The Bills–Patriots rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.
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. In addition, either the Patriots or Bills have won the AFC East division in 28 out of 35 seasons since 1988.
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 32–3Alek Arend. "Tom Brady’s Record Against The Buffalo Bills Is Ridiculous". The Spun by Sports Illustrated, December 21, 2019. Accessed January 18, 2022. (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,Tom Brady career splits from Pro Football Reference and Brady beat the Bills more times in his New England career than any other team."Tom Brady Now Has Now Beaten Every Team In The NFL". CBS Sports, October 4, 2021. Accessed January 18, 2022.
Buffalo is 9–5 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.Jeff Kerr. "Bills become first team in NFL history to pitch a 'perfect' offensive game in playoff win over Patriots". CBS Sports, January 16, 2022. Accessed January 19, 2022. 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.
The Patriots lead the overall series, 81–52–1. The two teams have met twice in the playoffs, winning one each.
NFL record games Single-game rushing record On September 16, 1973, O. J. Simpson of the Bills broke the all-time professional football single-game rushing record in this rivalry game against the Patriots.Thomas Rogers. "Simpson's 250 Yards Set N.F.L. Rush Mark". The New York Times, September 17, 1973. Accessed January 19, 2022. Simpson rushed for 250 yards, breaking the record set by Willie Ellison of the Rams in 1971. In the same game, Simpson became the all-time leading rusher for the Bills franchise, and was described after the game as having "more yardage than Secretariat" by Patriots linebacker Edgar Chandler. Chuck Fairbanks, coaching his first game for the Patriots, described Simpson looking "like Grant going through Richmond." Fullback Larry Watkins also rushed for over 100 yards for the Bills, as the team racked up 360 rushing yards for the game."Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots - September 16th, 1973". Pro-football-reference.com. Accessed January 22, 2022. The Bills defeated the Patriots by a score of 31–13.
The perfect offensive game The Bills dominated the Patriots in this rivalry's first playoff game in over 58 years, their first as NFL teams, and their first after the Boston Patriots changed their location name to New England, by a score of 47–17 in the wild card round of the 2021–22 NFL playoffs. This went into record books as the first "Perfect Offensive Game" by any NFL team as the Bills, led by Josh Allen, scored touchdowns on every drive of the entire game without any punts, kicks, or turnovers. Allen threw more touchdowns than incomplete passes as the Bills gained 480 yards on just 51 snaps.John Wayrow. "Allen-led Bills throttle division rival Patriots, 47-17". Yahoo, January 15, 2022. Accessed January 20, 2022.Mark Daniels. "Bills blast Patriots as QB Josh Allen throws five touchdowns in 47-17 rout". USA Today, January 16, 2022. Accessed January 20, 2022. USA Today remarked the game "served as another reminder that the Bills own the AFC East in these post-Tom Brady years", while Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon observed that "it wasn’t one drive, one play or one single player. It was everything. It was the whole game." Bills defensive tackle Harrison Phillips opined the game's statistics sounded "like some Pop Warner stuff." It was Patriots' second-worst loss of the 21st century, the three worst of which were all suffered in the Bills–Patriots rivalry.Alexandra Francisco. "No Team Has Beaten Patriots As Badly As Buffalo In Bill Belichick Era". NESN, January 15, 2022. Accessed January 21, 2022.
History 1960–1969: The AFL days The Bills and Patriots played for the first time in a preseason game during the first season of the American Football League on July 30, 1960. The game was played at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, and the Patriots won the game 28–7. The teams met for their first regular season game during Week 3 of the inaugural season of the American Football League in 1960. The game was played at Nickerson Field at Boston University on Friday, September 23, 1960. The Bills scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters and shut the Patriots out 13–0.
The two teams met for their first playoff match in the AFL divisional game in December 1963. The Patriots won 26–8. In this game, Jack Kemp played quarterback for the Bills and Gino Cappelletti made four field goals and two extra points to help lift the Patriots to victory.
Throughout the remainder of the decade, the teams would complete a 12–9 record in favor of the Patriots. The Bills won the AFL championship game in 1964 and 1965 and won the division in 1966. The Patriots lost to the San Diego Chargers in their only AFL championship appearance in 1963.
1970–1979: Post-merger and O. J. Simpson
Both teams were placed into the AFC East after the AFL–NFL merger. The Bills sustained a winning streak of 9 games from 1971 to 1975. The two teams played a pair of highly competitive games in the 1974 season. The Bills withstood a late Patriots rally at Rich Stadium to win, 30–28. Two weeks later, the Bills edged the Patriots, 29–28, when a last-second field goal attempt by the Patriots was blocked.
