The Patriots have cost themselves the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

New England needed a loss in Sunday afternoon's Week 18 regular season finale to secure the top pick, but it defeated the Buffalo Bills 23-16 at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots' win, combined with losses by the Titans, Browns and Giants in Week 18, resulted in New England sliding down to the No. 4 overall pick in the upcoming draft.

The main takeaway from this game, aside from the draft implications, was the performance of Patriots rookie quarterback Joe Milton III. He completed 22-of-29 passes for 241 yards with one touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown. It was a fantastic performance by Milton, who made his NFL debut today.

Score: 23-16 Patriots, 1:55 left in fourth quarter

Joey Slye just hit a 50-yard field goal to put the Patriots up seven. The No. 1 pick is slipping further away from New England.

Score: 20-16 Patiots, 5:16 left in fourth quarter

The Patriots are getting the football back leading by four with 5:16 remaining after getting a fourth-down stop on defense. The Bills were unable to convert on fourth-and-5 from the Patriots' 47-yard line.

It's looking more and more likely that the Patriots will win this game. If that happens, they will lose out on the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft and slide down to the No. 4 pick.

Score: 20-16 Patriots, 8:53 left in fourth quarter

The Patriots now lead by four after a 42-yard field goal by Joey Slye. He's now 2-for-2 on field goal attempts today.

The Bills need to score a touchdown to win this game. If they don't, the Patriots will emerge victorious and lose out on the No. 1 pick. If the current scores around the league hold, the Patriots would fall from No. 1 to No. 4 in the first round draft order.

Score: 17-16 Patriots, 10:03 left in fourth quarter

The Patriots have a 100-yard wide receiver for the first time all season. Kayshon Boutte just hauled in a 21-yard pass from Joe Milton III, and he now has seven receptions for 117 yards. It's his first 100-yard game as a pro. Boutte caught a 48-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game.

The last Patriots wideout to tally 100-plus receiving yards in a game was Kendrick Bourne in Week 16 of the 2022 season.

Score: 17-16 Patriots, 1:00 left in third quarter

The Patriots have moved back in front after a 41-yard field goal by kicker Joey Slye. They went 54 yards on 12 plays and took 6:56 off the clock.

New England has the lead because Buffalo kicker Tyler Bass missed the extra point attempt on the Bills' last touchdown. That one point could loom large. Remember, the Patriots will get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft if they lose this game.

The Patriots have announced that safety Marte Mapu has been downgraded to out with a neck injury.

Score: 16-14 Bills, 7:56 left in third quarter

Bills running back James Cook hasn't played much in this game, but he just scored his 16th rushing touchdown of the season, which leads the NFL and ties O.J. Simpson for the most in Bills history. Simpson set that record in 1975.

Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed the extra point.

The Bills taking the lead is huge for the Patriots. If the Patriots lose, they will clinch the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. This is Buffalo's first lead of the game.

Score: 14-10 Patriots, 10:17 left in third quarter

The Patriots just turned the ball over for the first time today, and it will give the Bills great field position at New England's 16-yard line. Rookie quarterback Joe Milton III was credited with the fumble. It looked like he was trying to hand the ball off to Antonio Gibson.

The Patriots are on track to lose the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They lead the Bills at halftime after an excellent performance through two quarters by Joe Milton III. The rookie quarterback has completed 12-of-13 pass attempts for 139 yards and a touchdown. He also has a rushing touchdown.

If the Patriots win, they will not get the No. 1 pick in the draft. The furthest they could fall is the No. 4 pick. A loss to the Bills would clinch the top pick for the Patriots.

The Bills have nothing at stake, and they've played mostly backups in this game so far. Backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky has completed 12-of-15 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.

Team Stats

• Total yards: 166 for Bills, 147 for Patriots
• First downs: 11 for Bills, nine for Patriots
• Third downs: 3-for-6 for Patriots, 2-for-6 for Bills
• Penalties: Four for 29 yards (Patriots), three for 20 yards (Bills)
• Time of possession: 15:20 for Bills, 14:40 for Patriots

Score: 14-10 Patriots, 4:39 left in second quarter

The Bills answered the Patriots' second touchdown with a field goal drive. Bills kicker Tyler Bass made a 49-yard field goal.

The Patriots offense will get the ball back with 4:39 on the clock and three timeouts. The Bills will get the ball to start the second half.

Score: 14-7 Patriots, 9:10 left in second quarter

Patriots rookie quarterback Joe Milton III has played almost perfect so far. He has completed all nine of his pass attempts for 122 yards and a touchdown. His last completion was a 48-yard scoring strike to wideout Kayshon Boutte. The second-year wide receiver was wide open down the field and Milton found him after scrambling away from pressure.

Milton now has two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing).

Score: 7-7, 12:09 left in second quarter

The Bills had first-and-goal at the 1-yard line, and after three unsuccessful attempts to get into the end zone, they finally got in on fourth down when backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky found running back Ray Davis for a touchdown pass.

Fans of both teams were likely happy about that touchdown:

Score: 7-0 Patriots, 1:11 left in first quarter

Looks like Joe Milton has been getting some work done on his ear since coming to the sideline. Wonder if that QB sneak ahead of his touchdown was the source of some discomfort.

Score: 7-0 Patriots, 4:25 left in first quarter

Joe Milton III's first drive as an NFL quarterback was a good one. The rookie completed all six of his pass attempts for 51 yards, and then he finished the drive with a one-yard touchdown run. New England went 2-for-3 on third down and 1-for-1 on fourth down during the possession.

Milton did a backflip to celebrate his first career TD.

Score: 0-0, 9:51 left in first quarter

Joe Milton III's first completed pass in the NFL was a 12-yard strike to wide receiver DeMario Douglas.

Score: 0-0, 10:03 left in first quarter

A bunch of starters have exited the game for the Patriots. If they lose today, they get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Score: 0-0, 11:43 left in first quarter

Joe Milton is on the field to start this next drive. Quick hook for Drake Maye. Smart thing to do.

The Patriots punted on fourth-and-22 after a false start penalty and a third-down sack sent the offense backwards.

Bills linebacker Von Miller earned a $1.5 million incentive in his contract by tallying the sack on third down.

It would appear many Patriots fans are sending a message to the franchise by not showing up for today's Week 18 finale versus the Bills at Gillette Stadium.

Phil Perry joined NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Pregame Live with the latest update on the team's coaching staff and what the future might hold entering a pivotal offseason.

On 98.5 The Sports Hub, Jerod Mayo indicates he’s expecting Joe Milton to play today. Players hinted during the week that this was the expectation. Milton got first-team snaps for the first time all season this week.

Patriots inactives:

• RB JaMycal Hasty
• TE Hunter Henry
• TE Mitchell Wilcox
• G Lester Cotton
• G Sidy Sow
• CB Christian Gonzalez

Bills inactives:

• WR Amari Cooper
• OL Dion Dawkins
• DT Ed Oliver
• DT DaQuan Jones
• DE Greg Rousseau
• LB Terrel Bernard
• CB Taron Johnson
• CB Christian Benford

The Patriots enter Week 18 with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, but it's not yet totally secure.

A loss to the Bills on Sunday at Gillette Stadium would lock in the No. 1 pick for the Patriots. If the Patriots beat the Bills, they could fall to the No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 pick, depending on the results of the Giants and Titans games. New England cannot fall lower than No. 4. The Patriots would get the No. 4 pick if they beat the Bills and the Titans and Giants both win.