The Buffalo Bills travel to Foxboro, MA this weekend to take on the New England Patriots. It will be Josh Allen’s first start against Bill Belichick’s empire. In a rare twist of fate, the Bills are coming off a win, while the Patriots are coming off a loss. Here’s the reasons we’ll be tuning in on Sunday.
Here are a few of the headlines heading into Sunday's game against the Pats.#GoBills#Bills#BuffaloBills#BillsMafia#NFL pic.twitter.com/GBKDCzxmyf
— Buffalo Rumblings (@BuffRumblings) December 20, 2018
Josh Allen vs. the GOATs
Due to his elbow injury, Josh Allen missed the Bills’ Monday Night Football game against the Patriots earlier this season. Now that he’s healthy, he’ll have his first shot against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, the best quarterback and head coach of all time. Allen has excited Bills fans in recent weeks, but this week will be one of the tougher match-ups he’s seen. Belichick’s defense is not as great as in seasons past, but he is still regarded as a mastermind, and rookie quarterbacks have traditionally struggled when playing against his defenses.
The Bills look to play minor spoiler
The Patriots have dominated the AFC East, and the AFC overall, essentially since the beginning of this millennium. They’ve dominated so much that they’ve earned a first-round bye every year since 2009. If Bills are able to beat the Patriots, they’ll severely decrease the chances that the Pats continue the streak.
Defense looks for a repeat performance
In this year’s first game against the Patriots, Buffalo’s defense performed extremely well. They held the Patriots’ offense to 18 points in a 25-6 defeat (the other seven points were scored on a pick-six by Devin McCourty). Brady still managed to put up 324 passing yards, but he didn’t score a touchdown. The Patriots’ only offensive touchdown came on a James White rushing touchdown. The rest of the Pats’ points came via Stephen Gostkowski field goals. Another performance like that would greatly help the Bills’ upset chances.