The Buffalo Bills (13-3) are 3.0-point favorites against the New England Patriots this week in the regular season finale. The game will air at 1 pm on CBS and will be played at Gillette Stadium. The Bills have a chance to win their 14th game of the season and have already announced Josh Allen will see minimal playing time.

Here are some additional notes for this week's game:

• The Bills are 5-0 in the AFC East and have a chance to sweep New England for the third time this century (2020. 2022)
• The Patriots have lost six straight games
• The Patriots secure the No. 1 overall pick with a loss

ESPN

Bills storyline to watch: The Bills are locked in to the No. 2 seed in the AFC, so the game will feature a mix of the team's typical starters and players whom the team wants "to take a look at as well," per coach Sean McDermott. Quarterback Josh Allen will start the game to maintain his consecutive starts streak (currently 104 games), but then Mitchell Trubisky will take over. The goal for the Bills, according to McDermott, is to win the game and come out of the week as fresh and healthy as possible for the postseason. -- Alaina Getzenberg

Patriots storyline to watch: Patriots coach Jerod Mayo says rookie quarterback Drake Maye is expected to start and that the team is playing to win despite having pole position for the No. 1 pick in the draft. A win would open the possibility that the Titans, Browns or Giants could wind up with the top pick depending on what happens in their games in Week 18. -- Mike Reiss

Stat to know: The Bills have had 12 games this season with 30-plus points, tied for the second most in a season in NFL history behind the 2013 Broncos (13). -- ESPN Research

Bold prediction: Bills running back Ty Johnson will record at least four receptions. With Buffalo able to rest starters in Week 18, that should clear the way for more playing time for Johnson, the team's third-string back. And he has shown he's capable of making an impact in the passing game, most notably in Week 15 when he caught five passes for 114 yards against the Lions. -- Walder

What's at stake: The Patriots have a 78% chance to earn the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, per ESPN's FPI. They can secure the top pick with a loss.

Fantasy X factor: Bills running back Ray Davis. He could lead the Bills' backfield with Buffalo already locked into the No. 2 seed. Remember Week 6 when Davis had 23 touches and 18.2 fantasy points when James Cook was out? This week, he has a great matchup against a Patriots defense that has given up the third-most RB rushing yards. See Week 18 rankings. -- Moody

Betting nugget: Overs are 6-1 in Patriots home games this season, and 7-1 in the Bills' past eight games overall.

Kahler's pick: Bills 21, Patriots 17

Moody's pick: Bills 20, Patriots 19

Walder's pick: Bills 19, Patriots 16

FPI prediction: BUF, 78% (by an average of 11.5 points)

Vinnie Iyer | Sporting News

The Bills plan to give Josh Allen and the starters a brief cameo in the game, as they're locked into the No. 2 seed for the AFC playoffs. Buffalo can still dominate with Mitchell Trubisky, its deep running game, and endless pass rush while New England limps to the finish line with a seventh consecutive loss.

Pick: Bills win 23-13 and cover the spread.

Around the NFL | NFL.com

Why Brooke picked the Patriots: Having already locked up the No. 2 seed in the AFC, the Bills will play a blend of starters and backups against the Patriots, head coach Sean McDermott said earlier in the week. Josh Allen will extend his streak of consecutive starts to 115, most in franchise history, but the MVP candidate isn't expected to play much, so we should see a healthy dose of Mitchell Trubisky. Perhaps the biggest storyline driving this contest is the fact that New England can clinch the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with a loss. That said, I don't expect the Pats to roll over, as they nearly knocked off the Bills two weeks ago. QB Drake Maye, who will start on Sunday, has thrown at least one TD pass in eight consecutive games and is building a nice rapport with his supporting cast despite the Pats losing six straight. Could fellow rookie Joe Milton III make his NFL debut? It's tough to pick a game with so many moving parts. That said, I'll go with the Pats ending the season on a high note, even if it means losing draft positioning as a result.

Bill Bender | Sporting News

The Bills are slight favorites on the road even though they should rest quarterback Josh Allen with nothing to gain as the No. 2 seed. The Patriots would get the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with a loss. It's a tough call knowing New England is on a six-game losing streak and has allowed 31.3 points per game the past three weeks.

