Bills vs. Patriots NFL Week 18 scores, stats, highlights and updates

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Many of us – fans and media – will call Sunday’s regular-season finale at Gillette Stadium a meaningless game for the Buffalo Bills.

That means nothing in the overall standings. The Bills clinched the AFC East a long time ago, and last week they finished their AFC playoff berth at No. 2, so a win or loss against the hapless New England Patriots will have no impact.

However, with many of the frontline players having most or all of the day off, this is a great opportunity for backup players, many of whom are young and trying to establish themselves as NFL players, to show what they can do. The game will have great meaning for them.

Sign up for the Bills Blast newsletterDelivered straight to your inbox, additional billing analysis, insights, stats, quotes and team history from Sal Maiorana

“It’s going to be a mix of guys that are normally out there and then a mix of some guys that we want to look at as well,” coach Sean McDermott said.

McDermott’s only regret is that he doesn’t get to watch more players. All of the reserves on the 53-man roster who are active for the game are expected to play, but ideally he would like to call up a number of players from the 16-man practice squad for the dual purpose of protecting more starters and see what the convocations can achieve.

“I really wish we could sign every player on the practice squad for this game … but they don’t allow that,” McDermott said of the fact that teams can only promote two players per week. “They’re trying hard, they’re working extremely hard and they deserve it – they’ve all earned the right to play this week. It’s a shame they can’t play because of numbers.”

So when you watch the game, pay attention to how the Bills’ strong players perform because at some point in the future, perhaps as early as the 2025 season, these are players who could become future starters.

Who will the Bills play in the playoffs?Scenarios for facing the Bengals, Broncos and Dolphins

Stay here throughout the day for updates:

Several starters on the Bills’ inactive list

The Bills will sit out wide receiver Amari Cooper, defensive backs Taron Johnson and Christian Benford, linebacker Terrel Bernard, defensive linemen DaQuan Jones, Ed Oliver and Greg Rousseau and offensive linemen Dion Dawkins for Sunday’s game at New England.

And as we know, several players will only make cameo appearances, including quarterback Josh Allen.

Active players include safety Damar Hamlin, who has missed the last three games with a rib injury. It’s uncertain how often he’ll play, but it might be wise to give him some snaps because he needs to get some rust off.

Cole Bishop has handled his role admirably, but heading into the playoffs, there’s still a chance that Sean McDermott has more faith in Hamlin to start than the rookie.

The Patriots are also sitting out two starters, tight end Hunter Henry and star cornerback Christian Gonzalaz.

Bills name two linemen from practice squad

Defensive end Casey Toohill and offensive guard Will Clapp were the two players the Bills called up from the practice squad on Saturday.

Ideally, the Bills would prefer not to have anyone playing in their starting offense. With Clapp drafted, they could theoretically use him and Alec Anderson at guard, Sedrick Van Pran-Granger at center, and Ryan Van Demark and Tylan Grable at tackle.

However, some of the starters have to be disguised in case of injury. You can assume that this will likely be Spencer Brown, O’Cyrus Torrence and David Edwards.

On the defensive line, Toohill will get reps on the sidelines along with Dawuane Smoot, Javon Solomon and possibly Von Miller. Miller is just one sack away from earning a $1.5 million bonus, and the Bills could give him a chance to earn it with some limited third-down snaps.

The Bills also announced Saturday that wide receiver Amari Cooper will not play and he was not allowed to make the trip to attend to a personal matter. There was no announcement about what it was about.

Bills vs. Patriots preview stories

It’s impossible to predict with so many personnel decisions up in the air for the Bills. Playing against the “B” team for most of the day would be a sign that New England could certainly win, especially since its players will be trying to get better before the offseason when so many things will change and Many of them could change to perform well in terms of film and play for new teams in 2025.

Still, the Patriots are so lacking in talent that it’s not crazy to think the Trubisky Bills could go into half-empty Gillette Stadium and do just enough to win. I’m going to base my choice on this: The Bills don’t need the game, it’s a divisional opponent and they’re usually competitive, and the Patriots gave them a tough test in Buffalo because the Bills are playing their senior team and have to win the game.

When is the Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots game?

Date: Sunday, January 5th
Time: 1 p.m
Location: Gillette Stadium

Who is the favorite to win the Bills vs. Patriots game?

Betting line: Bills -3
Over-Under: 38.5
Money line: Bills minus 155 (bet $155 to win $100) and Patriots plus 130 (bet $100 to win $130).

Who announces the Bills vs. Patriots game?

Play by Play: Spero Dedes
analyst: Adam Archuleta
Side reporter: Aditi Kinkhabwala

∎ Cable/Network TV:CBS. The game will be available locally on the following stations: WROC-Channel 8 (Rochester area), WIVB-Channel 4 (Buffalo area), WTVH-Channel 5 (Syracuse area), WKTV-Channel 2 (Utica area), WENY Channel 2 (Elmira area). , WRGB-Channel 10 (Albany area) and WBNG-Channel 12 (Binghamton area).

∎ Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service. However, you can’t cast the games to your TV, you’ll have to watch them on your phone or tablet.

∎ TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.

On the radio: How to listen to the Bills vs. Patriots game

You can listen to SiriusXM satellite radio on channel 385 (Bills feed) and channel 230 (Patriots feed), and on traditional radio, the Bills Radio Network has stations across the state. Chris Brown is in charge of play-by-play, Eric Wood is the analyst and Sal Capaccio is the sideline reporter. The network includes:

Breaking News

Dellupodisabato

Leave a Reply Cancel reply