The fuse was lit Week 5. That’s when the Patriots and Bills first squared off. That’s when the door opened to this being one of those special must-see games each time the two teams meet.
There are rivalries. And then, there are rivalries that transcend the sport.
Patriots fans know the difference.
Think back to the Indianapolis Colts. Think back to Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. That was a next-level rivalry.
The Patriots-Bills aren’t quite there, but Week 5 served as an entree into a deeper connection between the two teams.
It fueled a dynamic duel featuring Drake Maye vs. Josh Allen.
Round 2 is on tap Sunday.
On paper, all the elements are there.
You have two contending teams who will duke it out for bragging rights in the division, and supremacy in the conference.
And, two uber-talented quarterbacks who lift their respective teams to greater heights.
Maye and the Patriots announced themselves as a team to be reckoned with the first time around with a 23-20 win in prime-time.
It’s just a matter of seeing where it goes from here. And Sunday’s game is the next chapter for this budding AFC East war.
“When you play any team twice a year, it’s kind of a rivalry,“ Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson said. ”Them, the Jets, Miami, no matter if its good teams, bad teams, it’s still a rivalry at the end of the day.
“But I would say with the Bills, you’re going to get two great quarterbacks going at it for years to come.”
Bingo. That’s the most important hook. That’s what may potentially put it over the top.
Allen has had some epic bouts against Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson.
But right now, Mahomes, Burrow and Jackson are on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs. So the path is clear for Maye and Allen to exchange aerial haymakers on Sunday, and perhaps, during the post-season.
In Round 1, Maye outdueled Allen. Ten weeks later, it’s hard imagining last year’s NFL MVP wanting that as the lasting image for 2025.
The Patriots, of course, are still on the chase. They haven’t been much of a match in recent years, but with the arrival of Mike Vrabel, are on the doorstep of overtaking the Bills and capturing the AFC East for the first time since 2019.
“This is a very good football team. There’s a reason that they’ve won this division five years in a row. A lot of respect for them,” Mike Vrabel said of the Bills. “They’re never out of it, never down, and they may be down, and just like last week, it’s a football team that understands that somebody’s going to make a play. And then the quarterback is going to give them a chance to the very end.”
The same could be said of Maye, who has led the Patriots to 10 straight wins, and a chance to overtake Buffalo for AFC East bragging rights.
Obviously, with the ascension of Maye, and Allen’s continued wizardry, this could be a juicy matchup for many years to come.
“I think it’s hard to ignore it,” center Garrett Bradbury said of the quarterback matchup. “That’s what everyone is talking about. Everyone knows what’s at stake this game. As players, though, we can only focus on the here and now.”
If the here and now produces another epic showdown, with the two quarterbacks showing off every ounce of their talent, it’ll set the stage for NFL fandom — Patriots and Bills fans in particular — craving more down the road.
Maye has often been compared to Allen because of their playing styles. But like every great opponent he faces, Maye tries to raise his game to their level, if not beyond.
“I think the great ones do,” Maye said when asked about trying to lift his game against better opponents. “I think I gotta continue to prove that. I’ve played maybe one or two prime-time matchups or matchups with great quarterbacks, great defenses, so that’s something I continue to prove every week … that’s something I hope I do every time but it’s something you gotta prove, show that to my teammates, show that to this team, show that to this organization.
“I believe in myself. I believe I can do it.”
Sunday’s game is his next chance to deliver, and further cement his place as a formidable foe, and rival, for Allen.
Brady-Manning rarely, if ever, disappointed. They never served up a dud. Now it’s Maye and Allen’s turn to take the baton.
“This will be my third time playing them. I know it’s a rivalry,” Maye said Wednesday. “I know it’s going to be a big challenge, a big game … you try not to make it too big, but any time you have a division opponent, there’s a little bit extra.”
Story by Karen Guregian, masslive.com
