After being on the road the last two weeks, the Buffalo Bills return home for their next two games and it starts with welcoming the New England Patriots. The Bills and Patriots have completely opposite records. Buffalo is still chasing the No. 1 seed in the AFC, while the Patriots will more than likely have a top-five, maybe top-three pick in next year’s draft.
Since 2020, the Bills have only lost to the Patriots twice including last year when the Bills defense made Mac Jones look like Tom Brady. Instead of Jones, the Bills will be taking on rookie Drake Maye, who looks pretty impressive despite the lack of talent that he has around him. Now he will enter a rowdy stadium filled with fans who are deeply passionate about the Bills.
These two teams will face off twice in the next three weeks. It’s still amazing how the Bills clinched the AFC East well before facing the Patriots for the first time. That should show fans how dominant the Bills are this season. However, with this being a divisional game, it should be a tough matchup for the Bills.
4 bold predictions for the Bills in Week 16 vs. Patriots
1.) Bills’ defense gives up no more than 10 points
The Patriots have scored 10 points or less in two games this season (Week 3 vs. Jets and Week 5 vs. Dolphins). Maybe it’s time to do the same against their third divisional rival. New England’s offense is not electric whatsoever and the Bills’ defense has a great chance to clean up their act from the last two weeks.
The Bills have held five opponents to 10 points in a game this year, so this is not a huge reach of a prediction. While New England’s offense will get a few good plays here and there, they won’t be any threat to Bobby Babich’s defense.
2.) Buffalo’s defense forces 3+ turnovers
Sticking with the defense, Buffalo’s defense has only had one game where they didn’t force a turnover (Week 14 vs. Rams). Since Week 10, they have forced ten turnovers and 25 total on the season. Players attack the ball and they are always looking to punch it out. It also helps that the secondary, no matter who is playing, has a good eye for the ball before it’s thrown.
On the other side, the Patriots have turned the ball over atleast once since Week 9 (10 in total). Even though the Bills are more talented on paper, they still need to make sure to take away any momentum that the Patriots’ offense might try to get to stay in this game.
3.) Josh Allen has season-low passing yards
The last three weeks, Josh Allen has pulled ahead in the MVP race with his fantastic performance. Whether he runs it or throws it, Allen has shown the NFL that he is the best player in the league. However, we all know what goes up must come down eventually. Now, this doesn’t mean that he will have a bad game, but maybe a quiet game.
Going into this week, the least amount of passing yards Allen has had in a game is 131 yards against the Houston Texans. If the Bills don’t need Allen to be Superman in this game, there’s no need to risk injury to him, thus making his production not look like what it has been the last three games.
4.) James Cook has 150+ rushing yards
So, if Josh Allen doesn’t have the most productive game, that means someone else could and who better than James Cook. He has rushed for 828 yards and 13 touchdowns. He’s having a fantastic year this season under Joe Brady. Mind you, he has only rushed for over 100 yards in three games this year and has yet to reach above 111 yards.
The Patriots’ defense, who have always had a solid defense under Bill Belichick, are not that type of defense this season. They are allowing 127 yards per game and have given up 307 yards on the ground in the last two weeks. The Bills’ rushing attack is due for a big game and James Cook will be the one to lead it.