Who will win the third clash this season?

On Sunday night, two teams will face each other for the third time in 40 days. With freezing temperatures around -13° Celsius forecast, the Buffalo Bills will host the New England Patriots.

The Buffalo Bills are favourites with the bookmakers for the renewed clash between the two division rivals. Based on the current form curve, this assessment is understandable. The Bills are without a defeat since 19 December. For their part, the Patriots have only won one of four games during this period. In view of these results and the general situation of the teams, the available betting odds on the Bills vs. Patriots are understandable.

The game starts at 2:15 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, a suburb of Buffalo. You can watch the duel live on ProSieben or DAZN.

Buffalo Bills – Statistics & current form

For the second year in a row, the franchise from New York State was able to secure the AFC East division. With eleven wins from 17 games, Buffalo finished third in the final AFC rankings behind Tennessee and Kansas City. After making it to the Conference Championship Game in January 2021 but missing out on making it to the Super Bowl, it’s clear they want to take it a step further this year.

The start to the 2021 season did not go as planned, but after the opening loss to the Steelers, they won four of five games. Consistency, however, was subsequently absent after the bye week in week seven. They lost four of the next seven games. Nevertheless, they finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak and secured first place in the division.

Josh Allen in last year’s form

Since Week 14 at the latest, they have been able to put the faltering performances behind them. Although the Bills lost in overtime against the reigning Super Bowl champions, quarterback J. Allen shone above all. Overall, Allen played more stable in the last third of the season and is still one of the most dangerous playmakers in the NFL. Despite the sometimes shaky offensive line, the Bills recently managed to establish the running game.

With Diggs and Beasley, they have a very experienced wide receiver duo. They also have other good pass receivers like Davis and McKenzie. The latter had eleven receptions for 125 and a touchdown in the second game against the Patriots. In addition, tight end Knox is a real mismatch with nine touchdowns. Because of, among other things, these kickoffs, betting on at least three touchdowns by the home side is very attractive in the Bills vs. Patriots game.

The defence continues to play at a very high level, which was not changed by the loss of Tre’Davious White. In the last four regular season games, the Bills allowed an average of only 15 points per game.

Key Players:
QB: Josh Allen
RB: Devin Singletary
WR: Stefon Diggs
TE: Dawson Knox
K: Tyler Bass

New England Patriots – stats & current form

The Patriots are in the playoffs. Without superstar quarterback Tom Brady. For an unusually long period of time, they had a near subscription to winning the AFC East division, but that era ended with the departure of “TB12”. After missing the playoffs last season, they entered the postseason with ten wins. As the sixth-placed team in the AFC, they have to play away in the wildcard round. By the way, this is the first time under head coach Bill Bilichick, who has been in charge of the team since 2000. The qualification for this alone can be considered a success.

After a transitional season last year, they drafted a new playmaker in Alabama quarterback Mac Jones in the 2021 draft. Whether he can be the legitimate successor to Brady and make his mark on an era remains to be seen. His rookie season, in which he was a starter from the start, got off to a bumpy start. Four losses from six games were on the books before week seven. After that, however, they won all their games until the bye week in week 14. At that point, they were also briefly the best team in the AFC.

Only one win from their last four games

In the weeks 15 to 18 of the past Regular Season, however, they could only win one game. Among other things, they lost the second and decisive game for the division in Buffalo. In week 17 they were able to score 50 points against a completely overtaxed Jaguars team. Last weekend, however, they suffered a defeat at the hands of their “fearful opponents” and division rivals Miami to close out the regular season.

In the last few weeks, rookie quarterback Jones has made the kind of mistakes that happen to many first-year quarterbacks. That’s why the Patriots’ goal must be to take as much of the burden off the inexperienced playmaker’s shoulders as possible.

That, in turn, means they must run the ball well to stay in the game. With one of the best offensive lines in the league, that works very well time and time again. They have already proven that against the Bills in both matchups this season. Presumably, the visitors will stick with the running game for a long time in the renewed encounter. For this reason, we see a Bills vs. Patriots tip on Rushing Yards by Running Back Harris as interesting.

The Pats defense, shaped by winning coach Bill Bilichick, continues to be the team’s showpiece. And that despite the departure of superstar cornerbacks S. Gilmore to the Panthers during the season. The Foxborough team has one of the best secondaries in the league and is always able to limit the opposition’s passing game.

Key Players:
QB: Mac Jones
RB: Damien Harris
WR: Jakobi Meyers
TE: Hunter Henry
K: Nick Folk

Buffalo Bills – New England Patriots Head-to-head comparison / H2H record

This season, both teams have already met twice, as already written. Each of the two teams managed to win once. In the Week 13 game, it was the Patriots who came out on top, 14-10. That game was marked by freak weather. New England quarterback M. Jones threw three times in this windy game, completing two passes for 19 yards. In return, the team ran 46 times for a total of 222 yards. Head coach B. Belichick had developed the absolute master plan for this game.

The Bills were again victorious in the regular season rematch. Quarterback J. Allen showed an outstanding game at 33:21. He threw for 314 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 64 yards. It is this running game, whether designed QB runs or scrambles, that are a threat. In the renewed clash between Bills vs. Patriots, one should therefore keep an eye on the odds of him scoring a touchdown. He currently has five rushing touchdowns this season.

The Pats have won seven of the last ten meetings, but the Bills have won three of the last four. In only four of these ten games was the point limit of 44 points offered in the current matchup reached. In each of the three wins addressed, the Bills have scored at least 24 points.

Buffalo Bills – New England Patriots Tip

Based on the last few games, we dare to predict a Bills win by at least a four-point difference in the Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots game. Buffalo can rely on almost all important personnel in the offence and have been stable on defence lately.

In addition, they have the better and more experienced quarterback in this duel. That will certainly play a role. For his counterpart it is the first game of the postseason and recently he played anything but flawlessly. It will also be important for the hosts to be able to limit the visitors’ running game to some extent, because then New England will eventually be forced to put the game more in the rookie quarterback’s hands.

Over the last five games, at least five touchdowns have been scored in three matchups.