The NFL playoffs kicked off Saturday with the Super Wild Card round when the Las Vegas Raiders squared off against the Cincinnati Bengals in Cincinnati. The night cap Saturday is an AFC East feast with the New England Patriots facing division champion Buffalo Bills.
The Bills, who won the division for a second-consecutive season, are looking to make it back to the AFC Championship, which they lost in Kansas City last year. The Patriots, which missed the playoffs last year, are hoping to make another run to the Super Bowl.
These two teams met twice in December, with the road team winning each time. The New England Patriots only attempted three passes in their 14-10 win at Buffalo on Dec. 6. Twenty days later, the Bills won, 33-21, in Foxborough.
Saturday night's game will be frigid with temperatures in single digits at kickoff and sub-zero wind chills.
New England quarterback Mac Jones, who led Alabama to the 2020 national championship, will make his playoff debut.
Here's everything to know about the Patriots-Bills game on Saturday.
New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills
Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, 8:15 p.m ET
Highmark Stadium
Records: New England (10-7); Buffalo (11-6)
Referee: Brad Allen
TV: CBS
National Radio: Westwood One
SIRIUS: 82 (NE), 81 (Buf.), 88 (National)
XM: 225 (NE), 227 (Buf.), 88 (National)
SXM App: 821 (NE), 803 (Buf.)
Favorite: Buffalo (-4.5) — According to FanDuel
Over/Under: 43
Weather: 7 degrees at kickoff, winds at 10-15 mph
All-time head-to-head: Patriots lead 76-46-1
Playoffs head-to-head: Patriots lead 1-0 (last game in 1963)
All-Time Playoff records: New England (37-21, .638); Buffalo (16-18, .471)
Last postseason game:
New England — Lost, 20-13 vs Tennessee (1/4/20)
Buffalo — Lost, 38-24 at Kansas City (1/24/21)
Quick Hits
- New England coach Bill Belichick is 36-9 all-time against the Bills. Belichick has coached 43 postseason games with 31 wins, both most among head coaches in NFL history. His six Super Bowl victories are also most among head coaches in NFL history.
- Buffalo is ranked first in the league for total defense (272.8 yards allowed per game) and scoring defense (17 points allowed per game), yet no Bills defensive player was named to the Pro Bowl.
- The New England defense is second in the NFL with 23 interceptions.
- The Bills are ranked fifth in NFL in total offense (381.9 yards per game) and third in points per game (28.4). They're the only NFL team ranked in the top five in both scoring offense and defense.
- Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen passed for 4,407 yards and 36 touchdowns this season and is the first QB in franchise history with 4,000-plus passing yards in consecutive seasons.
- New England quarterback Mac Jones led all rookies with a 67.6 completion percentage, 3,801 pass yards, 22 touchdown passes and a 92.5 rating (min. 100 attempts) this season. He had a 70-plus completion percentage in nine games, tying what Dallas' Dak Prescott's record mark in 2016.
- Jones looks to become the fourth rookie since 2000 to win a road game in the playoffs, and the first since Russell Wilson in 2012.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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