Buffalo has their final game of a three-game homestand coming up on Sunday night against the Patriots. The Bills will represent their city as they debut their 'Cold Front' uniforms for Nike's Rivalries series.
Here are five things to know about their Week 5 matchup with New England.
1. A chance to stay undefeated against the AFC East
The Bills will see every divisional opponent early this season. Sunday's matchup against the Patriots means the Bills have already played every team in the AFC East by Week 5. So far, the Bills are undefeated against their division and have a chance to make it 3-0 with a win on Sunday.
"It's a divisional game, so it's never anything easy when it comes to that." offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. "And so, it's going to be a huge challenge, huge opportunity for us."
Buffalo has won six out of the last eight games against the Patriots and owns four straight wins at home (including playoffs) against New England. This will be the first time the Bills are facing the Patriots with Mike Vrabel as head coach. Vrabel was hired in January as he re-joined the team he won three Super Bowls with as a player (2001-08).
New England is coming off their best game yet as they put up 42 points in their win against the Panthers. It was their largest margin of victory (29 points) since they beat the Lions 29-0 in 2022. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye finished the game with three total touchdowns and a 155.6 passer rating. Maye has been an efficient QB to start the season, leading the NFL in completion percentage (74%).
Through four games, the Patriots have a top 10 offense as they're averaging 25.5 points per game (tied for 10th) and are scoring on 66.7% of their red zone opportunities (tied for 8th with Bills). Their defense is also top 10 to start the season allowing 20.3 points per game (tied for 10th). They've got the second best run defense in the league allowing just 77.5 rushing yards per game and 3.3 yards per rush. One area they have struggled in on defense is in the red zone. They're allowing teams to score on 87.5% of their red zone trips (31st).
2. Stiffest run game test to date
The Bills thanks largely to the play of Buffalo's offensive line and tight ends, and the exploits of James Cook, have rumbled to the top of the league in rushing offense at more than 163 yards per game.
Cook has put together three consecutive 100-yard rushing games, making him the first Bills back to do so since Fred Jackson in 2011. The Bills' feature back currently ranks second in the NFL in rushing with 401 yards on the season, trailing only the Colts' Jonathan Taylor (414).
"He's running the ball really well," said offensive coordinator, Joe Brady. "The element that he's done a good job of adding to his game is it's not just the zone schemes, it's the creases and how the blocks are being played. New Orleans has a bunch of front structures with different looks, and James can turn a four-yard gain into 10 or 15. He has a good understanding of what we're trying to do. He's been really special of late."
Cook and company, however, might be facing their most challenging test thus far this season. New England comes to Orchard Park with the number two run defense in football as they're surrendering less than 78 yards per game on the ground (77.5). They're also second in yards per carry allowed at just 3.3 per rush, and the Patriots allow the third fewest yards after contact at 2.46 per carry.
"This is a dangerous matchup for Buffalo," said ESPN NFL analyst, Dan Orlovsky in his weekly appearance on ‘One Bills Live.’ "New England is playing good, solid football. The way that Vrabel grew up they're going to try to stop the Bills from running the football. If the Bills can run the football against New England, they'll be in good shape. I do think New England schematically and body-wise will do whatever they can to slow that down."
3. Maye's maturation
Drake Maye is making sizable progress with each passing week as the Patriots quarterback. Last week, in the win over Carolina, he became the first player under 24-years old with at least two touchdowns passes and a completion percentage of better than 75 percent in three straight games, with a minimum of 15 pass attempts per game.
His stat line against the Panthers was 14-of-17 for 203 yards, two touchdowns and a 155.6 passer rating. Maye also had a five-yard touchdown run in the Patriots' 29-point victory.
Maye's style of play is very reminiscent of Josh Allen, as he is capable of making plays off script, and extend plays when protection or other parts of the structure of a play break down.
"To be able to extend plays, move the pocket and move the launch point is critical," said New England head coach, Mike Vrabel. "Those plays have helped us, and he's done a good job with them."
Maye is completing 74 percent of his passes, and it hasn't been a lot of short underneath throws. Through the first month of the season, the Patriots' signal caller has the third-highest average completion yardage in the league at 8.0, exceeded by only Daniel Jones and Lamar Jackson. His passer rating (109.4) also ranks third in the NFL so far this season just three-tenths of a point behind Josh Allen (109.7) and Lamar Jackson (130.5).
