This Week
The New England Patriots host their AFC East Rival Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Patriots (12-3) are 6-1 at The Razor, 4-1 against the AFC East and 9-2 in the conference. The Bills (6-9) are 1-6 on the road, 1-4 vs. the AFC East and 4-7 against the conference.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 11. The OVER/UNDER is 51.
My Prediction is Patriots 36, Bills, 24. Give the points (Patriots) and take the over. I am 9-5-1 against the spread and 11 of 15 on calling the over/under in 2011.
Tickets
The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 191st consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.
Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.
After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.
Getting to the Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.
Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking information and map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good.
And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
CBS in televising the game regionally and Don Criqui will do play by play while Randy Cross will provide the game analysis. You can look here for your local affiliate.
See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.
The DirecTV designation is Channel 705.
Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.
Radio
The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.
If you are outside the broadcast are of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass, which allows you to listen to any game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package. They usually only carry the home team feed.
The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 93, XM Channel 226 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 879.
The Bills Radio Network has John Murphy calling the game while former Bills DB Mark Kelso provide the game analysis via their flagship station WGRF-FM. Their call is available on Sirius Channel 134 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 864.
Patriots All Access
Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in depth features on the team. It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.
- Boston MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
- Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
- Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
- Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
- Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
- Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
- Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.
You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.
To continue reading the Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots Week 17 preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
Last Week
The Patriots rallied in the 2nd half to beat the Dolphins at the Razor 27-24; while the Bills whipped Denver 40-14 at home.
History
- This is the 104th meeting between the Patriots and the Bills since they started to face each other as AFL foes in 1960.
- The Patriots lead the series 61-41-1.
- The 61 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.
- New England has won 20 of the last 23.
- The Bills won the earlier meeting this season Week 3 in Buffalo, 34-31, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots.
Patriots Team Notes
Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.
2011 Patriots Schedule/Results
The Patriots overall franchise record is 413-366-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in six appearances. They last appeared in the playoffs in 2010 when they lost at home to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 28-21. They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 2007 losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. They won the AFC Conference championship that season with playoff wins over Jacksonville and San Diego.
The Patriots are dedicating the 2011 season to the memory of Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late wife of owner Robert Kraft. Every Patriots player and coach will honor Myra’s memory by wearing a patch with her initials on it in recognition of her lifelong contributions to the local and global community and her influence on the charitable mission of the entire Patriots organization. The patch will be worn on the left chest of every player throughout the season.
Former Patriots standout T Houston Antwine passed away this week at the age of 72. Antwine played with New England from 1961-71 and made 6 consecutive Pro Bowls. His wife Evelyn passed away 24 hours later. They both died after long bouts of heart failure and lung cancer.
Former Patriot head coach and Hall of Fame WR Raymond Berry will help in the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy to the winner of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.
The Patriots 2012 opponents have been announced. They play road games at Buffalo, at Miami, at NY Jets, at Jacksonville, at Tennessee, at St. Louis, at Seattle and AFC North winner, either at Baltimore or at Pittsburgh. They will host Buffalo, Miami, NY Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Arizona, San Francisco and AFC West winner, either Denver or Oakland.
The Patriots are the defending AFC East Champions as they have won the division 9 of the last 11 seasons and 3 years in a row.
The Patriots have had two double-digit win streaks against the Bills. The latest was 15 games from December 2003 to September 2011; the other streak was 11 games from January 1983 to December 1987.
The 15 game win streak against one team was the third longest in NFL history. San Francisco had a 17 game win streak over the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams from 1990-98 and Miami had a 20 game win streak over Buffalo from 1970-79.
The Patriots are 32-19 as the home team in the series, they are 9-0 at The Razor; 17-14 in Foxboro/Sullivan/Schaefer Stadium and 6-5 in the Boston venues.
Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, New England is 73-15 at home including the playoffs.
New England has won 10 consecutive home games against Buffalo.
New England is 52-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.
New England’s largest margin of victory in the series is 46 points set in 2007.
An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.
This is the 9th straight season the Patriots have had 10 wins or more and 10th time in the last 11 years.
The Patriots defense has allowed opponents to convert 44.5% of the time on 3rd down, while the offense has a 3rd down conversion rate of 45.5%.
