Outside of the New York Jets, the rest of the AFC East are having their payback season against the New England Patriots. The Buffalo Bills will look to pummel the Pats anew on Monday, but will New England dig deep enough to avoid getting embarrassed again by Josh Allen and company? Check out our preview of this game below.
The Bills are looking playoff-ready. They are coming off a 48-19 demolition job of a win over the Denver Broncos on the road last Sunday, which came after they scored a 26-15 home win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14. Josh Allen is playing like an MVP this season, and against the Broncos, he strengthened his case by passing for 359 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions on 28-of-40 completions. Although Allen struggled in the first meeting with New England back in Week 8 at home, the Bills had their running game to fall back on, with Zack Moss rushing for two touchdowns. The Bills are averaging 36.0 points in their last three games, and with New England no longer playing for a playoff spot, the Patriots’ interest in slowing down the Bills might not be as intense as it should be.
The Bills, who are sixth in the NFL with 3.4 touchdowns per contest, are 3-0 against the spread in their last three road games.
The Patriots have been officially eliminated from playoff contention after losing to the Miami Dolphins at home last week, 22-12. Despite their future this season already ascertained, the Patriots remain secretive of which between Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham will start under center this coming Monday. Newton has been horrible this season. In the Dolphins game, he passed for 209 yards and zero touchdowns on 17-of-27 completions, while getting sacked three times for a loss of 23 yards. That’s almost the same stat line he had in the loss to the Bills. Perhaps, the Patriots would just try it out with Stidham, as there’s really not much on the line for them. The Patriots are hoping they can get Damien Harris back into action. Harris missed the Miami game with an ankle injury, but he’s participated in practice on Tuesday, albeit in a limited capacity. He rushed for 102 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in the first meeting with the Bills.
The Patriots are 2-1 against the spread in their last three home games against Buffalo. They are also 4-2 ATS in their last six at home overall.
