The Patriots will clinch the AFC East if they beat the Bills in Week 15.
Drake Maye and the Patriots beat Josh Allen and the Bills in October. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
The New England Patriots will have a chance to clinch the AFC East on Dec. 14 when they host the Buffalo Bills in an anticipated rematch at Gillette Stadium.
But, the clash between two of the top teams in the AFC reportedly isn’t going to be pushed into a primetime slot.
According to WBZ’s Dan Roche, the NFL has decided to keep the Patriots vs. Bills game in the 1 p.m. slot on CBS when New England returns from its bye week. Tuesday stood as the deadline for the league to move that game, with the NFL opting to keep that Week 15 bout in the early afternoon.
The Patriots are riding a 10-game win streak after taking care of the Giants on Monday Night Football, with Mike Vrabel’s team set to enjoy some time off on the bye for Week 14.
But, there will be plenty at stake for the Patriots once Josh Allen and the Bills arrive in Foxborough.
With New England currently holding a 2.5-game lead over Buffalo in the standings, a win on Dec. 14 would ensure that the Patriots would finish no worse than 12-5 on the year — while also holding the tie-breaker over an 8-5 Bills squad by beating them twice in regular-season action.
The Patriots started to assert itself as a legitimate contender in a wide-open AFC when they went into Buffalo and defeated the Bills, 23-20, off a last-minute field goal from Andy Borregales.
Given the stakes involved coming out of the bye week, Vrabel stressed on Tuesday that his players can’t become complacent during their well-earned time off.
“That we’re not done. We’re not satisfied,” Vrabel said of his message to his players. “I think champions are never satisfied. I think you can appreciate where you are, but at the same time, never be satisfied or complacent. The fine line between rest and recovery, and just being sedentary. So, there’s a fine line of what we have to do to be able to come back in here, understand that just because you have a bye, that doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed some victory the next week in this league.
“Teams are 16-12 coming off a bye this year, so obviously the bye doesn’t guarantee anything other than we should get some guys back that we didn’t have last night, and we’ll see where that goes throughout the week. Give them some time to reconnect with people that they care about, and then also be ready to focus on football and us finishing this thing.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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