"I think every week, he's going to grow whether it's a win or a loss," said Patriots WR Mack Hollins. "I think his confidence continues to grow just because reps help that. So, seeing him be able to grow and see the field a little bit easier is always awesome."
Maye has been sacked 13 times, but his offensive line made improvements last week as he was dropped just a single time. And the second-year QB has been extremely efficient on third downs where he leads the NFL in passing on third downs. Maye is completing over 80 percent of his passes, averaging 9.61 yards per attempt (2nd in NFL), and a league best 125.5 rating on the money down.
4. Patriots rolling on returns
In a year where it appears that special teams will play a larger factor in the outcome of games than we've seen in the past, the Patriots are maximizing the value of their special teams units through the first month of the season.
Last week, their primary punt returner, Marcus Jones, was instrumental in helping to wipe out an early 6-0 lead by the Panthers with an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown to take the lead (7-6).
Late in the first half, Jones would deliver another punt return deep into Carolina territory. Had he not stumbled at the end he likely would've had another touchdown, but his 60-yard return to the Panthers 12-yard line led to a short scoring drive by the offense, who essentially put the game out of reach by halftime up 28-6.
"He's a playmaker, everybody knows he's a playmaker," said CB Christian Gonzalez of Jones. "I feel like once he took that first one back, it felt like he took all that energy from Carolina away, just turned everybody up. It was great to see him make those plays because he works so hard. But we all know what he's capable of and it was awesome to see it."
Jones leads the league in punt return average at 28.9 yards per return.
The Patriots are also one of only two teams that have a returner that ranks in the top five in the league in return average on punts (Jones) and on kickoffs. Patriots' RB Antonio Gibson ranks fourth in the league in kick return average at (29.3) thanks largely to a 90-yard kick return for a touchdown at Miami in a Week 2 victory.
"I talked about that throughout training camp and how those return units need to be a weapon for us," said Vrabel. "We've got the one kickoff return, but to be able to do that on the punt return, fantastic effort by Marcus and everybody else out there. I think a lot of that was just his own individual will, skill and effort. Again, that has to be a weapon. It was something that we felt like could be one through this season."
New England also almost blocked a Carolina punt near the end of the first half.
Meanwhile Buffalo is still shuffling through personnel on special teams. They'll have their third new punter so far this season playing this week in Mitch Wishnowsky, after veteran punter Cameron Johnston suffered foot and ankle and will be out for some time.
They also made primary return man, Brandon Codrington, a healthy scratch last week and used receivers Curtis Samuel on kick return and Khalil Shakir as their primary punt returner.
Head coach Sean McDermott said he got some of what he was looking for with the personnel changes but added that production in the return game isn't all on the returner. It's the 10 others blocking as well.
"We've looked at (what we got in this game), and we'll continue to talk about it," said McDermott. "I think those conversations will continue probably through the week here."
The Bills should continue to expect teams to be aggressive on special teams as opponents try to find an edge to help them hand Buffalo their first loss of the season.
5. A White Out at Highmark Stadium
The Bills will dawn their Cold Front' jerseys under the lights at Highmark Stadium on the Sunday night stage. The sleek white uniforms were a part of Nike's Rivalries series.
The design is a representation of Buffalo—a city that owns the cold. The winter-themed uniform is white with metallic and blue accents. The shoulders feature an icy, metallic Buffalo decal that has become a favorite part of the uniform for many. The helmet is also white with a frozen, metallic stripe down the middle and has shiny flakes on the overlay.
The design process took around two years. Bills Director of Design Aaron LaPorta said the theme had to reflect the weather.
"The clear choice was to celebrate our region's climate, especially when it comes to later in the season," LaPorta said.
A lot of their inspiration came from past snow games and the animal their named after.
"A lot of the imagery was just some of our snow games, a lot of bison and snowstorms," said Bills graphic designer Sean Pantling. "Just how that snow sticks to the tough to their fur, how it kicks up when we're running through the snow, when there's snow on the field, and just the explosions of snow, and trying to capture that."
Since the Bills are rocking white, we are also asking Bills Mafia to wear white. Sunday will be a full-stadium White Out at Highmark Stadium. Show up in white from head to toe to match your favorite players and show your support for the Bills! White Rally Towels presented by Wegmans will be handed out upon entry. Wegmans will also have Limited Edition Rivalries game apparel available in-store for purchase (Buffalo, Rochester, Southern Tier and Syracuse locations only).
