Patriots-Bills Week 13 predictions
BOSTON -- The real football season begins after Thanksgiving. And for the Patriots, the stretch run really kicks off with a whopper of a game on Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.
Coming off a tough loss on Thanksgiving, the 6-5 Patriots now will get back to work against the 8-3 Buffalo Bills.
Once the punching bag of Tom Brady and the Patriots, the Bills have turned the tables in a significant way, beating the Patriots in four of their last five meetings. That includes a 47-17 whooping in last year's playoffs, and a 33-21 win at Gillette Stadium a month earlier. The Bills didn't punt a single time in either game.
Will things be different this time around?
Here's how the WBZ sports team sees this one playing out.
Steve Burton, WBZ-TV
The Patriots are approaching must-win territory. The Bills are scary good but they are also beatable.
Containing Josh Allen is going to be a problem, but if the Patriots offense scores multiple times from the red zone they have a shot. Anything can happen on a Thursday night.
Patriots 24, Bills 21
Dan Roche, WBZ-TV
The Patriots have won five of their last seven games and are playing better overall as a team. However, I can't pick them in a game like this until they show the ability to eliminate mistakes and penalties.
They need to play a clean game in all three phases against the Bills, and being at home should help. But Buffalo -- despite being banged up -- has to feel confident coming into this one.
Bills 28, Patriots 24
Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
Nope. Just can't buy it.
While the Bills are certainly more vulnerable than they were a year ago, it's just too difficult to draw up a way for the Patriots to win this game. I do think the Patriots will be competitive -- or at least more competitive than the January meeting in Buffalo. But it just feels that when the Bills need a big play, Josh Allen's going to break off a 40-yard run to change the game whenever necessary.
Hopefully it'll be fun and entertaining like last week's game in Minnesota. But I believe the result will be similar for New England.
Bills 30, Patriots 24
Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
I say with great confidence that the Patriots defense will force at least one punt against the Bills on Thursday night. I won't go as far as predicting more than one, though.
The Bills seem vulnerable and the Patriots really need this one. But Buffalo's offense will make the plays that it needs to, and New England will likely commit a painful and costly penalty when they don't need one.
Bills 31, Patriots 20
WBZ-TV gets you ready for Thursday night's Patriots-Bills clash starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday night with Patriots All Access! Coverage continues that evening at 9:30 p.m. with Patriots 1st Down on TV38, and we'll bring you a special Thursday night edition of Patriots GameDay on WBZ-TV at 7 p.m. After the Patriots and the Bills are done at Gillette Stadium, switch over to TV38 for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!