Patriots can clinch playoff berth and AFC East title with win over Bills

Buffalo (9-4) at New England (11-2)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, CBS.

BetMGM NFL odds: Bills by 1.

Against the spread: Bills 6-7; Patriots 8-4-1.

Series record: Patriots lead 80-51-1.

Last meeting: Patriots won 23-20 in Buffalo on Oct. 5, 2025.

Last week: Bills beat Bengals 39-34; Patriots beat Giants 33-15 on Dec. 1.

Bills offense: overall (2), rush (1), pass (11), scoring (5t).

Bills defense: overall (10), rush (28), pass (2), scoring (14).

Patriots offense: overall (8), rush (21), pass (2), scoring (7)

Patriots defense: overall (7), rush (3), pass (14), scoring (5)

Turnover differential: Bills minus-1; Patriots plus-1.

QB Josh Allen. The eighth-year starter is coming off an outing in which he passed for three touchdowns and scored another rushing while rallying Buffalo from a 10-point deficit in the final eight minutes. Allen has combined for three or more touchdowns seven times this season — all wins — and is looking to atone for a sloppy two-TD and two-turnover outing in Buffalo’s loss to New England in Week 5.

QB Drake Maye. The second-year standout enters this week first in the NFL with a 71.5 completion percentage and 111.9 passer rating. He's also second in the NFL in yards passing (3,412). Since 1970, three quarterbacks have led the league in yards, completion percentage and passer rating in the same season: Tom Brady in 2007, Kurt Warner in 2001 and Ken Anderson in 1974.

Allen and RB James Cook vs. Patriots run defense. The Patriots have been stingy against the run all season and come in allowing opponents only 89.5 yards per game on the ground. But the Bills have been great running the ball over their last two games. Against Pittsburgh in Week 13, Cook (144 yards) led the offense in an outing that saw Buffalo rack up a season-high 249 rushing yards. In their win over Cincinnati the following week, the Bills had 183 yards rushing – including 78 and a touchdown by Allen.

Bills: Buffalo is getting healthier with RT Spencer Brown (right shoulder) expected to return after missing two games. ... DE Joey Bosa (hamstring/wrist) has a chance to return after he resumed practicing on a limited basis after missing one game. ... LB Terrel Bernard’s status remains uncertain after missing two games with an elbow issue.

Patriots: Rookie LT Will Campbell won't play for the second straight game after he was placed on injured reserve Nov. 26 with a knee injury. ... LG Jared Wilson began the week as a full participant after sitting out last week with an ankle injury. ... RB Terrell Jennings started the week in the concussion protocol.

The Patriots’ 80 wins over the Bills are their highest total against any opponent. ... New England is 41-24 all-time at home against Buffalo, including 18-5 at Gillette Stadium. ... The last time the Bills have been swept by a division foe was in 2019, Tom Brady’s last season in New England, when the Bills lost both games to the Pats.

The Patriots will clinch both the AFC East title and a playoff berth with a victory, ending Buffalo’s streak of five consecutive division titles. ... Including the playoffs, Buffalo is 12-12 on the road since 2023 and 3-3 this season. ... Buffalo is one win shy of its seventh consecutive season with 10 or more victories. ... Bills coach Sean McDermott improved to 95-49, moving ahead of John Madden and Mike McCarthy for the most regular-season wins among NFL coaches in their first nine years. McDermott is one win shy of matching Paul Brown, while George Seifert leads the list with 106. ... Allen improved to 6-0 this season and 38-7 overall when not committing a giveaway. The quarterback also extended his NFL record with his 50th game in which he has scored a TD on a pass and a run. ... RB James Cook topped 100 yards from scrimmage for a 10th time last weekend, but also lost a fumble -- his third of the season. The turnover came in the red zone, marking the fifth time the Bills have coughed up the ball inside an opponent’s 20 this season. The previous four giveaways were Allen interceptions. ... TE Dawson Knox had season highs with six catches and a team-leading 93 yards -- the third most of his seven-year career -- against the Bengals. ... CB Christian Benford scored on a 63-yard interception return against Cincinnati and a week after scoring on a 17-yard fumble return. He became Buffalo’s first player to score on TD returns in consecutive games. ... Buffalo has scored on a return in three straight, with Ray Davis’ 97-yard kickoff return in a 23-19 loss at Houston. ... The Patriots can also clinch a playoff berth with several combinations of tie and losses involving multiple teams. ... New England hasn’t won the AFC East since 2019, its final in a streak of 11 consecutive titles from 2009 to 2019. ... An 11th consecutive victory would be the third-longest single-season streak in team history. The Patriots have had streaks of at least 11 wins in a season two previous times: a 12-game streak in 2003 and a 16-game streak in 2007. ... A victory would give the Patriots their 14th 12-win season in team history. ... Mike Vrabel can become the third head coach since 1970 to record a winning streak of 11 or more games in his first season with a team, joining Jim Caldwell (14 consecutive wins with Indianapolis in 2009) and Steve Mariucci (11 with San Francisco in 1997). ... New England is the first team in NFL history to win 10 consecutive games with at least 23 points scored and 23 or fewer points allowed in each game. ... WR Stefon Diggs leads the team with 64 receptions and 705 receiving yards. ... TE Hunter Henry entered the week second on the team with 610 yards receiving. He needs 65 yards to set a single-season career high. ... LB Harold Landry leads the Patriots with 7 1/2 sacks.

