Patriots-Bills Week 13 news, notes, and fun facts
BOSTON -- For the first time in team history, the Patriots are playing on back-to-back Thursday nights. It will finish up a grueling stretch of three games over a 12-day stretch for New England.
Their Week 13 opponent -- the Buffalo Bills -- are also coming off a Thursday game, though they got to play the early window on Thanksgiving. And the Bills are coming off a 28-25 win in Detroit, whereas New England is looking to bounce back after a 33-26 loss at the hands of the Vikings in Minnesota.
While the Bills improved to 8-3 to keep pace with the Dolphins in the AFC East, the Patriots dropped to 6-5 and into last place in the division. It's a pretty big game in Foxboro on Thursday night, as the Patriots could essentially be playing for their playoff lives.
"We know we're going to need to play our best game and that's what we're going to prepare to do this week," Bill Belichick said Sunday.
It wasn't too long ago that the Patriots absolutely dominated the Bills, winning 15 straight against their AFC East foe. They would casually sweep the season series without batting an eye, usually crushing the Bills like they were a folding table at a Buffalo tailgate. But things have changed a bit since Tom Brady left town and Josh Allen took over the Buffalo offense, with the Bills winning four of the last five matchups, including last postseason's 47-17 drubbing in the AFC Wild Card round. The one game that the Patriots won against the Bills last season came on a blustery night in Buffalo when throwing the ball wasn't really an option, which played right into New England's run-heavy approach.
Can the Patriots get back to their winning ways against the Bills with their season on the line? Here is everything you need to know heading into the crucial Week 13 matchup.
Game Notes
- This week is the 126th meeting between the Patriots and the Bills, with New England owning a 77-47-1 edge in the series. Those 77 wins are New England's highest win total against any opponent.
- The Patriots have won 36 of the previous 44 matchups between the two teams. New England won 15 straight over Buffalo from 2003-2010, which included seven straight series sweeps.
- The Patriots are 39-23 against the Bills at home, including 16-4 at Gillette Stadium.
- This will be the third time that New England plays two Thursday night games in the same season. The Patriots won both of their Thursday night games in 2015 and went 1-1 in 2017.
- We'll see plenty of "Pat Patriot" on Thursday night as it's another throwback week for the Patriots. That's great news if you believe their uniforms dictate the outcome of the game, since New England is 7-0 at home when wearing their red throwback unis.
- The Patriots enter Week 13 with 37 sacks, good for the second-most in the NFL behind the 45 sacks by the Cowboys defense. New England is on pace for 57 sacks this season, which would be tied for the third-most in franchise history.
- The Bills rank second in the NFL in both total offense (415.9 yards per game) and points per game (28.1). The Patriots rank 21st in total offense (325.9) and 18th in points (21.9).
- The Buffalo defense is pretty great as well, ranking fifth in the NFL at 18.1 points allowed per game. The Patriots' defense ranks sixth at 18.4 points allowed per game.
- Both teams are a plus-1 in turnover differential heading into their Week 13 tilt. Buffalo ranks second in the NFL with 20 takeaways (New England has 18), while also ranking second with 19 giveaways. The Patriots have turned the ball over 17 times this season.
- In their previous two meetings -- Week 16 of last season at Gillette Stadium and the Wild Card game in Buffalo -- the Patriots did not force a single punt from the Bills.
Players Notes
- Thursday night will be the 200th game for safety Devin McCourty, which will make him just the sixth player to play in that many games for the New England Patriots.
- McCourty has 39 career takeaways and needs just one more to move into a ty for third place on the franchise's all-time list with Ty Law.
- Matthew Judon currently leads the NFL with 13 sacks, and is on pace for 20 on the season.
- Mac Jones passed for a career-high 382 yards in Thursday's loss to the Vikings.
- Jones had touchdown passes of 34 yards and 37 yards against Minnesota, his first two-touchdown game of the season. He had four passes that went for 30 or more yards, the most he's had in one game for his career.
- Nick Folk has 407 points with the Patriots entering the game, and can move into seventh place on New England's all-time scoring list (passing Stanley Morgan) with just two points against the Bills.
- Folk is tied with Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker for the NFL lead with 24 field goals this season. The veteran is on pace for 37 field goals this season, which would set a new career-high for Folk.
- Folk has made 57 consecutive attempts from under 40 yards, with his last miss from that distance coming in Oct. of 2017. Tucker owns the NFL record for consecutive makes from under 40 yards with 70.
- Rhamondre Stevenson has been a steady target out of the backfield all season, ranking third in the NFL in receptions by a running back (50) and fourth in receiving yards by a running back (359).
- Patriots rookie Marcus Jones ranks first in the NFL with 680 total return yards, picking up 294 return yards on punts and 386 kickoff return yards. Jones is second in the NFL with both a 25.7 kickoff return average and a 15.5 punt return average.
Connections
- Patriots offensive lineman Conor McDermott played for the Bills from 2017-19.
- Ryan Wendell, who played on the New England offensive line from 2008-15, is currently Buffalo's assistant offensive line coach. He was New England's right guard when the team won Super Bowl XLIX.
- As for local ties, Buffalo linebacker Matt Milano and tight end Tommy Sweeney both attended Boston College. Bills safeties coach Jim Salgado coached at Boston College and Northeastern.
