Game week thread - Bills at Patriots*

[Brit]

13 hours ago, Kelly to Allen said:

 

I thought buffalo did everything right last year for the 1 seed.

 

The chiefs luck last year was truly bizarre 

 

I mean even before the AFC championship Taron Johnson tears his labrum on the last series for the ravens but plays through it. Rapp gets hurt vs Baltimore, Benford gets hurt on the 1st series 

 

All of a sudden KC is playing a secondary that lost 2 starters and another is playing hurt....

 

It's a cruel joke 

Thing is, this has been the story of the Bills defence the last few seasons come the playoffs. Sometimes the DE is hobbled, or the linebackers, or the defensive backfield. Or multiples thereof. 

[newcam2012]

53 minutes ago, billsbackto81 said:

How many things had to go wrong for the Bills in order for that to happen to only win by 3? I won't deny they are up and coming, but I'm not convinced they are an elite team either. 

 

Please, someone tell me that douche Hochuli and his crew aren't doing this game again!

Is being elite the criteria we are going by? You think the Bills are elite? What team in the AFC is elite? 

 

I'm not going to minimize the Patriots win vs the Bills or any other team. Your same argument can be applied to the Bills or any other team. When you play poorly it's hard to win. There's no guarantee that a team will play well or poorly. 

[SoonerBillsFan]

2 hours ago, boyst said:

The drama of playing it out as NE (or Buffalo) getting that 1 seed is critical.

 

Because if that happens more than likely KC beats Denver meaning Denver gets the #2 seed and may face #7 KC. The Chargers have no chance to win out and the Colts are done.

 

The drama of the NFL storyline script is going to put KC @ Denver and KC winning to go to NE* for the divisional. The bottom half is going to be Buffalo over Pittsburgh with the Jaguars over the Texans - causing Buffalo to go to Jax - beat Jax than Bills @ Patriots for a great storyline, 

NFL script also has it cold and snowing for the AFCC with the Bills/Patriots - and Josh Allen willing his team to victory.

 

the glitz and glamour of the Super Bowl will be the Rams over the Bills.

And the academy award for best script goes to...

 

@boyst

[Blank Stare]

4 hours ago, PatsFanNH said:

Funny thing is being the 5 seed COULD be better than the 2 seed.. I rather face Pitt or Baltimore over the Texans.

Agreed on Pitt. Baltimore and Houston on the road are a bit trickier. Neither scare me, but we don’t match up great with either. 

[appoo]

If the Bills play houston again, I think Joe Brady will have learned his lesson on islanding his tackles as often as he did

[Gregg]

6 minutes ago, appoo said:

If the Bills play houston again, I think Joe Brady will have learned his lesson on islanding his tackles as often as he did

 

If they do play them in the playoffs then I hope, it's in OP. For whatever reason the Bills can't seem to win in Houston.

[appoo]

2 minutes ago, Gregg said:

 

If they do play them in the playoffs then I hope, it's in OP. For whatever reason the Bills can't seem to win in Houston.

That indoor turf is good for pass rushers who rely on explosiveness and fast twitch.  Playing OP in the cold will slightly slow them down, which is hugely helpful in PassPro

 

(pass rushers are athletic monsters. Anything to slow them down is helpful)

[Gregg]

1 minute ago, appoo said:

That indoor turf is good for pass rushers who rely on explosiveness and fast twitch.  Playing OP in the cold will slightly slow them down, which is hugely helpful in PassPro

 

(pass rushers are athletic monsters. Anything to slow them down is helpful)

 

It might slow them down some but as they say, "DEFENSE TRAVELS". The Texans D would still perform well in Buffalo, but I could see the Texans offense and Stroud struggling if we get one of those cold, windy, and snowy January days in OP. We know Josh can play well in the snow. Can CJ? That would be where the Bills have an advantage over them.

[Warriorspikes51]

13 minutes ago, appoo said:

If the Bills play houston again, I think Joe Brady will have learned his lesson on islanding his tackles as often as he did

 

Heavy the entire game...just like at PIT. Watt did nothing 

Edited 2 hours ago by Warriorspikes51

[BuffaloBill]

On 12/8/2025 at 10:14 AM, ScottishBills said:

Getting TJ Sanders and Javon Solomon steaming in off the edges to take down Drake Maye mercilessly over and over again 🤬🤬🔥🔥💪💪

 

While maybe TJ Sanders will improve with time Javon Solomon has shown no ability to get to the QB. The guy is a cut candidate next year for sure.

[Warriorspikes51]

our best hope on Defense is to crowd the line and try to confuse Maye as to who the rushers are

Edited 1 hour ago by Warriorspikes51

[PatsFanNH]

2 hours ago, juno999 said:

Bills had 3 turnovers and 9 penalties. Also 3 drives out of 9 started inside their own 15. Coleman fumbled at the 10 which led to 3 points for NE.

