[KChiefs1]

Buffalo (10-4) at New England (11-3)

Saturday, 1 p.m. ET

From the Bills’ side (by Matt Fairburn)

What I’m watching: How will Josh Allen handle this Patriots’ defense? In the Week 4 matchup between the teams, Bill Belichick had Allen twisted into knots for much of the game. Allen threw three interceptions and fumbled once before J.C. Jackson knocked him out of the game. Allen has looked better since and will have rookie running back Devin Singletary at his disposal this weekend. Given that the Patriots just got gashed on the ground by Joe Mixon, Singletary could play a significant role for the Bills in Foxborough.

The Bills win if: Allen and the offense can score enough points against New England’s defense. We know Sean McDermott and Buffalo’s defense can handle Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense. In five games between the Bills and Patriots since McDermott took over, Brady has thrown three touchdowns and five interceptions while averaging 216 yards passing per game. Buffalo’s defense will give the team a chance to win this game. If Allen doesn’t allow the environment or the opponent to rattle him, the Bills should have a chance to win this game. But that’s a big if.

Game prediction: Patriots 20, Bills 16

The Bills are slowly closing the gap between them and the Patriots, but it’s difficult to pick against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick when they’re playing in Foxborough in December. Buffalo is a tempting upset pick, but I’ll side with the team that is more experienced with winning crucial late-season games. These two teams haven’t had a matchup this interesting in quite some time.

Super Bowl meter: The Bills are locked into a playoff spot and have their first 10-win season since 1999. In some ways, that feels like the Super Bowl for this town given how much the Bills have struggled since 2000. While it might be a year early to be considering the Bills as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, anything can happen once you’ve got a ticket to the dance. A win against the Patriots would certainly move the needle on the Super Bowl meter.

From the Patriots’ side (by Nick Underhill)

What I’m watching: The battle between the Patriots’ offense and the Patriots’ offense. No, that’s not a typo. New England is its own biggest enemy right now. People are running the wrong routes, passes are off the mark, the blocking has been subpar. All these things need to be fixed before the opponent even matters. And, yeah, the guys who will be trying to slow the Patriots are as good as it gets.

The Patriots win if: The defense keeps the Bills off the scoreboard and/or the Patriots can score 20 points. It’s pretty much been the same answer every week for a while now.

Game prediction: Patriots 17, Bills 14.

This one is probably going to be ugly, just like the first time they played. New England always seems to get a short field at some point during the game. It might need a couple this week to win.

Super Bowl meter: The Patriots are the Patriots. There are plenty of reasons to doubt, but their name is their name. Until someone double taps them and makes sure they aren’t getting up again, you have to assume they’ll keep coming.