The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 38 times in 15 games.
The Patriots are 3rd in the NFL in points per game with 30.9. While they allow 21.4 points per game good for 14th in the NFL.
New England is PLUS 14 in turnover differential, 3rd best in the NFL. The offense has given up 11 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 19 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.
Patriots Staff Notes
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Bills.
Bill Belichick coached teams are 20-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 174-97 in 16 NFL seasons. He is 136-53 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland. He is 15-6 in the playoffs, 14-5 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season. When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 189-103.
Belichick’s 189 wins are good for 9th all-time. Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.
He is the first coach in NFL history to have his teams win 10 games or more in 9 consecutive seasons.
He was named NFL Coach of the Year for the 3rd time in 2010.
Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league. The others are current Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).
New England has only failed to make the playoffs three times under Belichick in 2000, 2002 and 2008.
Patriots Possible Starters
Offense:
LT: Solder
LG: Thomas
C: Wendell
RG: Waters
RT: Cannon
TE: Gronkowski
TE: Hernandez
WR: Ochocinco
WR: Welker
QB: Brady
RB: Woodhead
Defense:
DE: Ellis
DT: Love
DT: Wilfork
DE: Deaderick
LB: Ninkovich
LB: Mayo
LB: Fletcher
CB: McCourty
CB: Arrington
S: Brown
S: Ihedigbo
Patriots Players Notes
This is Tom Brady’s 12th NFL season he is 17-2 vs. the Bills in his career.
Overall Brady is 123-34 as a starting QB and is 14-5 in the playoffs for an overall record of 137-39. Brady is a 6 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP. He is also listed as the 21st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.
In 2010 Brady won his second NFL MVP and he was the first unanimous winner in league history.
Brady has thrown 36 TD’s and 11 INT’s while being sacked 28 times in 15 games.
Brady has 297 TD passes in his career he is now 6th all-time. Hall of Fame QB John Elway is 5th with 300.
Brady has 123 career wins he is 6th all-time. Fran Tarkenton is 5th with 124.
Brady needs 103 passing yards to be the 3rd player to ever surpass 5,000 yards passing in a season.
WR Wes Welker now has catches in 97 consecutive games including playoffs, 80 as a Patriot. The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.
TE Rob Gronkowski needs just 72 yards receiving to set a NFL record for single season yards by a tight end that is held by the great Kellen Winslow Sr. with 1,290 yards in 1980.
DE Andre Carter leads the team with 10 sacks. DE Mark Anderson has 9 on the season good for 2nd on the team.
Carter leads the defense with 22 quarterback hits, Anderson is 2nd with 13 hits.
Carter and Anderson lead the team with two forced fumbles each.
LB Rob Ninkovich and DT Vince Wilfork lead the team with 2 recovered fumbles each.
CB Kyle Arrington leads the team and is in a 3-way tie for the NFL lead with 7 INT’s.
LB Jerod Mayo leads the team in tackles with 96, CB Devin McCourty is 2nd with 87.
WR Matthew Slater leads the special teams in tackles with 17 and LB Tracy White is 2nd with 14.
Eight members of the Patriots not only made the Pro-Bowl but seven are starters.
On Tuesday the Patriots signed free agent FB Louska Polite and promoted CB Malcolm Williams from the practice squad.
On Thursday DE Alex Silvestro was released leaving an open roster spot.
On Wednesday the following players were listed on the injury report. QB Tom Brady (non-injury); G Logan Mankins (MCL) and T Sebastian Vollmer (back) did not practice. The following were limited in their participation: CB Kyle Arrington (foot); WR Deion Branch (groin); S Patrick Chung (foot); C Dan Connolly (groin); WR Julian Edelman (back); LB Dane Fletcher (thumb); S James Ihedigbo (shoulder); T Matt Light (ankle); CB Devin McCourty (shoulder); LB Rob Ninkovich (hip); WR Matthew Slater (shoulder); LB Brandon Spikes (MCL); RB Shane Vereen (hamstring); G Brian Waters (ankle); WR Wes Welker (knee) and LB Tracy White (abdomen).
