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The Buffalo Bills host the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football with their perfect 4-0 record on the line. Josh Allen and the Bills face Drake Maye’s rising Patriots in a big AFC East game under the lights at Highmark Stadium.
Both teams come into Week 5 with different stories. The Bills are unbeaten and looking like Super Bowl contenders. The Patriots sit at 2-2 but have shown real improvement with their young quarterback.
A big divisional game in prime has a chance to get wacky, so here are two bold predictions for the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
Josh Allen enters this game playing at an MVP level again. He has completed 70.2% of his passes for 964 yards with seven touchdowns and just one interception through four games.
The Patriots defense may struggle to stop him. New England allows 241 passing yards per game and ranks among the worst pass defenses in the league. Allen also has a 10-2 record on Sunday Night Football in his career, and he loves playing at home in primetime. This game could set up perfectly for a big performance.
“We need every ounce, every decibel that we can get,” Allen said about the home crowd atmosphere.
James Cook leads the NFL with five rushing touchdowns and ranks second with 401 rushing yards this season. He has rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games.
The Patriots defense has been has been on the good side against the run this season, allowing just 77.5 rushing yards per game. But against the Saints in Week 4, the Bills netted 189 rushing yards on 5.6 yards per carry.
Cook is likely to score at least two touchdowns. The Bills offense ranks first in rushing yards per game and loves to run the ball in the red zone.
Drake Maye has been impressive this season. The second-year quarterback has completed 74% of his passes through four games. He became the first quarterback since Tom Brady in 2007 to complete 75% of passes with two touchdowns in three straight games.
“We got our hands full but we’re excited,” Maye said about facing the Bills. “This is a great checkpoint to see what we got”.
The Patriots offensive line has looked much-improved this year, which gives Maye time to find receivers like Stefon Diggs.
Diggs recorded his first 100-yard game as a Patriot recently and will be coming back to Buffalo for this game, where he spent the most successful years of his career.
“It’s going to be a crazy atmosphere,” Diggs said. “In the division, they say it’s one game, but it damn near counts as two”.
Buffalo’s defense may create multiple turnovers. The Patriots have eight giveaways through four games, showing they still make mistakes.
The Bills have won 14 straight home regular-season...