Pick: Bills 24, Patriots 20

Mike Florio & Chris Simms | Pro Football Talk

The Bills likely will pull starters. The Pats have a chance to end the season on a not-so-low note.

Florio: Patriots, 20-13.

Simms: Patriots, 20-17.

Pete Prisco | CBS Sports

The Bills will rest guys here to get ready for the playoffs. The Patriots played the Bills tough two weeks ago, so what's to think they won't play their backups even better this time? Look for Drake Maye to have a nice day as the Patriots' first-team group wins it.

Pick: Patriots 24, Bills 23

Anthony Dabbundo | The Ringer

Josh Allen is set to start this game in order to maintain his consecutive games played streak, but it appears that the Buffalo starters will play for only one glorified walk-through drive on Sunday. Drake Maye was limited in Wednesday's practice due to a hand injury, but the Patriots intend to play all of their starters.

Currently, the Patriots hold the no. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft. As with the Giants last week, the organization's decision-makers may not prioritize winning, but the players on the field will still be giving their best come kickoff on Sunday.

I'm not entirely convinced that the Patriots, at full strength with Maye, should be considered underdogs against a Buffalo team of backups. When these two teams faced off in Orchard Park two weeks ago, New England had two successful drives and took a 14-0 lead against the Bills defense. Although Buffalo managed to come back to win the game, the spread was high then and now it seems to be too favorable toward Buffalo.

There is still a chance that the Patriots may choose not to play Maye. There's also a possibility that the Patriots make an organizational decision to hold on to the first pick by starting Maye for part of the game, then replacing him with Joe Milton midway through. Due to the uncertainty of playing time for New England's quarterbacks, I am leaning toward New England.

Verdict: Lean Patriots +2.5

Bleacher Report

The Buffalo Bills are locked into the AFC's No. 2 seed for the playoffs, so it makes sense that they're only favored by a field goal over the New England Patriots.

Head coach Sean McDermott told reporters he will use a "blend" of starters and backups.

Josh Allen and most of the Bills' offensive starters may not play in the second half or into the second quarter.

Remember, the Patriots only lost by a field goal to the Bills in Buffalo two weeks ago. That said, New England head coach Jerod Mayo spoke about the possibility of resting players to minimize the risk of injury.

Because of the uncertainty regarding player workloads, this game is a tough call, but O'Donnell made a case to back the Patriots.

"The Bills will pull Josh Allen very quickly after what should be no more than a ceremonial start. At the time of this writing, we don't know if the Patriots will sit Drake Maye to protect him and/or better their chances of locking up the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft. Maybe the teams agree to play to a tie. I don't know.

"You can't tell the 22 guys on the field each snap not to do their jobs, though, and I'm just going to take the points and hope for the best here."

Predictions

Davenport: Bills

Gagnon: Patriots

Hanford: Patriots

Knox: Patriots

Michelino: Bills

Moton: Patriots

O'Donnell: Patriots

Sobleski: Patriots

ATS Consensus: Patriots +3

Score Prediction: Patriots 22, Bills 17

Rohit Ponnaiya | Covers.com

With a 13-3 record, the Buffalo Bills are locked into the No. 2 seed and have nothing to play for in Week 18. Star quarterback Josh Allen has talked about how much his consecutive starts streak of 115 matters to him, so expect him to start before quickly coming off the field.

Coach Sean McDermott has said that there will be a blend of starters and backups playing this week. That will make it hard for the Bills to win let alone cover as short road faves.

On the surface, the New England Patriots might also lack motivation since a defeat would mean they secure the No. 1 pick in the draft. That said, getting a young team to tank is never quite as simple as some fans would like. There are plenty of inexperienced and fringe starters on this New England squad who are fighting for their jobs and head coach Jerod Mayo could use a positive end to a bumpy season.

Keep in mind that when these teams clashed at Highmark Stadium just two weeks ago, the Patriots outgained the Bills 379-324 and lost by just three points. And that was with Buffalo still trying to win games.

The Patriots have been terrible on both sides of the ball but they've been playing better on offense since Drake Maye took over at QB.

Meanwhile, the Bills have regressed on defense and are just 30th in the league in defensive success rate since Week 9.

I'll take a shot on the Pats winning a meaningless game against an unmotivated Bills side.