The Buffalo Bills (5-2) welcome the New England Patriots (2-4) to Bills Stadium at 1 p.m. Eastern (don’t forget to set back your clocks!) Sunday in a Week 8 contest, and for the first time since the 2000 season, the Patriots will come to Western New York with a quarterback not named Tom Brady at the helm.
Sunday’s AFC East showdown appears to pit two teams heading in opposite directions. Led by quarterback Josh Allen, the Bills raced out to a 4-0 start and are entrenched in first place in the division, a full 2.5 games up on the Patriots, who have suffered three straight losses for the first time since the 2002 season.
Buffalo’s clash with the Patriots will be the CBS broadcast among the early games only for fans living in the Bills’ and Patriots’ primary markets.
CBS’ No. 2 broadcasting team of Ian Eagle, Charles Davis and Evan Washburn will be on the call for the Bills/Patriots game.
The areas that can see the Bills take on the Patriots are highlighted in blue (map courtesy of 506sports):
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The early CBS audience is split between those who will get the Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens showdown (in red), the New York Jets traveling to face the Kansas City Chiefs (green), Indianapolis Colts at the Detroit Lions (Orange), and Tennessee Titans at the Cincinnati Bengals (teal). The CBS late game pits the Los Angeles Chargers at the Denver Broncos (yellow).
Sunday’s matchup will be the 121st all-time between the Bills and Patriots.
New England leads the all-time series 76-43-1, including sweeping the 2019 slate by scores of 16-10 in Orchard Park (Sept. 29) and 24-17 in Foxboro (Dec. 21). The Patriots clinched the AFC East title with the Week 16 win in Foxboro, as Buffalo failed to hold onto a 17-13 lead. Allen completed 13 of 26 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns—one to Dion Dawkins and a beautiful 53-yard strike to John Brown that put the Bills up 17-13 halfway through the third quarter.
Allen also rushed for 43 yards on seven carries, and Cole Beasley caught seven passes for 108 yards, but the Patriots scored the final 11 points to win.