File photo: Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., home of the New England Patriots. Photo: Max P / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
This Patriots vs Bills preview looks ahead to the next meeting between the two AFC East rivals: the Buffalo Bills visit the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026, at 4:25 p.m. ET, with the game listed on CBS, according to the ESPN Patriots schedule. It is Week 13, the second and final regular-season meeting of 2026, and the rematch of New England’s 29-26 win in Orchard Park on Oct. 4.
Game at a glance
- Matchup: Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (Week 13)
- Date and time: Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026, 4:25 p.m. ET
- Venue: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Mass.
- TV: CBS (per ESPN’s schedule listing; network assignments can change)
- Records as of Oct. 12: Patriots 3-2 (2nd, AFC East), Bills 3-1 (1st, AFC East)
- Last meeting: Patriots 29, Bills 26, Oct. 4, 2026, at Highmark Stadium
Kickoff is still eight weeks away, so this is an early look built on what has already happened on the field. We will update injury information only from the teams’ official injury reports during game week, and the TV slot should be rechecked closer to the date because the NFL can flex games.
Where the Patriots and Bills stand
New England is 3-2 and second in the AFC East after five games, per ESPN’s team page. The Patriots opened with a 13-10 loss at Seattle, beat Pittsburgh 20-3 at home, lost 35-6 at Jacksonville, then won 29-26 at Buffalo and 45-17 against Las Vegas. Through five games they have scored 110 points and allowed 94, an average of 22.0 points for and 18.8 against.
Buffalo is 3-1 and leads the division. The Bills won 36-31 at Houston, 41-31 against Detroit and 24-16 against the Los Angeles Chargers before the loss to New England, according to the ESPN Bills schedule. Buffalo has averaged 31.75 points per game while allowing 26.75. The Bills play the Rams on Monday night, Oct. 12, so their record will change before this post’s next update.
The most recent Patriots result was the blowout of the Raiders: see our Patriots vs Raiders recap. In that game Drake Maye completed 26 of 34 passes for 374 yards and four passing touchdowns, per the ESPN box score.
Looking back: Patriots 29, Bills 26 in Week 4
The first meeting turned on the final five minutes, per ESPN’s game summary. Buffalo led 26-21 after Josh Allen hit Keon Coleman for a 34-yard touchdown with 4:27 left (the two-point try failed). Maye answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Efton Chism III with 1:50 remaining, then threw to Rhamondre Stevenson for the two-point conversion that made it 29-26.
- Maye: 22 of 37, 269 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT; also 8 carries for 54 yards.
- Romeo Doubs: two touchdown catches (14 and 2 yards).
- Allen: 23 of 33, 253 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, plus a 2-yard rushing TD.
- James Cook III: 12 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD. Coleman: 6 catches, 116 yards.
Key stats from the first meeting
| Stat (Oct. 4) | Patriots | Bills |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 405 | 340 |
| Rushing yards (attempts) | 143 (35) | 91 (20) |
| Passing yards | 262 | 249 |
| Third downs | 5-12 | 6-12 |
| Red zone | 3-3 | 2-4 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Time of possession | 33:41 | 26:19 |
Source: ESPN box score, game ID 401872971.
Key matchups to watch
Patriots run game vs. Bills front. New England ran 35 times for 143 yards in Week 4 and held the ball for more than 33 minutes, which kept Allen on the sideline. Whether the Patriots can repeat that ball-control plan is the clearest carryover question from the first game.
Red zone finishing. The Patriots scored touchdowns on all three red-zone trips; Buffalo went 2 for 4 and settled for Tyler Bass field goals of 27 and 38 yards. In a game decided by three points, that gap mattered.
Bills explosive passing vs. Patriots secondary. Buffalo averaged 6.3 yards per play to New England’s 5.5 and got 116 yards from Coleman, including the 34-yard score. Limiting chunk plays is the Patriots defense’s main task.
Maye on the move. Maye led New England in rushing in Week 4. His scrambles and designed runs give the Bills defense one more thing to account for.
Injuries
No official injury reports exist yet for this game. NFL teams publish practice participation and game status reports during game week, so we will add them from the Patriots and Bills official reports in the week of Dec. 6. We are not listing speculative injury news here.
What to watch, and our analysis
Analysis, not a prediction of fact: the AFC East race could look very different by December. Both teams have seven more games before the rematch, including New England’s international game against Detroit in Munich on Nov. 15 and its bye. Our Patriots schedule 2026 guide walks through that stretch, and our look at the Patriots vs Bills AFC East race covers the longer rivalry. If both teams stay near the top of the division, a home win on Dec. 6 would give New England a season sweep and the head-to-head tiebreaker, under the NFL tiebreaking procedures, which use head-to-head record first for division ties between two clubs.
A 4:25 p.m. kickoff in Foxborough in early December can mean cold, wind and darkness by the second half; check our Boston weather coverage that week. For roster details, stats and the full schedule, see our New England Patriots page and the Boston Sports hub.
We have not included a betting line because no current line from a named sportsbook was verified at publish time. This preview will be updated with injury reports and the confirmed broadcast window during game week.
Sources
- ESPN: New England Patriots 2026 schedule (accessed Oct. 12, 2026)
- ESPN: Buffalo Bills 2026 schedule
- ESPN: Patriots 29, Bills 26 box score and scoring summary (Oct. 4, 2026)
- ESPN: Patriots 45, Raiders 17 box score (Oct. 11, 2026)
- ESPN: Patriots team page and record
- NFL Football Operations: tiebreaking procedures
- Wikimedia Commons: Gillette Stadium Foxborough (CC BY 2.0)