Patriots Put Some Boom in Their Doom : AFC: New England scores 22 points in fourth quarter to defeat Buffalo, 35-25, and keep slim playoff hopes alive.

Every time it appears the New England Patriots are through for the season, they give people a reason to wonder why they haven’t been winning every week.

New England scored 15 points in the final 1:23 and came from behind to beat the Buffalo Bills, 35-25, on Sunday. The Patriots further baffled those who first picked them to win the division, then counted them out.

“You never know what you’re going to get with this team,” said Drew Bledsoe, who threw three touchdown passes to Ben Coates. “When we run the ball, we win. When we don’t, we have trouble. We have to have consistency.”

New England established a running game and blew a lead before scoring 22 points in the fourth quarter for the victory. The Patriots swept the Bills this season and stopped Buffalo’s three-game winning streak.

The winning score came when Bledsoe hit Coates with a 15-yard pass over the middle to cap an 80-yard drive with 1:23 left. Chris Slade put the game away when he returned an interception forced by linebacker Willie McGinest 27 yards for a touchdown with 57 seconds remaining.

New England (5-7) has won three of four after falling to 2-6. Last season, the Patriots won their final seven games to make the playoffs. They’ll need a similar finish to have a shot at getting there again.

“Everyone had written us off already,” Patriot linebacker Vincent Brown said. “We still have some games to play. This was a big win for us. We have to put it behind us and get ready for the next game.”

Rookie Curtis Martin rushed for 148 yards in 27 carries and surpassed 1,000 yards for the season. Bledsoe completed 21 of 45 passes for 263 yards.

Buffalo blew a 12-point lead in the game and a chance to take a commanding lead in the AFC East. The Bills (8-4) lead Indianapolis by one game, plus a tiebreaker in the division. They have a two-game lead over Miami.

The Bills let a 25-13 lead slip away after Thurman Thomas scored from the one-yard line on the Bills’ first drive of the second quarter. Buffalo, which has won six games by six points or less, watched its offense stall repeatedly for the rest of the game.

“We just don’t seem to have the killer instinct that we need to put games away,” said Bill quarterback Jim Kelly, who completed 14 of 29 passes for 181 yards and three interceptions. “You can’t come down having these games end like that.”

Coates brought New England to within 25-20 when he caught a four-yard pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, and the Bill defense was unable to stop New England on its final drive.

Martin gained six yards on third-and-two at the Buffalo 37, and Bledsoe connected with Vincent Brisby on 16-yard pass play to set up the winning score.

“If we can acquire a maturity that doesn’t allow those valleys, then we might have a solid football team,” Patriot Coach Bill Parcells said. “I think we’re capable of playing competitive football with anybody in this conference. Today is a good example.”

New England, which has been inconsistent most of the season, had its running game going in the first half but still found itself in a 19-10 hole after Bennett intercepted Bledsoe and ran 69 yards for a touchdown with 33 seconds left in the second quarter.