Kelly Loses Grip, Bills Just Lose : Patriots: New England scores 20 points in last eight minutes of 33-24 victory.

The New England Patriots have had plenty of practice coming from behind. For once, they got it right.

Rookie cornerback Maurice Hurst put the Patriots ahead to stay on a 16-yard interception return with 2:49 left as New England scored 20 points in the last eight minutes Sunday to beat the Buffalo Bills, 33-24.

“It’s probably our largest play of the year,” Hurst said. “I thought first about catching it and then when I saw the end zone I just couldn’t believe it.”

The Patriots turned two mistakes by Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly into the decisive points.

Hurst’s touchdown on a pass by Kelly gave the Patriots (4-7) a 30-24 lead and Jason Staurovsky added a clinching 38-yard field goal after New England recovered a fumble by Kelly at the Patriot 31.

Buffalo (7-4) fell into a tie for the AFC East lead with Miami.

Two weeks ago, the Patriots overcame a 24-12 fourth-quarter deficit to take a 26-24 lead over the New York Jets, only to lose, 27-26, on Pat Leahy’s final-play field goal. A week ago, they nearly erased a 28-10 deficit with two touchdowns in the last four minutes but lost to New Orleans, 28-24.

“We know any time we play them we’re in a fight,” Kelly said. “We know they can come back. We know what kind of a quarterback Steve Grogan is.”

Kelly completed 21 of 41 passes for 356 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

After Buffalo took a 24-13 lead on Larry Kinnebrew’s one-yard touchdown run and Thurman Thomas’ 25-yard scoring pass from Kelly, Grogan began the comeback with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Hart Lee Dykes with 7:45 left.

Staurovsky’s 34-yard field goal made it 24-23 with 3:06 left.

New England snapped a two-game losing streak with a season-best 192-yard ground attack, led by John Stephens’ 126 yards in 23 carries.

The Patriots erased a 10-6 halftime deficit on a 15-yard scoring run by rookie Patrick Egu on his first NFL carry.

Buffalo took a 7-0 lead on its first series of the game on Thomas’ three-yard run. Staurovsky kicked field goals of 34 and 24 yards, cutting the lead to 7-6 with 7:04 left in the first half.

The Bills’ Scott Norwood kicked a 31-yard field goal with 35 seconds left in the first half.