Thursday Night Capsule – Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots
THURSDAY NIGHT PREVIEW:
BUFFALO BILLS (8-3) AT NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (6-5)
A key AFC East matchup kicks off Week 13 of the 2022 NFL season on Thursday, December 1 (8:15 PM ET, Prime Video) as the Buffalo Bills (8-3) visit the New England Patriots (6-5). New England holds the all-time regular-season advantage, 76-46-1, with the road team winning each of the past three meetings. The teams split last year’s regular-season series, as the Patriots beat the Bills in Buffalo, 14-10, in Week 13, and Buffalo won in New England, 33-21, in Week 16. The teams also met in the Wild Card round of last year’s AFC playoffs, with the Bills defeating the Patriots in Buffalo, 47-17. It marked the second-ever postseason meeting between the two clubs, as quarterback JOSH ALLEN set career highs in touchdown passes (five) and passer rating (157.6) in the victory. Running back DEVIN SINGLETARY and tight end DAWSON KNOX each scored two touchdowns in the win.
Last week on Thanksgiving, Allen led a four-play drive in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter that led to a game-winning 45-yard field goal by TYLER BASS, as Buffalo defeated Detroit, 28-25, for its second-consecutive victory. Allen totaled 331 yards (253 passing, 78 rushing) and three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) in the win, and he is one of two quarterbacks in the league (LAMAR JACKSON) with at least 250 passing yards and 75 rushing yards in multiple games this season. In his past three starts at New England, Allen has nine touchdown passes with zero interceptions for a 115.3 passer rating. Wide receiver STEFON DIGGS aims for his third in a row with a touchdown catch and has at least five catches and 75 receiving yards in six of his past seven. Diggs has four touchdown catches in his past three games against New England. Singletary rushed for 72 yards last week and aims for his third in a row with at least 80 scrimmage yards. He has a touchdown in two of his past three overall and three of his past four against the division.
Buffalo enters Week 13 ranked second in the league with 13 interceptions this season, led by safety JORDAN POYER (four interceptions in seven games). Last week, Poyer led the team with a season-high 10 tackles and he aims for his fourth in a row with at least five tackles. Linebacker MATT MILANO has at least one tackle for loss in each of his past five games and leads the team with 11 tackles for loss this season, his second-straight year with at least 10 in the category. Defensive tackle ED OLIVER had two tackles for loss, a sack and his first forced fumble and fumble recovery of the season on Thanksgiving. He aims for his third in a row with multiple tackles for loss.
In Week 12, New England quarterback MAC JONES recorded a career-high 382 passing yards, while also setting season-high marks in completions (28), touchdown passes (two) and passer rating (119.8). He aims for his fourth start in a row with no interceptions and his third consecutive start with a passer rating of 100-or-higher. Jones has recorded a passer rating of 100-or-higher in three of four career home starts against the division. Running back RHAMONDRE STEVENSON led the team with 112 scrimmage yards (career-high 76 receiving, 36 rushing) on Thanksgiving and added a career-high nine catches. He has at least six catches and 55 receiving yards in four of his past five and ranks third among running backs with a career-best 50 catches this season. Running back DAMIEN HARRIS rushed for 103 yards and had a career-high three rushing touchdowns in the teams’ last regular-season meeting. In each of his three career games against Buffalo, Harris has totaled at least 100 rushing yards with a rushing touchdown. Wide receiver JAKOBI MEYERS aims for his sixth in row against the division and third in row overall with at least 50 receiving yards, while wide receiver DAVANTE PARKER led the team with 80 receiving yards last week.
New England ranks second in the NFL this season with 37 sacks, led by linebacker MATTHEW JUDON, who paces the league with a career-high 13 sacks in 2022. Judon has 10 sacks in five home games this season and aims for his fifth in a row at home with at least 1.5 sacks. He has a sack in two of his past three against Buffalo. Linebacker JOSH UCHE had a sack on Thanksgiving and has a sack in three of his past four games. Defensive back JONATHAN JONES tied his career high with three passes defensed last week and recorded his team-leading third interception of the season. He aims for his fourth in a row with a pass defensed and has an interception in two of his past three games.
Prime Video will stream 15 Thursday Night Football games this season (Weeks 2-17, excluding Thanksgiving). The game will feature Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit and Kaylee Hartung on the call.
