Built in Buffalo Roundtable: Week 13, Bills at Patriots

Matt Homan: The Patriots go into Thursday night’s game against the Bills winning five of their last seven games. However, both of those losses came in primetime versus the Bears and Vikings. Are the lights too bright for Mac Jones? Possibly. “McCorkle” is 2-5 in primetime games, with one of those wins requiring an act of god to beat the Bills in the “Wind Game” last year.
One thing the Patriots do have going for them this season is a top-10 defense that features a stout secondary looking to feast on Josh Allen’s recent interception spree. The Bills defense has been getting healthier by the day. Tremaine Edmunds, AJ Epenesa and Greg Rousseau all had full practices on Tuesday and should all be ready to go Thursday night. If the Bills want to win their third game in a row in Foxborough, they’ll need to establish a running attack to keep the Patriots secondary honest. If Buffalo can have any success on the ground, I think they win handily. Prediction: Bills 24, Patriots 17.

Daniel Adams: The Bills approach a Thursday night game against the Patriots after coming off back-to-back wins against the Browns and Lions. They have been struggling as of late, even in the two wins, but they have a fresh start this week and get some players off of the injury report. The Bills are 0-2 in divisional games and plan to break that and be 1-2 come Friday. I believe they will get the ball moving through the air more than they have the last few weeks and Josh Allen will have a great week. Allen has been struggling with trusting his arm and throwing into harm’s way too frequently but this week he will be careful with the football and trust himself to make big plays downfield and take the underneath stuff when the defense gives him it.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bills will be without veteran Von Miller which will hurt but we should expect a lot of the younger guys to step up like they’ve been doing all year long. This Bills defense will handle business against the New England Patriots, and I believe they will force turnovers and three and outs. Matt Milano will have another tremendous week along with Ed Oliver, and we should also expect to see a little bit more of Tre White out on the field on Thursday. The Bills will beat the Patriots on Thursday and enjoy another victory Friday. Prediction: Bills 31, Patriots 27.

Ben Morningstar: The Bills head to New England this Thursday with a showdown in primetime against Bill Belichick and the Patriots. The Bills come into this game on a 2-game win streak with a thrilling last second win over the Lions on Thanksgiving. The Bills are getting healthier with Elam, White, Edmunds, Espenesa and Morse all getting back to practice. The Bills have done a great job stopping the run this year, and with more help in the secondary, I think the Patriots have trouble moving the ball on the Bills. With a normal week of practice under their belt and a little bit of momentum going, I think Josh Allen and the boys from Buffalo score just enough points on a tough Patriots defense to earn the victory on Thursday. Prediction: Bills 23, Patriots 16.