Look for the ball to go to Diggs a lot in this one. He posted a season-high 10 catches for 146 yards in the Patriots’ victory in Buffalo in Week 5. That was also Diggs’ season high for catches and yards.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen runs for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)

New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye rolls out during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Members of Congress clashed Thursday over President Donald Trump’s use of the National Guard in American cities, with Republicans saying the deployments were needed to fight lawlessness while Democrats called his move an extraordinary abuse of military power that violated states’ rights.

Top military officials faced questioning over the deployments for the first time at the hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. They were pressed by Democrats over the legality of sending in troops, which in some places were done over the objections of mayors and governors, while Trump's Republican allies offered a robust defense of the policy.

It was the highest level of scrutiny, outside a courtroom, of Trump's use of the National Guard in U.S. cities since the deployments began and came a day after the president faced another legal setback over efforts to send troops to support federal law enforcement, protect federal facilities and combat crime.

“In recent years, violent crime, rioting, drug trafficking and heinous gang activity have steadily escalated,” said Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the committee chairman. The deployments, he said, are “not only appropriate, but essential.”

Democrats argued they are illegal and contrary to historic prohibitions about the use of military force on U.S. soil.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., had pushed for the hearing, saying domestic deployments traditionally have involved responding to major floods and tornadoes, not assisting immigration agents who are detaining people in aggressive raids.

“Trump is forcing our military men and women to make a horrible choice: uphold their loyalty to the Constitution and protect peaceful protesters, or execute questionable orders from the president,” said Duckworth, a combat veteran who served in the Illinois National Guard.

During questioning, military leaders highlighted the duties that National Guard units have carried out. Troops are trained in community policing, they said, and are prohibited from using force unless in self-defense.

Since the deployments began, only one civilian — in California — has been detained by National Guard personnel, according to Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of U.S. troops in North America. Guillot said the troops are trained to de-escalate tense interactions with people, but do not receive any specific training on mental health episodes.

“They can very quickly be trained to conduct any mission that we task of them,” Guillot said.

In one exchange, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, noted how former Defense Secretary Mark Esper alleged that Trump inquired about shooting protesters during the George Floyd demonstrations. She asked whether a presidential order to shoot protesters would be lawful.

Charles L. Young III, principal deputy general counsel at the Defense Department, said he was unaware of Trump’s previous comments and that “orders to that effect would depend on the circumstances.”

“We have a president who doesn’t think the rule of law applies to him,” Hirono said in response.

Republicans countered that Trump was within his rights — and his duty — to send in the troops.

Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy of Montana, a former Navy SEAL officer, argued during the hearing that transnational crimes present enough of a risk to national security to justify military action, including on U.S. soil.

Sheehy claimed there are foreign powers “actively attacking this country, using illegal immigration, using transnational crime, using drugs to do so.”

Senators also offered their sympathies after two West Virginia National Guard members deployed to Washington were shot just blocks from the White House in what the city's mayor described as a targeted attack. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom died a day after the Nov. 26 shooting, and her funeral took place Tuesday. Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe is hospitalized in Washington.

A federal judge in California on Wednesday ruled that the administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials, but also put the decision on hold until Monday. The White House said it plans to appeal.

Trump called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops in June without Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval to further the administration’s immigration enforcement efforts.

The move was the first time in decades that a state’s National Guard was activated without a request from its governor and marked a significant escalation in the administration’s efforts to carry out its mass deportation policy. The troops were stationed outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles where protesters gathered and were later sent on the streets to protect immigration officers as they made arrests.

Trump also had announced National Guard members would be sent to Illinois, Oregon, Louisiana and Tennessee. Other judges have blocked or limited the deployment of troops to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago, while Guard members have not yet been sent to New Orleans.

Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin contributed to this report.

Members of the National Guard patrol in front of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)