In Week 16, the Buffalo Bills (5-9) travel to Foxboro for a 1 p.m. Eastern clash Sunday against the likely AFC East champion New England Patriots (9-5), and unlike in recent weeks, the Bills final road game of 2018 will be broadcast to a wider national audience.
CBS’s telecast of the Bills and Patriots will be the featured national telecast among the early games for fans living in the Buffalo and New England primary and secondary television markets, along with nearly the entire state of Kansas, a majority of Missouri, and pockets of Pennsylvania and southern California. (The Steelers, Chiefs, and Chargers are interested in the game for home field advantage in the playoffs.)
The No. 3 broadcasting team of Greg Gumbel (play-by-play), Trent Green (analyst), and Bruce Arians (sideline reporter) will handle the Bills/Patriots clash as Buffalo looks to improve to 2-3 against the AFC East.
The areas that can see the game are highlighted in purple (map courtesy of 506sports):
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The early CBS telecast available to most of the country is the Houston Texans at the Philadelphia Eagles (in red), followed by the New York Giants at the Indianapolis Colts (green), the Cincinnati Bengals at the Cleveland Browns (yellow), and the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Miami Dolphins (orange).
This will be the 118th meeting all-time between former American Football League rivals. New England owns a 73-43-1 record all-time, including a 25-6 win Oct. 29 on Monday Night Football.
Last year, the Bills dropped a 37-16 decision to the Patriots in Foxboro. Buffalo has split its last four meetings in Foxboro, winning 16-0 on Oct. 2, 2016—when Patriots standout quarterback Tom Brady was suspended—and 17-9 on Dec. 28, 2014 in a game where Bill Belichick sat many of his starters, including Brady for the entire second half.