The New England Patriots return to prime time in Week 5, when they pay a visit to the 4-0 Buffalo Bills for a Sunday Night Football showdown. 

It's a huge test for the Patriots, who are coming off a 42-13 pummeling of the Carolina Panthers at Gillette Stadium in Week 4. The Bills have been the cream of the crop in the AFC East since Josh Allen's emergence, but Drake Maye has played some spectacular football to start his second NFL season.

"It's always a little extra juice playing prime time," Maye said earlier this week. "Everybody's watching, playing a division opponent. What Coach Vrabel says is that's where we want to go, where we want to be at is where the Bills have been the past couple years: contenders, winning the division and playing well at home."

A win won't be easy for New England on Sunday. But if they manage to upset the Bills, it would give the Patriots their first winning streak since the 2022 season, when they ripped off three straight victories. A "W" on Sunday night would also give the Patriots a 2-0 record against their AFC East counterparts to start the season, which would be their first 2-0 start against division foes since 2019.

Here's everything you need to know about Sunday's Patriots-Bills matchup at Highmark Stadium.

Patriots vs. Bills history

Sunday will be the 132nd meeting between the Patriots and the Bills. New England is 79-51-1 against Buffalo, with those 79 wins the most against any opponent in franchise history. 

The Patriots have won 38 of the last 50 regular season meetings going back to 2000, but a lot of that had to do with Tom Brady absolutely owning the Bills. But Buffalo has won seven of the last 10 regular-season meetings, and crushed the Patriots, 47-17, when they crossed paths in the AFC Wild Card round in 2021. 

The two teams have split their regular season series in three of the last four seasons, though last season's Week 18 win by the Patriots came about because Buffalo rested their starers for the game. 

Patriots vs. Bills in prime time

Sunday will be the 12th time the Patriots and the Bills square off in prime time, with the Patriots 9-2 in the previous matchups on national television. That includes a 4-0 record against the Bills on Sunday Night Football.

New England won 56-10 in Buffalo the last time the two teams played on Sunday Night Football in 2007, when Brady threw for five touchdowns. Four of those scores went to Randy Moss, who had 10 receptions for 128 yards.

Will Sunday be the Patriots last game at Highmark Stadium?

The Bills are getting a new home next season, so Sunday will be New England's final regular season game at Highmark Stadium. The Patriots are 31-20 all time at the stadium.

Could New England make a return trip in January? Time will tell.

The Bills are tough to beat at home

Buffalo is 3-0 at home to start the 2024 season, after going 8-0 at home last season (plus 2-0 in the playoffs). The Bills haven't lost a home game during the regular season since Nov. 11, 2023, when they lost 24-22 to the Denver Broncos. Buffalo is 18-2 at home over the last three seasons.

"The last time they lost at home was 14 games ago. We're well aware of that and have to do a lot of really good things to give ourselves a chance," said Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, who was 2-3 against Buffalo when he was head coach of the Titans. "They're playing good football, they're playing clean football, they're not beating themselves and they're doing a nice job in all phases."

Drake Maye and Tom Brady???

We've heard a lot of Drake Maye-Josh Allen comps, but the Patriots QB could potentially join Brady in the NFL record books this weekend. 

Maye has completed at least 75% of his passes and thrown at least two touchdowns in three consecutive games. If he puts up those numbers for a fourth straight week, he'll tie Brady for the longest such streak in a season in NFL history. 

Brady accomplished the feat during that absurd 2007 season where he tore up the NFL record books.

Maye actually completed 82.4% of his passes (14-of-17) last week against Carolina, which joined his 82.6% game against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2. If he connects on at least 80% of his passes against Buffalo, Maye will become the first Patriots quarterback with three such games in a season.

Another hundred yards for Stefon Diggs?

Patriots receiver -- and former Bill -- Stefon Diggs is coming off his 37th career 100-yard game (and first with New England) after he racked up six receptions for 101 yards against the Panthers. He admitted to having a little more juice for this weekend, which will be his first game back in Buffalo since he was traded by the Bills to the Texans ahead of the 2024 season.

If Diggs hits the century mark in Buffalo, it will be his first time with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since 2023, when he put up four straight 100-yard games for Buffalo. He'd become the first Patriots receiver with back-to-back 100-yard games since Julian Edelman in 2019.

The turnover battle

The Bills have not lost the turnover battle in their last 26 games. The Patriots' offense didn't turn the ball over in Week 4 (after its five-turnover game in Week 3 against Pittsburgh), but the New England defense has only forced three takeaways so far this season.  

The explosive Marcus Jones

Marcus Jones sparked New England's Week 4 win with his 87-yard punt return touchdown. If he returns another punt to the house this weekend, Jones will join Patriots Hall of Famer Troy Brown as the only New England players with two punt returns for a touchdown in a single season. Brown brought two punts back during the 2001 regular season, plus another in the AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Bills are on their third punter of the season in Mitch Wishnowsky, who was signed to replace the injured Cameron Johnston. Wishnowsky, 33, spent his first six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers but was released last May. The Australian native has a big leg, which earned him the nickname "Boomin' Onion."

Hunter Henry climbing the record books

Hunter Henry enters Week 5 with 2,409 receiving yards in his Patriots career, and needs just 79 yards to move past Jim Whalen into fourth place on the Patriots all-time list among tight ends.

Rhamondre Stevenson rushing into record books

Rhamondre Stevenson can also climb up the record books, as he needs just 59 yards on the ground to move past John Stephens (3,249 yards) into seventh place on the Patriots all-time rushing list.

Former Bills on the Patriots

Diggs isn't the only former Buffalo player on the Patriots. Cornerback Alex Austin was a 2023 seventh-round pick by the Bills (taken 252nd overall) but was released ahead of the season. Wide receiver Mack Hollins was with the Bills last season, when he had 31 receptions for 378 yards and five touchdowns.

The Patriots coaching staff also has a few former Bills staffers in offensive line coach Doug Marrone (who was Buffalo's head coach from 2013-14), wide receivers coach Todd Downing (Buffalo's QB coach in 2014), and safeties coach Scott Booker (Buffalo's nickels/senior defensive assistant last season).