Efton Chism made an incredible one-handed touchdown catch Sunday to give the New England Patriots a road upset win over the Buffalo Bills. Not everyone was impressed by the highlight-reel grab.
Chism's 23-yard snag with 1:50 to play in the game gave New England the lead for good. The Patriots went on to a 29-26 victory.
Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was asked about the play after the game. In the interview with WROC-TV that was shared by sports director Thad Brown, Gardner-Johnson didn't have much praise for Chism.
"We're not going to get into no bulletin board material. An elevated guy made a hell of a catch. We probably won't hear from him again. Respectfully," Gardner-Johnson said. "I say that with a lot of confidence because it's like, he didn't put his confidence in his best player or he would have thrown to [Romeo] Doubs or somebody. They won the game, whatever. They ain't do s—t. They ain't do s---t better than us. We've got to play better. They can mark that. We'll be back to see them again end of the year. So they'd better have the same energy. They only put up what, 20-something points. They barely scored. They struggled all game."
Gardner-Johnson's comment about Chism's role wasn't quite accurate. Though Chism has been inactive several times during his first two seasons, he's never been on the practice squad.
"A practice squad player made a hell of a play. That's all I'm going to tell you. You do it again, he probably won't make it again," Gardner-Johnson added.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was asked about the comments Monday during his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show on WEEI.
"For a guy that's been on eight teams in four years, I guess he knows the drill," Vrabel said.
Chism joined the Patriots in 2025 as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Washington University. During his rookie campaign he had three catches for 75 yards and a touchdown in eight games. He was inactive in Week 1 this year, and played sparingly in the next three games.
But when Mack Hollins went down with an injury against Buffalo, Chism stepped up with two critical catches on what proved to be the game-winning drive.
"It means a lot. But I prepare as a starter every week. Regardless if I'm going to be up or down, I can't control that. All I can control is the work I put in every day and every week and continue to try to do the same thing no matter what's going on," Chism said after the game.
