3 bold predictions for Bills vs. Patriots in Week 16

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for the Buffalo Bills.

In Week 14, despite Josh Allen becoming the first player in NFL history with three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns in the same game, Buffalo saw its seven-game winning streak come to an end in a 44-42 defeat to the Los Angeles Rams.

This past Sunday, of course, the Bills found themselves in a second straight shootout, this time against the NFC-leading Detroit Lions.

Behind yet another strong outing from Allen, who accounted for more touchdowns and is pretty much a lock to win NFL MVP, the Bills came out on the right side of things this time around, ending Detroit's franchise-record 11-game winning streak with a 48-42 win.

While there are no guarantees at this point in the season, the Bills should have a far easier time of things in Week 16, as they'll welcome the three-win New England Patriots to Orchard Park on what's expected to be a frigid and possibly snowy Sunday afternoon at Highmark Stadium.

While some might see this as a "trap game" kind of a situation, it's hard to see the Patriots — who've lost four straight and have given up at least 25 points in each game — being much trouble for a Bills team that's put up 90 points in the last two weeks and averages 31.2 points per game.

This is the first of two matchups between these teams over the next three weeks, as they'll meet again on the final day of the regular season, which could be a big day for the Bills as they may be playing for the No. 1 seed in the AFC depending on how the Kansas City Chiefs fare in their next couple of games.

But let's not look too far ahead. For now, let's get into a few predictions for the Bills in this Week 16 matchup with the Pats.

Josh Allen will cool off, but will still account for a pair of touchdowns

Josh Allen has put up some absurd numbers the last two weeks, throwing for 704 yards and five touchdowns with zero interceptions and adding another 150 yards and five scores on the ground.

Allen will still have a solid enough day against the Pats, but he won't need to play the Superman role this week.

As the weather conditions could be similar to what they were a few weeks back when the Bills hosted the San Francisco 49ers, it stands to reason that Allen won't pass the ball nearly as much as he has in the past two weeks.

Against the Niners, he threw just 17 passes, completing 13 of them for 148 yards. His numbers might not be that low, but we'll calling for him to not reach 200 passing yards. That said, though, he'll still throw a touchdown pass and will also find the end zone on the ground for a sixth straight week while rushing for 50-plus yards.

James Cook will hit a season-high in rushing yardage

If we're predicting that Allen won't be slinging the football around, that naturally means we're calling for the Bills to utilize the running game far more than they have in recent weeks.

The Patriots have struggled against the run at times this season and have allowed 127.4 rushing yards per game, the 12th-most in the NFL. Arizona Cardinals running back James Conner exposed some of New England's flaws in this area this past week, rushing for 110 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries.

We're seeing James Cook having the same type of outing against the Pats this Sunday. On that snowy night against the Niners, he rushed for 107 yards, falling just four short of the season-high 111 he racked up against the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8.

We're predicting that Cook will surpass that season-high on Sunday against New England with at least 125 yards and a touchdown.

The Bills' defense will get its act together and hold the Patriots to under 15 points

While the Buffalo offense has been incredible the last two weeks, the Bills defense has been absolutely atrocious, allowing an average of 43 points and 502 total yards per game.

But that was against the high-octane offenses of the Rams and Lions.

Bobby Babich's unit should have a much easier go of things against a New England offense that averages the third-fewest yards per game (292.5) and the second-fewest points (17.0).

As such, we're predicting the Bills will hold the Patriots to under 15 points. It might not be by much, as we'll call for a 31-14 Buffalo victory, but it'll still be a nice confidence booster for this group.