Two years after his NFL record rushing game in this rivalry against the Pats, Simpson again had one of the most dramatic games of his career on November 23, 1975, against the Patriots. Simpson scored four touchdowns (including two passes from Joe Ferguson) as the Bills won, 45–31. Patriots rookie Steve Grogan threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted three times.
1976 was Simpson's final year in Buffalo; on October 24 Simpson rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns in a 26–22 Patriots win. Two weeks later, on November 7, Simpson was held to just eight rushing yards before being ejected following a scuffle at midfield; Patriots rookie Mike Haynes ran back a second quarter punt 89 yards for a touchdown, the first such touchdown in Patriots history. The Patriots won the game, 20–10, completing their first season sweep of the Bills since 1968.
The Bills would go on to win the decade, 12–8.
1980–1989 The 1980s was a better decade for the Patriots, as they won the decade series 13–6. The Patriots also completed their own 11-game winning streak over the Bills from January 1983 to September 1988. The Bills began to rebuild their team in the late 1980s with the additions of Jim Kelly at quarterback, Thurman Thomas as running back, Andre Reed as a receiver, Bruce Smith on defense, and Marv Levy as coach. The Bills bested the Patriots to win the AFC East division four years in a row from 1988 to 1992. During the final stretch of the 1980s, the Bills took three out of four meetings with the Patriots.
1990–1999: Kelly and Flutie vs. Bledsoe
The Bills would regain their edge in this decade, winning it 12–8. In the 1990 season, the Bills reached the Super Bowl for the first time, in Super Bowl XXV.
The Bills continued to dominate the Patriots in the early 1990s, winning eight of the first nine games, including five straight. New England, however, made the rivalry more competitive with the addition of Drew Bledsoe as quarterback and the hiring of Parcells as head coach. The Bills also saw many of their Super Bowl players leave during this time period. By the end of the 1990s, the Bills led the decade with 12 wins to the Patriots' 8 wins. Throughout the decade, the two teams combined to win the AFC East six times, with the Patriots reaching the Super Bowl in 1996 and the Bills reaching the Super Bowl in 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993.
The decade saw several memorable games between the two. On September 11, 1994, Buffalo led 28–14 at the half and 35–21 at the start of the fourth quarter after Mike Lodish grabbed a Patriots fumble at the New England goalline. The Patriots scored two touchdowns to tie the game, but Buffalo won 38–35 after Steve Christie booted a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
Late that season the Bills hosted the Patriots. Buffalo was 7–7 while the Patriots were 8–6. The Patriots erased a 17–3 gap by scoring 38 unanswered points. Frank Reich, replacing Jim Kelly, was intercepted twice and the Bills fumbled three times; Ricky Reynolds ran back a Buffalo fumble for a touchdown. The 41–17 Patriots win eliminated Buffalo from the playoffs.
1996 was Jim Kelly's last season; his Bills won 17–10 on September 8 on a 63-yard touchdown throw to Quinn Early and then on a last-second goal line stand. On October 27, the Bills had an 18–15 lead at the two-minute warning; Curtis Martin ran in a ten-yard score, then Willie McGinest intercepted Kelly and ran in a 46-yard touchdown, but Kelly then completed a 48-yard touchdown off two Patriots defenders to Andre Reed; the onside kick failed and the Patriots won 28–25.
The 1998 season saw the return of Doug Flutie, who'd been Patriots quarterback in 1988–89; he replaced Rob Johnson as Bills quarterback after Buffalo started 1–3. Flutie led the Bills to win four of his first five starts, including a 13–10 victory over the Patriots at Rich Stadium on November 15. However, on November 29 in Flutie's return to Foxboro Stadium, the Patriots, despite a broken index finger for Drew Bledsoe, rallied to a controversial last-second touchdown to Ben Coates and a 25–21 Patriots win that was aided by a pass interference penalty against the Bills as time expired. The play was set up by what had appeared to be a failed 4th-down conversion by the Patriots, as Bills defenders alleged the referees had said "just give it to him". The Bills players and staff were so upset that they walked off the field in protest before the PAT attempt, prompting Patriots coach Pete Carroll to go for two.
2000–2009: The Tom Brady era, Part I
The 2000s was the most lopsided decade for the rivalry to date. On November 5, 2000, Flutie and the Bills defeated the Patriots and new head coach Bill Belichick at Foxboro Stadium 16–13 in overtime. But after this the Patriots won 18 of the next 19 against the Bills.
This decade also saw several notable personnel changes. Following New England's 2001 championship year, Drew Bledsoe was traded by New England to Buffalo in 2002. Lawyer Milloy was then cut after the 2003 preseason and was immediately signed by Buffalo. Doug Flutie, released by the Bills after 2000, joined the Patriots by way of the San Diego Chargers in 2005.