On Thursday Brady was listed with limited participation for a shoulder injury, there were no other changes.
The Patriots have five New England natives on the roster they are: LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT); TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); S James Ihedigbo (Northampton MA) and DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA). They have 12 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member. They are: WR Deion Branch (Louisville); WR/TE Dorin Dickerson (Pitt); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); CB Nathan Jones (Rutgers); C Dan Koppen (Boston College – IR); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); NT Vince Wilfork (Miami), OL Donald Thomas (UConn); DE Mike Wright (Cincinnati – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College) and WR Tiquan Underwood (Rutgers).
The Patriots have 7 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.
Bills Team Notes
Here is the Bills roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.
Buffalo’s all-time record is 364-415-8 they are 14-15 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 1999 when they lost to Tennessee in the AFC Wild Card game. They last played for a conference championship in 1993 when they beat Kansas City in the AFC Title game, 30-13. They then went on to lose to Dallas in Super Bowl XXVIII. They have never won a Super Bowl title in four appearances. The Bills franchise started in 1960 in the AFL and they won two AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965.
The Bills have new uniforms this season. They look like a cross between the O.J. Simpson Era uniforms and the Jim Kelley Era uniforms and they include a white helmet for the first time since 1983. This is the first major change to the Bills uniforms since 2002.
The Bills are 0-9 all-time at Gillette Stadium. Overall as the road team in the series they are 19-32.
The Bills last won in Foxboro in 1999 when they beat the Patriots, 13-10 in Week 16 behind Doug Flutie and Thurman Thomas.
The Bills who started the season 5-2 had lost 7 consecutive games before beating Denver 40-14 last week at home.
The largest margin of victory for the Bills in the series is 35 points set in 1970.
The Bills are 21-46 vs. the AFC East since 2001.
The Bills defense has allowed opponents to convert 39% of the time on 3rd down, while the offense has a 3rd down conversion rate of 33.2%.
The Buffalo defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 24 times in 15 games.
The Bills are 14th in the NFL in points per game with 23.4. While they allow 25.7 points per game good for 27th in the NFL.
Buffalo is PLUS 4 in turnover differential, 10th best in the NFL. The offense has given up 21 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 19 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.
Bills Staff Notes
Hear what Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey had to say to the New England media about the match up.
Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey in his 2nd season with the team is 10-21 since taking over. He was previously the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons and had an 18-14 record and is 0-2 in the playoffs. His overall NFL record is 28-37 including playoffs.
Gailey is 1-3 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-2 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.
Bills Players Notes
Ryan Fitzpatrick is 1-3 vs. New England and 18-33-1 in his NFL career with St. Louis, Cincinnati and Buffalo.
Fitzpatrick was a 7th round choice of St. Louis in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Harvard.
Former UConn WR Marcus Easley was placed on season ending IR after Week 1 when it was discovered he has a heart ailment. Buffalo drafted the Stratford CT native in the 4th round of the 2010 draft.
Former All-Pro LB Shawne Merriman is out for the year he was placed on the IR in late October with an Achilles injury.
On Wednesday the following players did not practice: K Dave Rayner (groin); QB/WR Brad Smith (hamstring); G Kraig Urbik (knee); T Demetrius Bell (knee) and TE Mike Caussin (knee). WR Ruvell Martin (hamstring) was limited and RB Johnny White (concussion) had full participation.
On Thursday Martin was upgraded to full participation there were no other changes.
Buffalo’s captains for 2011 are Fitzpatrick, RB Fred Jackson, DT Kyle Williams, LB Andra Davis, P Brian Moorman and S George Wilson.
There are 6 players on the Bills roster from Big East Universities and New England based colleges. They are: TE Kevin Brock (Rutgers); QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard); RB Corey McIntyre (West Virginia); C Eric Wood (Louisville); WR Marcus Easley (UConn – IR) and DB Jon Corto (Sacred Heart – IR).
The Bills have one retired number: 12 – Jim Kelley.
Next Week
The Patriots have a playoff bye and are idle. They will next play the weekend of January 14-15, 2012 with a home game at Gillette Stadium against an opponent to be determined.
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