Action Network/Getty Images. Pictured: Josh Allen (left) and Drake Maye.
The Buffalo Bills (13-3) and New England Patriots (3-13) will face off in NFL Week 18. Kickoff is set for in 1:00 p.m. EST from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. The game will be broadcast live on CBS.
The Bills are favored by -3 with the game total set at 38 (-112o / -110u). The Bills are -150 favorites to win outright, while the Patriots are +125 to pull off the upset.
Drake Maye will start for New England, which currently holds the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft barring a win over Buffalo’s backups Sunday. Joe Milton could still see some action despite Maye starting, with the Patriots having nothing to play for. The Bills have already locked up the No. 2 seed and will be playing primarily second-stringers, but Josh Allen will still start the game to uphold his consecutive start streak.
Let’s get into my Patriots vs Bills predictions and NFL picks.
My Bills vs. Patriots best bet is on the over. For all of your NFL bets, be sure to find the best lines by using our live NFL odds page.
I’ll pass on betting this spread. We don’t have much information on how much of Josh Allen we’ll see, so I’ll shift my bet to the total.
While I’m not looking to bet either side, I’m looking to fade both of these defenses.
The Bills allowed 21 points at home to these Patriots two weeks ago and gave up 40 in the two previous weeks. New England’s defense, meanwhile, is so bad that I think Buffalo gets at least two touchdowns.
My Pick: Over 36.5 (-110)
Obviously, this is a difficult game to handicap. We don’t have concrete information on how long we’ll see Josh Allen or Drake Maye, or how much of the Bills’ starters we’ll see in general.
Mitch Trubisky is likely to take most of the snaps under center for Buffalo, but it sounds like Mike White is going to see some action, as well. It sounds like the Bills are going to treat this one as a glorified preseason game.
Maye, meanwhile, is questionable due to a hand injury. Head coach Jerod Mayo has said his team will be playing to win the game, although Patriots fans might be rooting for Buffalo with New England entering the final week of the regular season in possession of the No. 1 overall pick.
So, that’s not much help.
The only sure thing about this game is that the Patriots are not a good football team. Are they better than the Bills’ backups, though?
I’d love to say we should find a way to bet on Maye here. He has shown impressive flashes during his rookie season, and the Bills defense isn’t playing very well down the stretch.
I’m going to do just that — but not by betting on the Patriots.
New England allowed 40 points to the Chargers last week and is going to be without CB Christian Gonzalez this week. Whoever is under center for Buffalo should be able to lead the offense to points.
As of Saturday afternoon, this total was 36.5 points across the board. Our experts, Sean Koerner and Chris Raybon, have this total projected at 39.5 and 38 points, so I’m playing the over up to 37.
Obviously, it’s not ideal to bet an over when you aren’t 100% sure who’s going to be under center. Neither defense is trending upward, though, and there are clear skies in the forecast despite winds in the mid teens.
Plug your nose and bet this over up to 37.
My Pick: Over 36.5 (-110)
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