The final week of the regular season is here. The Bills will finish it out with a game on the road against the Patriots.
Here are three storylines to follow ahead of Sunday.
đź“ť1. The plan for the starters
The Bills and Patriots head into Week 18 with some interesting factors that could impact who starts on Sunday.
Buffalo has already secured the No. 2 seed in the playoffs thanks to their 40-14 victory over the Jets in Week 17. New England would have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft with a loss to the Bills on Sunday.
That begs the question, what will both teams do with their starters?
Bills head coach Sean McDermott announced quarterback Josh Allen will make the start but won't play long.
"In Josh's case one of the things that that we know is very, very important to him is his consecutive starts streak," McDermott shared. "And it's important to him for a great reason. He wants to be out there with his teammates. So, he will be out there for a very, very short-lived amount of time and then he'll be off rather quickly there."
According to McDermott, Allen won't be the only starter playing on Sunday.
"What we're going to do is you'll see some starters out there playing, and you'll see some other players who we want to take a good look at," McDermott said. "So, it'll be a blend of both."
When it comes to deciding who those starters will be, McDermott said they will try to be aware of everything as some players are close to hitting important milestones.
"We're trying to be aware of anything and everything under the sun," McDermott said. "Look, some of these things are important from a team organizational standpoint. And then also for guys who have worked so hard to get to be just toeing the line on some things at this point.
So, we're going to try to be aware of it and do the best we can."
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo spoke to media on Monday. When asked about the possibility of sitting rookie quarterback Drake Maye to ensure his health for the offseason, Mayo said they are looking into everything.
"I would say right now, everything is in consideration," Mayo said. "We'll see how the week goes."
Mayo added he wants his players to be ready to go.
"My expectation is if the guys are healthy, then they're expected to be ready to go out there and play," Mayo explained.
đź“Š2. Best turnover margin in NFL since 2012
The Bills lead the NFL with a +23 turnover margin. It's the best in the league by far because the next best team is the Steelers at +15.
It's not just the best in the league this season, it's the best in the league over the last 10 years. If the Bills finish the regular season with a +22 turnover margin or better, it'll be the highest turnover differential in the NFL since 2012 when the Patriots finished with +25.
Buffalo is proud of the number because of how it relates to winning games.
"There's very few, if any, stats that correlate more with winning or losing for that matter," McDermott said. "So, it's a week-to-week thing, it really is. We don't take it for granted…it's one thing to work it, but to carry it from practice into the game with that type of mindset. That's what it is, it's a mindset. So, we've done a phenomenal job of it. Josh (Allen) has led the effort on the offensive side of the ball and been very intentional about making great decisions this year."
Allen has thrown only six interceptions this season, the third least in the league among quarterbacks who have played in 16 games. Allen has also had 11 games this season with zero interceptions.
McDermott said the coaches do a great job of emphasizing the type of mindset that has led to such an impressive turnover margin. Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady said he spends a lot of time preaching the importance of protecting the football.
"It's hard to lose football games when we protect it," Brady said. "And I wish I could say it's coaching, it's the guy with the ball in his hands, and it's important to him. And when the guy that's making the decisions, makes the correct decisions, everything else takes care of itself."
Defensive coordinator Bobby Babich said talking about takeaways starts at the beginning of every week.
"We talk about it constantly, just about taking the ball away and opportunities to do that," Babich said. "Then we emphasize it in practice. We show the whole defense when we take it away in practice. We're just constantly talking about it. It's not just me, it's the coaching staff and the players."
Buffalo has 31 takeaways so far this season, which puts them in a tie for most in the league. The Bills have had 11 games with at least two takeaways and five games with at least three takeaways.
3. A chance to go undefeated vs. AFC East
The Bills are undefeated against the AFC East so far this season (5-0). With a win over the Patriots, the Bills would finish the regular season with a 6-0 record against their division.
It would also be Buffalo's ninth straight win in the division because they won the final three games against the AFC East to close out the 2023 regular season.
It would be the first time Buffalo's gone undefeated against the division since 2020.
It would also be Bufalo's third straight win against the Patriots in the regular season and Allen's eighth win against New England in his career.
Since 2020, Allen is 24-5 against the AFC East. The QB has 70 touchdowns and 7,306 passing yards in those 29 games.
