Bills–Patriots rivalry
American football rivalry / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Bills–Patriots rivalry is an American football rivalry between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Both teams are members of the East division of the American Football Conference (AFC) and play two games against each other annually. The series debuted in 1960 when both were charter members of the American Football League (AFL). The two clubs have combined for seventeen AFL or AFC championships, the most of any two teams in the AFC East.[lower-alpha 1] In addition, either the Patriots or Bills have won the AFC East division in 28 out of 35 seasons since 1988.[lower-alpha 2]
First meeting | September 23, 1960 Bills 13, Patriots 0 |
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Latest meeting | December 31, 2023 Bills 27, Patriots 21 |
Next meeting | December 22, 2024 |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 129 meetings[1] |
All-time series | Patriots, 78–50–1 |
Postseason results | Tied, 1–1
Bills 47, Patriots 17 |
Largest victory | Patriots: 56–10 (2007) Bills: 45–10 (1970) |
Longest win streak | Bills: 9 (1971-1975) Patriots: 15 (2003–2010) |
Current win streak | Bills, 1 (2023–present) |
Playoff and Championship Success | |
AFL Championships (2)
Super Bowl Appearances (15)
AFL Eastern Division Championships (4) (1960–1969) AFC East Divisional Championships (32) (1970–present)
AFC Wild Card Berths (13) (1970—present) |
The rivalry has traditionally been a very competitive one (41–38–1 at the close of the 20th century, in favor of New England) with the Patriots holding slight edges in the 1960s and 1980s, and the Bills with similar edges in the 1970s and 1990s. The series then became notable for its extreme lopsidedness during the New England career of quarterback Tom Brady, whose Patriots compiled a record of 32–3[2][3][4] (3–2 in the five games he missed) against the Bills in his two decades with the franchise (the 2000s and 2010s). Until January 2021 (when Josh Allen passed him) Brady had won more games at Highmark Stadium than any quarterback for Buffalo since 2001,[5][6] and Brady beat the Bills more times in his New England career than any other team.[7]
Buffalo is 7–2 against New England in the 2020s. The Bills dominated the Patriots, 47–17, in a wild card matchup of the 2021–22 NFL playoffs that was the first "perfect offensive game" (i.e., scoring touchdowns on every drive with no punts, kicks, or turnovers) by any team in NFL history.[8][9] This was the first playoff game in the series since the two franchises joined the NFL in 1970; in their AFL days, Gino Cappelletti kicked four field goals en route to a 26–8 Boston Patriots victory to break their tie of identical regular season records in 1963.
As of 2023[update], the Patriots lead the series 78–50–1.[10]