November 1, 2020, was a beautiful day for the Buffalo Bills, the fans, and the organization. Justin Zimmer made the play of the day when he stripped Cam Newton as he was heading into the end zone and preserving a 24-21 victory. There was a feeling that this play was a turning point play in the franchise’s future after getting dominated year after year by the New England Patriots. Fast forward to this year, and the 2021 Patriots are proving to the world that last season was an aberration. Behind a rookie quarterback, their goal this season and every other one before is to win the AFC East. On Monday Night Football, both teams will square off in the first of 2 matchups in December. In this article, we will break down both teams and make our prediction.
1. The Bills-Josh Allen bounced back from a disastrous week 11 performance against the Colts to play well last week against the Saints. He passed for 260 yards, four touchdowns, and a passer rating of 115.2. The key matchup in this game will be between Stefon Diggs and J.C. Jackson on the outside. Diggs is averaging 77 yards per game and seven touchdowns while Jackson leads the Patriots with seven interceptions. The lack of balance in the run game and dependency on the passing game will make this tough matchup for the Bills. The Patriots are second in yards per attempt, and with an elite pass rusher like Matt Judon, the Bills will need to be more than one-dimensional. Last week, the Patriots gave up 270 yards on the ground, and the question is whether Allen and company can exploit that weakness or will they stubbornly throw the football? It may be the deciding factor in the game.
1. The Patriots-Mac Jones will be facing one of the best defenses in the league in this matchup. The Bills defense is ranked number 1 in several defensive categories in the league including sacks, pressure, and yards per attempt. The Bills will miss their star cornerback Tre’Davious White who suffered a torn ACL in the big win on Thursday night. Jones will try to take advantage of the missing personnel, and he delivered perhaps his best performance with 310 yards and two touchdowns. The difference in the game could come down to the ability of the Patriots’ running backs to run the football through Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris. The duo’s performance keeps getting better week after week behind a physical offensive line.
2. Head to Head- the Patriots and Bills have contested 122 games due to their rivalry in the AFC East decision. The Patriots lead the head-to-head series 76-45-1. From the year 2000 during the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots have a 35-7 in the past 42 games. In the past 17 games in Buffalo, the Patriots have a record of 15-2. However, the Bills did win the last two matchups last season including the close win at home mentioned at the outset.
3. Stat-the 2021 Patriots are making the fans forget about the disastrous 2020 version of the team. One stat that shows how much better the team is this year is that last season in 16 games, the team scored just 326 points. However, in just 12 games this season, the Patriots have already scored 338 points with four games to go.
4. Score Prediction-this will be an incredible game for primetime television. The weather forecast indicates the likelihood of snow affecting the game. I think this will be an advantage for the Patriots who are more potent in running the football. I think the Bills showed their weakness to stop the run against the Colts in giving up 185 yards and four touchdowns to Jonathan Taylor. Josh Allen also gave up two interceptions last week on bad throws against the Saints, and the Patriots have been fasting on turnovers this season. I like the Patriots to win 24-20.