Patriots can clinch playoff berth and AFC East title with win over Bills
Buffalo - at New England - Sunday p m EST CBS BetMGM NFL odds Bills by Against the spread Bills - Patriots - - Series record Patriots lead - - Last meeting Patriots won - in Buffalo on Oct Last week Bills beat Bengals - Patriots beat Giants - on Dec Bills offense overall rush pass scoring t Bills defense overall rush pass scoring Patriots offense overall rush pass scoring Patriots defense overall rush pass scoring Turnover differential Bills minus- Patriots plus- Bills athlete to watch QB Josh Allen The eighth-year starter is coming off an outing in which he passed for three touchdowns and scored another rushing while rallying Buffalo from a -point deficit in the final eight minutes Allen has combined for three or more touchdowns seven times this season all wins and is looking to atone for a sloppy two-TD and two-turnover outing in Buffalo s loss to New England in Week Patriots players to watch QB Drake Maye The second-year standout enters this week first in the NFL with a completion percentage and passer rating He s also second in the NFL in yards passing Since three quarterbacks have led the league in yards completion percentage and passer rating in the same season Tom Brady in Kurt Warner in and Ken Anderson in Key matchup Allen and RB James Cook vs Patriots run defense The Patriots have been stingy against the run all season and come in allowing opponents only yards per contest on the ground But the Bills have been great running the ball over their last two games Against Pittsburgh in Week Cook yards led the offense in an outing that saw Buffalo rack up a season-high rushing yards In their win over Cincinnati the following week the Bills had yards rushing including and a touchdown by Allen Key injuries Bills Buffalo is getting healthier with RT Spencer Brown right shoulder expected to return after missing two games DE Joey Bosa hamstring wrist has a chance to return after he resumed practicing on a limited basis after missing one meeting LB Terrel Bernard s status remains uncertain after missing two games with an elbow issue Patriots Rookie LT Will Campbell won t play for the second straight competition after he was placed on injured reserve Nov with a knee injury LG Jared Wilson began the week as a full participant after sitting out last week with an ankle injury RB Terrell Jennings started the week in the concussion protocol Series notes The Patriots wins over the Bills are their highest total against any opponent New England is - all-time at home against Buffalo including - at Gillette Stadium The last time the Bills have been swept by a division foe was in Tom Brady s last season in New England when the Bills lost both games to the Pats Stats and stuff The Patriots will clinch both the AFC East title and a playoff berth with a achievement ending Buffalo s streak of five consecutive division titles Including the playoffs Buffalo is - on the road since and - this season Buffalo is one win shy of its seventh consecutive season with or more victories Bills coach Sean McDermott improved to - moving ahead of John Madden and Mike McCarthy for the most of regular-season wins among NFL coaches in their first nine years McDermott is one win shy of matching Paul Brown while George Seifert leads the list with Allen improved to - this season and - overall when not committing a giveaway The quarterback also extended his NFL record with his th encounter in which he has scored a TD on a pass and a run RB James Cook topped yards from scrimmage for a th time last weekend but also lost a fumble his third of the season The turnover came in the red zone marking the fifth time the Bills have coughed up the ball inside an opponent s this season The previous four giveaways were Allen interceptions TE Dawson Knox had season highs with six catches and a team-leading yards the third greater part of his seven-year career against the Bengals CB Christian Benford scored on a -yard interception return against Cincinnati and a week after scoring on a -yard fumble return He became Buffalo s first athlete to sum on TD returns in consecutive games Buffalo has scored on a return in three straight with Ray Davis -yard kickoff return in a - loss at Houston The Patriots can also clinch a playoff berth with several combinations of tie and losses involving multiple teams New England hasn t won the AFC East since its final in a streak of consecutive titles from to An th consecutive preeminence would be the third-longest single-season streak in unit history The Patriots have had streaks of at least wins in a season two previous times a -game streak in and a -game streak in A conquest would give the Patriots their th -win season in group history Mike Vrabel can become the third head coach since to record a winning streak of or more games in his first season with a crew joining Jim Caldwell consecutive wins with Indianapolis in and Steve Mariucci with San Francisco in New England is the first company in NFL history to win consecutive games with at least points scored and or fewer points allowed in each tournament WR Stefon Diggs leads the group with receptions and receiving yards TE Hunter Henry entered the week second on the company with yards receiving He requirements yards to set a single-season career high LB Harold Landry leads the Patriots with sacks Fantasy tip Look for the ball to go to Diggs a lot in this one He posted a season-high catches for yards in the Patriots accomplishment in Buffalo in Week That was also Diggs season high for catches and yards