 

If Bills play smart and come with their “A”  game, I believe they win. 

Just a couple points I wanted make. First turning the ball over has been a real problem for the Bills since that game and something they will have to rectify before the playoffs because do that in most playoff games and you’re  done. Second it was in YOUR house, with zero pressure at all Pats were 2-2 and the bill 4-0 and looking like an unstoppable force.  Yet as the game progressed it was the veteran  playoff team that made the unforced errors.. so the Pats earned that W it wasn’t like the wind game where the weather changed things it was the Bills who made the mistakes and not the Pats that was the deciding factor. 

[No_Matter_What]

14 hours ago, HappyDays said:

 

I'll be honest, the schedule argument really doesn't do it for me. Ripping off 10 wins in a row is incredibly impressive no matter who you play during the run. It's not like the Pats have a ton of talent across their roster either. They are winning these games with elite coaching and fundamentals, and damn good QB play to boot. The Bills have never been the #1 seed because they've failed to ever have a run like that and they find a way to lose to a couple clearly inferior opponents every year. So it's a bit rich to act like it is some hollow feat when we haven't done it once in six seasons with an all-time QB in his prime.

 

By the way I think we are a clearly better team than New England and I expect us to win this week, I just can't bring myself to downplay what Vrabel has them doing this year. It's an amazing stretch of games for a young team, full stop.

I agree with the overall sentiment of your post (Pats are well coached, Maye is good and their run is impressive), but bolded is not true.

 

We had such run in 2020. Record 13-3. Lost only to the Chiefs, 11-5 Titans on road under some brutal circumstances and 8-8 Cardinals. We were not No. 1 seed because of the Chiefs dynasty with 14-2 record.

 

2022 is also arguable, since in this case we lost to two inferior opponents (Dolphins and Jets), but we still ended up 13-3 and were not No. 1 seed because of the Chiefs dynasty with 14-3 record (and unfinished Bengals game).

 

We also had such run in 2024. We had 13-3 record before W18 game vs Patriots, losing only to top teams on the road - Ravens, Texans and Rams. Again, we were not No. 1 seed because the Chiefs dynasty decided to win every one score game in the luckiest possible fashion and ended up with 15-2 record.

 

So no. The only reason we have never been No. 1 seed is the freaking Mordor in Kansas.

 

In fact, the Bills not having single No. 1 seed in last 6 years with their overall record is similar statistical anomaly as the Chargers being out of the playoffs despite being no. 1 offense and no. 1 defense a couple years ago.

[juno999]

8 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

Just a couple points I wanted make. First turning the ball over has been a real problem for the Bills since that game and something they will have to rectify before the playoffs because do that in most playoff games and you’re  done. Second it was in YOUR house, with zero pressure at all Pats were 2-2 and the bill 4-0 and looking like an unstoppable force.  Yet as the game progressed it was the veteran  playoff team that made the unforced errors.. so the Pats earned that W it wasn’t like the wind game where the weather changed things it was the Bills who made the mistakes and not the Pats that was the deciding factor. 

Bills made mistakes. Exactly. Allen fumbled a fake with Knox. Coleman fumbled at the 10. Plus 9 penalties. That’s not an “A” game. No mention of Pats not earning the win. That was not the Bills best game. 

[RyanC883]

On 12/8/2025 at 2:24 AM, Buffalo Ballin said:

We can't run the ball against these Patriots. They'll sniff that out every time. They're number one in run defense.

 

However, once we get within goal line, Patriots defense becomes the worst in the NFL for some odd reason. When the pressure is on, they crumble.

 

Their pass defense is not that good. They're mid in that area (ranked 21st or so). Josh Allen's arm has to get the job done.

whose he gonna throw it to?  How are Pars against TE’s.  We have no WR.  Glad we didn’t trade for Jacobi Meyers. 

15 minutes ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

our best hope on Defense is to crowd the line and try to confuse Maye as to who the rushers are

and play 10 yards off the WR’s. 😜

[HappyDays]

20 minutes ago, No_Matter_What said:

I agree with the overall sentiment of your post (Pats are well coached, Maye is good and their run is impressive), but bolded is not true.

 

We had such run in 2020. Record 13-3. Lost only to the Chiefs, 11-5 Titans on road under some brutal circumstances and 8-8 Cardinals. We were not No. 1 seed because of the Chiefs dynasty with 14-2 record.

 

2022 is also arguable, since in this case we lost to two inferior opponents (Dolphins and Jets), but we still ended up 13-3 and were not No. 1 seed because of the Chiefs dynasty with 14-3 record (and unfinished Bengals game).

