New England Patriots @ Buffalo Bills Prediction & Preview

The New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills will renew their AFC East rivalry this week when the Patriots travel to Buffalo for the first of two meetings between the division rivals in 2026.

The matchup will mark New England’s first visit to Buffalo’s new Highmark Stadium, which opened this year. The Bills will return the trip later in the season, with Buffalo scheduled to visit Gillette Stadium on December 6.

The two teams have split the season series in each of the last three years, continuing what has become a much more competitive rivalry in recent seasons. In 2025, the Patriots defeated Buffalo 23-20 in a Sunday Night Football thriller in Buffalo on October 5, before the Bills responded with a 35-31 victory at Gillette Stadium on December 14.

This week’s meeting will be the 134th all-time matchup between the AFC East rivals. New England enters with an 80-52-1 advantage in the series and has won 39 of the 52 regular-season meetings between the teams since 2000.

The Patriots have also enjoyed considerable success when travelling to Buffalo, holding a 39-27-1 all-time record on the road against the Bills.

Buffalo is actually the opponent New England has beaten more times than any other team in franchise history. The Patriots’ 80 victories over the Bills are three more than their 77 wins against the New York Jets.

The rivalry has not always been as closely contested as it is today. New England dominated the series during the 2000s, winning 15 consecutive games against Buffalo from 2003 through 2010. That streak, which included seven straight series sweeps, remains tied for the longest winning streak against a single opponent in Patriots history, alongside their 15-game winning streak over the Jets.

Buffalo finally ended that run in dramatic fashion in 2011, defeating New England 34-31 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

The Patriots-Bills rivalry has produced plenty of memorable games over the decades. The series dates back to 1960, and the two teams experienced an especially dramatic stretch between 1999 and 2001, when four of their six meetings were decided in overtime.

With both teams once again competing near the top of the AFC East, the latest chapter in this long-running rivalry promises to add another significant moment to a series filled with history.