2013 · Week 17 · Division

Final

Bills

Buffalo

QB Thaddeus Lewis

20·34

Patriots

New England

QB Tom Brady

Gillette Stadium · outdoors · fieldturf · 39°F · wind 8mph

Closing spread

NE -7.5

Total

46.5

Model margin

+0.1est.

NE perspective

Push chance

None

half-point line — cannot push

Win probability

  • Patriots
  • Bills

How each play moved the game.

Patriots winsBills wins

Matchup

Where the edges are

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

Billsedge mapPatriots
  • -0.076EPA / play+0.062
  • 39.7%Success rate46.7%
  • -0.107EPA / dropback+0.153
  • -0.037EPA / rush-0.078
  • 8.5%Explosive rate8.3%
  • -3.82CPOE-1.37
  • 33.7%Third-down rate37.9%
  • 54.5%Red-zone TD rate60.0%
  • 1.33Points / drive2.05
  • 2.3%Turnover rate1.7%

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. NE are 31-21-3 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

Bills

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Thad Lewis16/2924710

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
C.J. Spiller191055.50
Fred Jackson14604.31
Thad Lewis242.00

Patriots

Passing

PlayerC/AttYdsTDINT
Tom Brady14/2412211

Rushing

PlayerCarYdsAvgTD
LeGarrette Blount241897.92
Stevan Ridley12746.20
Shane Vereen231.50
Tom Brady4-3-0.80

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 +7.54.4%2.9%7.3%7.4%2.9%4.4%2.7%

Positive margins favour Patriots; negative favour Bills.

Half-point at risk

1.92%

outcomes that flip if the line moves 0.5

Model home win

49.4%

Expected total

43.3est.

Model

Where the number comes from

Each component is additive, in points of expected margin.

  • Team ratings (opponent-adjusted EPA)+0.76
  • Home-field advantage+2.49
  • Quarterback adjustment-3.13
  • Rest differential0.00
  • Expected margin+0.12