Patriot running back Rhamondre Stevenson scores from 4 yards out.

Pats QB Drake Maye unloads the ball to Stephon Diggs before getting sacked.

Eagles running back Saquon Barkley beats Bronco Alex Singleton for a 47-yard touchdown pass.

There are no more undefeated National Football League teams as the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills fall to the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots.

The surviving members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins — the only Undefeated Super Bowl Championship team in National Football League history — toasted the New England Patriots and Denver Broncos for keeping their legacy intact for another year. The Patriots and Broncos pulled off stunning victories in two difficult places to win.

The Pats were in Buffalo, a place that they have not won in nearly four years; the Broncos played in Philadelphia, the home of the current Super Bowl Champions. The Patriots victory was more impressive, considering it came against a team that had dominated them (and the rest of the American Football Conference Eastern Division) for the last five years straight.

And to beat the Bills in their last regular season game to be played at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park (the Bills will move into a new stadium next NFL season) is something to be remembered.

As far as the game itself, the Pats defense played the key starring role by harassing Bills quarterback Josh Allen, forcing him into multiple bad decisions, and got enough support from the offense, led by former Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs(10 catches for 146 yards and a touchdown), to present first year coach Mike Vrabel with his most significant victory to date.

Trailing 10-6 in the third quarter, the Pats marched 74 yards in five plays, the key play being a 32- yard reception by Diggs. Rhamondre Stevenson (who had an earlier fumble) capped off the drive with a four-yard touchdown to give the Pats a 13-10 lead. The Bills came right back with a strong drive, only to be stopped by an interception by Pats defensive back Marcus Jones on a pass from Allen, who committed one of the cardinal NFL sins of throwing the ball — LATE — down the middle of the field, for the third Bills turnover of the game.

The Patriots would take advantage of Allen’s miscue by driving 90 yards in 11 plays over 5 minutes and 41 seconds of possession time, culminating in a touchdown capped off by a seven-yard scoring run from Stevenson. The Bills answered with a scoring drive culminating in a two-yard touchdown pass from Allen to (slot) receiver Keon Coleman to cut the Pats’ lead to 20-17 with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter. The Bills would tie the contest at 20-20 with 2:21 left in regulation time.

After that, two key defensive plays by Christian Gonzalez, who recently returned from the injured list after missing three games, were key factors in keeping the Bills from scoring a touchdown that would have given Buffalo the lead. The Patriots got a big break on their first offensive play, following the kickoff, when quarterback Drake Maye escaped defensive pressure and the grasp of DaQuon Jones to complete a pass to Diggs for a drive-starting first down.

Another key pass completion to Kayshon Boutte set the stage for the game-winning 52-yard field goal by rookie kicker Andy Borregales with 15 seconds left in regulation time. Mike Vrabel was happy during the postgame interview: “This is a major win for this franchise. We want to build from here.”

The only down note for the Pats was the loss of running back Antonio Gibson for the remainder of the season due to a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament suffered on a kickoff return. It is a tough break for Gibson, a key offensive performer for the Patriots.

The other big game of the day took place in Philadelphia, where the visiting Broncos upset the defending Super Bowl Champion Eagles. The Eagles dominated the action and led by 14 points heading into the late stages of the contest before the Broncos scored 15 straight points, including a twopoint conversion, to take an 18-17 lead in the final minutes. A closeout field goal accounted for the final score of 21-17 in favor of the Broncos. Coach Sean Payton remarked, “Obviously, our biggest win of the season to date.”

The game featured several difficult calls from the officials, including one controversial decision not to call pass interference on Denver safety JL Skinner when he battled Eagle tight end Dallas Goedert for a pass on the second-to-last play of the game. The Eagles fans were angry at the refs. Still, Eagles Coach Nick Seriani felt differently, “Yeah, obviously, I’ve been around this long enough where calls, they balance each other out,” Sirianni said after the game.

“I know sometimes there’s always going to be like, ‘Well, we get screwed in this one.’ I don’t think that way. I got a lot of respect for the referees, and we’ll never put anything on that. Again, those things happen in split-second situations. And then the review, same thing, so a lot of respect for what they have to do in real-time. It’s tough. You just don’t want to put yourself in those situations where it’s coming down to a decision made by somebody else.”

Handing the Eagles their first loss of the season and the gratitude of the remaining living members of the 1972 (17-0 Super Bowl Champion) Miami Dolphins, who broke open another case of champagne. Over the years, I have spoken with members of that magical team, and their collective thinking was: “Every year that our undefeated record stands, people get to remember just how good we were, good enough to be perfect for an entire National Football League season, and top it off with a Super Bowl title. We can stand on that achievement.”

Every member of the 1972 Miami Dolphins can stand on that point.