J. Epenesa, cornerback Rasul Douglas, safety Taylor Rapp and safety Damar Hamlin. The Bills will now head to their AFC wild-card matchup with full health across their starting lineup. — Joe Buscaglia, Bills beat writer

Shakeup at safety?

After taking all game to observe their top three safeties, the Bills now have an interesting decision to make for the postseason. Taylor Rapp is secure as one of the two starters, but Bills coach Sean McDermott left the door open to rookie Cole Bishop potentially having an expanded role on defense, which could come at the expense of Hamlin.

Hamlin played the entire game against New England, with Bishop entering the game in the second half. Hamlin has been the starter all season but missed the three games leading up to Week 18 due to an injury. In his time away, Bishop started and made an impression on McDermott and the coaching staff. Bishop is the future at the position, but now the Bills will have to see if his upside can counteract some of his first-year volatility enough to have him start over Hamlin in the playoffs. — Buscaglia

Required reading

(Photo: Rich Gagnon / Getty Images)