Patriots vs Bills: times, how to watch on TV and stream online

The Buffalo Bills will play their first game since Damar Hamlin’s collapse when they host the New England Patriots in a game that sees the Pats’ playoff hopes hang in the balance.

When does the Patriots vs Bills game start?

The game between the Patriots and the Bills starts on Sunday, January 8th, 2023, with kickoff at:

How to watch Patriots vs Bills

The following television channels and online services will be broadcasting Patriots vs Bills:

Patriots vs Bills preview

It is almost impossible to view this game outside of the prism of the collapse of Damar Hamlin last week and what sort of emotional toll that will have on the Bills and their fans.

With any sort of life-altering injury, those closest to the player will be forgiven for reacting, whether that is by collapsing inside or by rallying to “win one for the Gipper”. But Hamlin’s collapse, and the subsequent cancelling of the game, has altered the AFC landscape in a fundamental way.

Heading into the Bengals game, Buffalo was the top seed, with home field advantage guaranteed throughout the playoffs. Now they are the second seed, and will need to win their way into a home field situation.

On the other side of the ball, the Patriots are in a do-or-die contest. If they win, they scrape into the seventh Wild Card spot. Lose, and it becomes nearly impossible to get into the playoffs. They would need the Dolphins, Titans, and Steelers to all lose, and that is a tall order on any week, much less the final one of the season.

There are historical hurdles here, in the same way that Tom Brady, for all his greatness, was stymied again and again by the New Orleans Saints, the bugbear for Belichick and the Patriots, for all of their dominance over the last two decades, has been Josh Allen. He is 5-1 against the Pats and looks for all the world like he owns them.

New England has the feel of a dynasty in the last days of their reign, decadently crumbling, however elegantly. Buffalo, on the other hand, bears all the hallmarks of a young pretender on the rise, tomorrow’s superpower.

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