It’s an AFC East showdown in Buffalo on Sunday afternoon. Drake Maye leads his New England Patriots into Orchard Park to face Josh Allen and his Buffalo Bills. The teams will meet at Highmark Stadium for a 4:25 kickoff on CBS. They’ll face off again in just two weeks for Week 18 action. Let’s dive in and take a look at this Patriots-Bills preview and predictions.
The Patriots roll into Week 16 at just 3-11 overall and losers of their last four games in a row. A disappointing season overall for the Patriots has shown a lot of promise in their young rookie quarterback and has Patriots fans excited for the future.
For Buffalo, they are still in the hunt for the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs. At 11-3, they are just 1.5 games behind the Kansas City Chiefs who they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over. The Bills face the Patriots twice and the Jets next week to wrap up their season.
New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills Preview and Predictions Video
New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills Preview and Predictions
Drake Maye Over 26.5 Rushing Yards (-117)
Maye has had at least 24 rushing yards in six of the last seven and seven of the last nine Patriots games since he took over as the starter. As 14.5-point underdogs, there are two ways this game can go. New England can keep it close, and to do so needs Maye to run the ball. Or Buffalo blows them out, and Maye has open lanes in a prevent defense later in the game to run.
Either way, 26.5 should be an easy day for the rookie who has drawn a lot of comparisons to the Bills’ star quarterback Josh Allen. What better way to show off his Allen-like skills than by a big rushing day in Buffalo?
New England Patriots +14.5 (-111)
We’ve seen some big spreads covered this season, especially from teams that aren’t good, and have nothing to play for. There’s no sugarcoating that this Patriots team isn’t good. However, they do have a young stud at quarterback making big-time plays and a coach in Jerod Mayo who’s coaching for his job.
This could very quickly turn into a big-time blowout. But, I believe the Patriots will keep 14.5 within reaching distance, even if it means a back-door cover on a garbage-time touchdown. The fact this is an AFC East game, also makes me believe the Patriots will keep it close similar to the way the Jets did when they lost by three earlier this year.
