Patriots Vs Bills rivalry heading into the game

In the AFC Wild Card playoff round, the New England Patriots will face a familiar opponent in the Buffalo Bills. The AFC East foes have met 124 times in the past six decades, but Saturday’s showdown will be only their second postseason meeting.

The December game in Buffalo was marred by high winds and cold weather. The Patriots rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns to post a 14-10 victory on Monday Night Football. New England rookie quarterback Mac Jones only threw the ball three times for 19 yards.

Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills took the second meeting of the season 33-21 in Week 16.

As these teams prepare to battle for the 125th time, let’s look back at some of the rivalry’s most memorable moments, selected by NFL Nation reporters Mike Reiss and Alaina Getzenberg.
Sept. 16, 1973: O.J. Simpson’s record-breaking day.
Hall of Fame running back O.J. Simpson began his fifth NFL season with a historic performance against the Patriots. The then 26-year-old running back rushed for 250 yards on 29 carries, setting an NFL single-game record for rushing yards on the ground. His two touchdowns helped Buffalo defeat New England 31-13.

The star running back rushed for 219 more yards and a touchdown in his second meeting against the Pats on Dec. 9, when the Bills won again, 37-13.

Simpson’s 1973 season, when he rushed for 2,003 yards, went down in the history books. It was the first time a player reached the 2,000-yard rushing mark, making it a season mark at the time.

December 18, 1994: The Patriots scored 38 straight points over the Bills.

Bills quarterback Frank Reich (now coach of the Indianapolis Colts) led one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, leading his team from a 35-3 deficit to victory against the Houston Oilers in the 1992 AFC Wild Card round. He also played a role in an epic collapse his team suffered against the Pats two years later.

Reich and the Bills built a 17-3 lead over New England in the second quarter, but the Pats finally woke up. They scored 38 unanswered points after a three-touchdown day by Drew Bledsoe and forced the Bills into five turnovers. What started as a 17-3 lead for Buffalo ended in a 41-17 rout.

September 7, 2003: The “Lawyer Milloy Game.”
The 2003 season opener between these teams will forever be known as the “Lawyer Milloy Game.” Five days before this showdown, the Patriots released the deep veteran for salary cap reasons. Former Patriots quarterback Bledsoe was also on the Bills’ roster in 2003. After the emergence of Tom Brady, New England traded Bledsoe to Buffalo for a 2003 first-round pick in April 2002.

The Bills signed Malloy after his release and both players played a role in their team’s drubbing of Brady and the Patriots. Bledsoe threw for 230 yards, a touchdown and an interception, helping the Bills take a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. Milloy finished with a catch and five tackles, and helped force one of Brady’s four interceptions in the 31-0 victory.

“It feels good,” Milloy stressed about winning the game. “But it feels good in a positive way, not as a personal vendetta. I could sit here and throw names around and beat them up, but they know.”

November 18, 2007: Brady showed no mercy.

Dec. 28, 2008: Running against the wind
Prior to last month’s windy showdown between these two teams, Buffalo’s 2008 regular-season finale was a more turbulent affair.

Winds of up to 75 mph reportedly caused damage to the roof of the Bills’ practice field house and damaged both goal posts before the game. It was so strong that field workers tied the end zone goal posts together with ropes to re-center them before kickoff.

Despite the wind gusts, the game continued as planned. New England, which was without Brady due to an ACL injury that year, threw the ball eight times in the duel. The Patriots rushed 47 times for 168 yards and a touchdown, implementing a game plan much like last December under similar conditions.

New England recorded a 13-0 victory, and they forced a Buffalo turnover.

The Patriots missed the playoffs that year despite finishing with an 11-5 record.