Patriots-Bills Week 18 news, notes, and fun facts
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots will close out a disappointing 2024 season on Sunday when they host the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. The Bills have locked up the No. 2 seed in the East and have nothing to play for, while the Patriots would be better off with a loss in the regular-season finale.
Will the Patriots be in full tank mode to finish the season? While a 3-14 season would not be the end result that anyone wanted in Jerod Mayo's first year (potentially only year?) as head coach, the silver lining is that the Patriots would clinch the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with a loss.
For a team that has several holes on the roster, the top pick could really help bring an infusion of talent to New England. The Patriots can't afford to screw this up, like the Giants did with their upset win over the Colts last weekend.
That loser's mentality is not what we're used to around New England, but that No. 1 pick is too important. The Patriots appear to have their quarterback of the future in Drake Maye, so that selection could potentially land the team a left tackle to protect Maye for years to come. Or they could potentially draft a game-changing receiver for his arsenal to help weaponize the offense. Or the patriots could trade down for a massive haul of picks to fill the many, many needs up and down the roster.
With that at stake, we might not see Maye at all against the Bills. He gives the team its best chance to win, and the Patriots can't have that on Sunday. Maye also took a big hit in last Saturday's blowout loss to the Chargers, which forced him to miss a series, so why risk anything with the future of the franchise in a game the Patriots will be looking to lose?
So brace yourself for a potential Joe Milton-Mitch Trubisky showdown at Gillette Stadium. (Josh Allen will only make a brief appearance in Week 18.) Mayo said that everything is on the table for New England, though he added that his focus is on beating the Bills. If there's one game Patriots fans don't want their team to win, it's this Sunday's tilt against the Bills. (In a cruel twist of fate, those those "Fire Mayo" chants of last week will only grow louder if the Patriots actually hold a lead late in Sunday's game.)
Here are all the news, notes, and fun facts you need to know about New England's final game of the 2024 season.
Patriots vs. Bills
- The Patriots are 17-5 against the Bills at Gillette Stadium, and 40-24 overall in home games against Buffalo. New England won 13 straight home games over Buffalo from 2001-2013, a streak that ended when the Bills won, 17-9, in the 2014 regular-season finale at Gillette Stadium.
- Sunday's game will be the 131st meeting between the AFC East rivals, with New England holding a 78-51-1 edge over Buffalo. Those 78 wins are the most by the Patriots over any opponent.
- Sunday is the second time that the Patriots and the Bills will meet in a three-week span, after the New England lost, 24-21, in Buffalo in Week 16. It's the fifth time the two teams will play twice over three weeks, which also happened in 1977 (the two teams split the two games), 1983 (the Pats won both), 1998 (split), and 2021 (split).
- Buffalo ranks second in the NFL at 31.8 points per game. New England is 30th at 16.6 points per game, and hasn't scored more than 25 points in a game this season.
- The Bills are the No. 1 team in the NFL with a plus-23 turnover differential. The Patriots are 28th at minus-10.
Patriots-Bills Connections
There are no former Patriots on Buffalo, but a trio of former Bills are currently in New England.
- Cornerback Alex Austin was a seventh-round draft pick by Buffalo in 2023.
- Patriots tight ends coach Bob Bicknell served the same role in Buffalo from 2010-11 and was the Bills' wide receivers coach in 2012.
- New England offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt spent a lot of time in Buffalo. He played quarterback for the Bills from 1994-2003, then joined the coaching staff as a offensive quality control coach from 2006-07. He was promoted to the team's quarterbacks coach in 2008, and was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2009.
Patriots-Bills Fun Facts
- While we might not see Maye, the rookie would have a chance to add to his Patriots franchise record if he does take the field. Maye threw a touchdown pass for the eighth straight game last weekend with a 36-yard scoring strike to DeMario Douglas, giving him the longest such streak by a rookie in New England franchise history. It's the longest streak for a rookie QB since Justin Herbert threw a TD pass in 10 straight games in 2020. The NFL rookie record is 13 straight games with a touchdown pass, which was set by Peyton Manning with the Colts in 1998 and matched by Baker Mayfield with the Browns in 2018.
- Last Saturday's touchdown pass was Maye's fourth of at least 30 yards this season. That's the most by a Patriots quarterback since Mac Jones had five such touchdown passes in 2022.
- Maye's 66.8 completion percentage (225-of-337) is one point behind Dak Prescott's record for the highest completion percentage for an NFL rookie quarterback, which he set in 2016 with the Cowboys.
- New England's record for highest completion percentage in a season is the 68.9 percent that Tom Brady completed in 2007.
- With 3,066 rushing yards, running back Rhamondre Stevenson needs 115 yards to move past Corey Dillon and into eighth place on New England's all-time list.
- Tight end Hunter Henry is one reception away from becoming just the fifth Patriots tight end to reach 200 receptions for their career.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Bills clash on WBZ-TV -- the television home of the New England Patriots. Coverage begins Wednesday night with Patriots 1st Down at 9:30 p.m. on TV38 and streaming on CBSBoston.com, and continues Friday night with Patriots All Access at 7 p.m. on WBZ-TV. Pregame coverage begins Sunday morning at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay on WBZ-TV and streaming on CBSBoston.com, and switch over to TV38 after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter.