 

We also had such run in 2024. We had 13-3 record before W18 game vs Patriots, losing only to top teams on the road - Ravens, Texans and Rams. Again, we were not No. 1 seed because the Chiefs dynasty decided to win every one score game in the luckiest possible fashion and ended up with 15-2 record.

 

So no. The only reason we have never been No. 1 seed is the freaking Mordor in Kansas.

 

In fact, the Bills not having single No. 1 seed in last 6 years with their overall record is similar statistical anomaly as the Chargers being out of the playoffs despite being no. 1 offense and no. 1 defense a couple years ago.

 

I'm not going to nitpick individual games from the past five years. This year in particular is glaring though. We're downplaying the Pats winning 10 games in a row, meanwhile we lost games to the Falcons and Dolphins. If we had gone on a 10 win streak which was absolutely doable from the stretch of Baltimore to Tampa Bay, would we be downplaying it because we didn't beat any powerhouse along the way? Is there even a powerhouse to beat in the AFC this year? We were gifted with an easy schedule and we blew it. Pats were gifted with an easy schedule and have taken full advantage. In that context criticizing the opponents they've beaten just falls totally flat for me, especially when we were one of those opponents.

 

Edited 1 hour ago by HappyDays

[Fleezoid]

3 hours ago, boyst said:

The drama of playing it out as NE (or Buffalo) getting that 1 seed is critical.

 

Because if that happens more than likely KC beats Denver meaning Denver gets the #2 seed and may face #7 KC. The Chargers have no chance to win out and the Colts are done.

 

The drama of the NFL storyline script is going to put KC @ Denver and KC winning to go to NE* for the divisional. The bottom half is going to be Buffalo over Pittsburgh with the Jaguars over the Texans - causing Buffalo to go to Jax - beat Jax than Bills @ Patriots for a great storyline, 

NFL script also has it cold and snowing for the AFCC with the Bills/Patriots - and Josh Allen willing his team to victory.

 

the glitz and glamour of the Super Bowl will be the Rams over the Bills.

 

Well crap! That ending certainly doesn't look like a Buffalo Bills Love Story!

[Buffalo4Life01]

27 minutes ago, PatsFanNH said:

Just a couple points I wanted make. First turning the ball over has been a real problem for the Bills since that game and something they will have to rectify before the playoffs because do that in most playoff games and you’re  done. Second it was in YOUR house, with zero pressure at all Pats were 2-2 and the bill 4-0 and looking like an unstoppable force.  Yet as the game progressed it was the veteran  playoff team that made the unforced errors.. so the Pats earned that W it wasn’t like the wind game where the weather changed things it was the Bills who made the mistakes and not the Pats that was the deciding factor. 

Unstoppable force?  It took a last minute miracle push to beat the Ravens.  The Jets are one of the if not THE WORST team in football.  The Dolphins tied the game with 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter and the Saints scored to make it 19-21 with 8:53 left in the 4th.  I'm not sure what 'unstoppable force' you were talking about but it was clear to anyone who paid half attention to the 1st four games of the season that Buffalo was (and still is) a very flawed team.  That said, I think both teams are pretty much evenly matched and I expect a dog fight on Sunday.  Go Bills!!

[No_Matter_What]

11 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

I'm not going to nitpick individual games from the past five years. This year in particular is glaring though. We're downplaying the Pats winning 10 games in a row, meanwhile we lost games to the Falcons and Dolphins. If we had gone on a 10 win streak which was absolutely doable from the stretch of Baltimore to Tampa Bay, would we be downplaying it because we didn't beat any powerhouse along the way? Is there even a powerhouse to beat in the AFC this year? We were gifted with an easy schedule and we blew it. Pats were gifted with an easy schedule and have taken full advantage. In that context criticizing the opponents they've beaten just falls totally flat for me, especially when we were one of those opponents.

 

Did you read my post? I agree with what you said about Patriots and am not downplaying anything.

 

I just said you are clearly wrong about us not doing the same before and that being the reason for not having no. 1 seed.

[PatsFanNH]

20 minutes ago, Buffalo4Life01 said:

Unstoppable force?  It took a last minute miracle push to beat the Ravens.  The Jets are one of the if not THE WORST team in football.  The Dolphins tied the game with 12 minutes to go in the 4th quarter and the Saints scored to make it 19-21 with 8:53 left in the 4th.  I'm not sure what 'unstoppable force' you were talking about but it was clear to anyone who paid half attention to the 1st four games of the season that Buffalo was (and still is) a very flawed team.  That said, I think both teams are pretty much evenly matched and I expect a dog fight on Sunday.  Go Bills!!

The talking heads said the Bills were the team in the AFC that week and per every bill FA talked to that week the Ravens were the good ravens before they all got injured