The Bills have won the AFC East each of the past five years. A loss Sunday in New England would return the division title to the hands of the Patriots.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — As far as regular season games go, the stakes don’t get much higher than this Sunday in Foxborough.

“We have an opportunity to put ourselves in a better position with going out there and playing in a really hostile environment against a really good team that’s playing extremely well right now,” said Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

The Bills wrestled away the AFC East from the Patriots in 2020 and have won the division five times in a row. 

RELATED: Bills announce their uniform combination for Sunday’s game at New England

However, Buffalo trails New England by two games going into Sunday, so a win at Gillette Stadium is absolutely necessary to keep hopes alive of a sixth straight division title. 

“Certainly one of our goals every year,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said.

“I think we understand as a team what’s at stake,” Allen said. 

The first time these two teams met came back in October in Orchard Park. The Patriots handed the Bills their first loss of the season, 23 to 20, the marquee win for the Patriots in their current 10-game win streak. 

The Bills turned the ball over three times in that game, a recipe they know can’t happen again this Sunday.

“I think if we, we don’t turn the ball over, we’re a pretty good offense,” Allen said.

“A lot of mistakes that we made on our part,” said wide receiver Josh Palmer about Buffalo’s Week 5 loss to New England. “Can’t win the game turning over the ball, so it’s not really about them. It’s about the Bills and what we have to do to be able to win every week… Faceless, nameless opponents, how I see it, how we see it in the receiver room, so it’s just focusing on our game plan and doing the right things that we’re supposed to do.

And just like this past week between Joe Burrow and Josh Allen, Allen going against one of the MVP favorites in Drake Maye is sure to give fans another thrilling matchup.

“It’s a privilege to go against some of these guys in the NFL and to really even just play in the league,” Allen said. “Just making sure that we understand what the other side is capable of. Points are at a premium, so making sure that we’re holding on to the football and not giving their offense short fields because they’re doing a, a great job with that.”Â