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It's easy to pass over this game thinking the Pats have it in the bag and Buffalo is done for the season. But the Bills are 8-6 and still very much in the Playoffs picture while the Patriots are fighting to secure a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
We'd be remiss in failing to point out that the Bills have never beaten Tom Brady in Foxborough when he's played an entire game.
They are also a +11.5 underdog though New England has only beaten the Bills by more than that number in four of the last ten meetings. They did so in the last two however.
For Buffalo and its fans, this game will mean almost everything and a win in Week 17 coupled with a victory against New England this week should provide the Bills a ticket to their first Playoff game in 17 years.
"I spend very little (time on the playoff picture)," first-year Buffalo coach Sean McDermott said earlier this week. "I'll say this -- I'm proud of the fact that our guys have earned the right to be in that conversation, and I'm happy for our fans. To continue to grow and improve, we have to focus on what's in front of us, and that's us getting better as a team, and then the New England Patriots."
Sadly for Bills fans, based on the NFL Betting Power Ratings, the New England -11.5 is shaded a little under a line that should be closer to -13.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
