2003 · Week 1 · Division

Final

Patriots

New England

QB Tom Brady

0·31

Bills

Buffalo

QB Drew Bledsoe

Ralph Wilson Stadium · outdoors · astroplay · 72°F · wind 15mph

Closing spread

BUF -1

Total

44.5

Model margin

-0.3est.

BUF perspective

Push chance

2.2%est.

Win probability

  • Bills
  • Patriots

How each play moved the game.

Bills winsPatriots wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

Season-long league percentiles for both sides, mirrored. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge.

Patriotsedge mapBills
  • -0.043EPA / play-0.117
  • 40.7%Success rate39.7%
  • +0.048EPA / dropback-0.140
  • -0.161EPA / rush-0.085
  • 7.5%Explosive rate7.4%
  • 37.4%Third-down rate31.3%
  • 47.0%Red-zone TD rate42.0%
  • 1.42Points / drive1.19
  • 2.2%Turnover rate3.2%
  • -0.159EPA / play allowed-0.087

Bar length is league percentile, already oriented so longer is better. The saturated side of a lopsided row holds the edge; rows within ~12 points are washed as even.

The rivalry

NE lead 39–16 since 1999

Meetings average 42.9 points. BUF are 21-31-3 ATS in the series.

Previous meetings
SeasonMatchupScoreWinner
2025 · W15BUF @ NE3531BUF
2025 · W5NE @ BUF2320NE
2024 · W18BUF @ NE1623NE
2024 · W16NE @ BUF2124BUF
2023 · W17NE @ BUF2127BUF
2023 · W7BUF @ NE2529NE
2022 · W18NE @ BUF2335BUF
2022 · W13BUF @ NE2410BUF

Box score

Individual performances

Patriots

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Tom Brady14/2912304
Rohan Davey3/63100

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Kevin Faulk10626.20
Antowain Smith671.20

Bills

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Drew Bledsoe17/2823011

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
Travis Henry28863.12
Sammy Morris2147.00
Joe Burns242.00
Drew Bledsoe100.00

Where this game is likely to land

  • Model
  • Smooth (normal)
  • Betting line

Probability of each final margin. Football scoring clusters — the spikes at 3 and 7 are real, and a smooth model misses them.

line +12.7%4.5%3.0%7.4%7.3%2.9%4.4%2.7%

Positive margins favour Bills; negative favour Patriots.

Half-point at risk

2.15%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

48.2%

Expected total

42.0est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)-2.89
  • Home-field advantage+2.56
  • Quarterback adjustment0.00
  • Rest differential0.00
  • Expected margin-0.33