The 8-3 Buffalo Bills will look to keep pace in the AFC East Thursday night when they take on the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Amazon Prime.
Most “Thursday Night Football” games thus far this season have left a lot to be desired. We’re expecting that to change with New England likely set to put up a fight as the home team looks to move to 7-5 and remain very much alive in the division race.
Buffalo is coming off a ho-hum 2-2 span that has seen Josh Allen struggle big time under center. Meanwhile, New England has yielded a total of six points in its past two home dates. Below, we provide three bold predictions for this game to open the NFL Week 13 schedule.
Related: Sportsnaut’s updated NFL power rankings
New England Patriots get to Josh Allen for two interceptions
Over the course of the first six games of the season, Allen was playing at an MVP clip. That span saw him tally 19 total touchdowns compared to four interceptions en route to leading the Buffalo Bills to a 5-1 mark.
Something has changed since. Whether it’s his lingering shoulder injury or something else, Allen simply has not been the same quarterback over the past five games.
- Josh Allen stats (past five games): 60% completion, 1,203 passing yards, 9 total TD, 7 INT
To put this into perspective, Allen had thrown just nine interceptions over his past 12 games dating back to last season. It’s not a coincidence that Buffalo was 9-3 during that span and has posted a mere 3-2 mark over its past five games.
It’s not going to help going up against an elite-level Patriots pass defense that has picked off 12 passes while yielding a mere 78.8 QB rating in the process. We fully expect both rookie Jack Jones and stud veteran Jonathan Jones to pick off Allen in this one. The two have combined for five interceptions on the campaign.
Related: New England Patriots schedule and game-by-game predictions
Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary puts up first 100-yard game of the season
Buffalo attempted to make a huge deal ahead of the Nov. 2 NFL trade deadline to bring in a true RB1 and take some of the pressure off Allen in the backfield. Acquiring Nyheim Hines from the Indianapolis Colts was not that type of move.
Instead, the Bills have relied a bit more on Singletary in recent weeks. In fact, the former third-round pick from Florida Atlantic has compiled 158 rushing yards on 32 attempts over the past two games. In the three outings prior to that, he ran the ball just 35 times.
With Allen struggling through the air and set to take on a dominant Patriots pass defense, we expect the Bills to find more balance in this one. Despite the Patriots’ status as a top-eight run defense, look for Singletary to put up his first 100-yard rushing game since back in Week 17 of the 2021 season and just his third since entering the NFL in 2019.
Related: Buffalo Bills schedule and game-by-game predictions
New England Patriots QB Mac Jones puts up another flawless performance in upset win
Prior to going down to injury in Week 3, Jones was among the most mistake-prone quarterbacks in the NFL. The former first-round pick threw five interceptions in his first three starts. But since returning from the aforementioned injury, he’s been a completely different quarterback. It has New England hopeful of earning a second consecutive playoff appearance with the young signal caller leading the charge.
- Mac Jones stats (past five starts): 71% completion, 982 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 95.2 QB rating
In last week’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings, Jones completed 28-of-39 passes for 382 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Statistically speaking, it was the best single-game performance of his young career. Look for Jones to come close to replicating this Thursday night en route to leading the New England Patriots to an upset home win.