New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills playing for something that has not been on the line since 2002
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It’s been a while since the New England Patriots have played a Week 16 game that mattered so much.
Usually by now, the Pats have clinched the AFC East, secured a bye and, in most years, have the No. 1 seed locked up as well.
When the Buffalo Bills come to town Saturday, none of that will be true.
The game will have a different feeling and not just because it’s on a different day of the week. For lack of scheduling and competition, the Patriots haven’t played a Week 16 game against an AFC East opponent with a realistic chance of winning the division since 2002.
It’s not something the Patriots needed to be reminded of.
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“It’s what we’re here for,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “You work all year to put yourself in a position to play in a game like this where you can win the division. You couldn’t say that in Week 4 or Week 6 or Week 8, whatever it was. We’re saying that now. Now’s the time for us to coach and play our best football. That’s what we’re all here for.”
“Definitely an exciting time of year,” said Patriots running back James White. “There’s a lot at stake for both teams and I see it being a good football game. It’s a division game so it’s already amped up more than usual just by being a division game. They’re a good football team, they’re well-coached and it’ll be a challenge for us.”
The Patriots are in the driver’s seat for every possible thing they could want to play for except home field throughout the playoffs. They’ll need to win their final two and have the Baltimore Ravens lose this week and next week to claim that.
Outside of that, New England can earn the No. 2 seed and the all-important bye with a pair of wins. A loss to Buffalo on Saturday would give Kansas City a chance to get the bye instead. It also would mean the Patriots would need to win next week at home against Miami or have Buffalo lose to the New York Jets in order to clinch the AFC East.
The last time two teams in contention for the AFC East played with the division title up for grabs was 2002 when the 8-6 Pats lost to the 7-7 Jets, who won the following week and won the AFC East via a tiebreaker with the Patriots and Dolphins.
Only two people from that 2002 Patriots team remain — Belichick is one, Tom Brady is the other, and you don’t have to remind the quarterback of what Saturday means.
“Everybody puts a lot into it and it’s for moments like this,” Brady said. “You work out all offseason, you train to be a part of these games and this is a big game against a very good team. This is what it’s all about. This is why we’re here to play in games like this.”
The last time the AFC East Championship hats and T-shirts were handed out in Week 16 was 2009, when the 9-5 Patriots beat the 7-7 Jacksonville Jaguars. In 2008 — the Matt Cassel at quarterback season, when Brady was out with a knee injury — the 10-5 Patriots beat the 7-8 Bills to finish tied with Miami for first but didn’t take the AFC East or make the playoffs because of tiebreakers.
That doomsday scenario is out. The Patriots have secured a playoff berth but a loss Saturday would be detrimental to any championship hopes. If it were to be followed by a loss to a Miami team very familiar with how the Patriots work — the Dolphins are coached by former Pats assistant Brian Flores — it would not give New England the ending it wants heading to the playoffs.
So, yeah, Saturday is kind of a big deal.
“You try and approach it like you approach every week,” wide receiver Julian Edelman said. “Have a good week at practice, work on constantly improving, go into the game and try to execute your best. That’s what we’re going to do.”
