The Bills will be missing a key defensive piece as they try to keep the Patriots from clinching the AFC East in New England on Sunday.
Cornerback Christian Benford is inactive for the game. Benford was added to the injury report on Thursday with a toe issue and he missed practice on Friday before being listed as questionable.
Benford had a big hand in each of the Bills’ last two wins. He returned a fumble for a touchdown and had an interception to help them beat the Steelers in Week 13 and he returned an interception for the go-ahead score against the Bengals in the fourth quarter last Sunday.
Bills at Patriots
Bills: CB Christian Benford, LB Terrel Bernard, WR Gabe Davis, S Darnell Savage, OL Tylan Grable, DT Phidarian Mathis, OL Chase Lundt
Patriots: LB Bradyn Swinson, OL Marcus Bryant, DT Eric Gregory, TE C.J. Dippre, WR Efton Chism, QB Tommy DeVito
Ravens at Bengals
Ravens: WR Rashod Bateman, CB Keyon Martin, OL Joseph Noteboom, DT Aeneas Peebles, QB Cooper Rush
Bengals: WR Tee Higgins, QB Jake Browning, S PJ Jules, DT Jordan Jefferson
Jets at Jaguars
Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, QB Justin Fields, WR Tyler Johnson, EDGE Braiden McGregor, DL Mazi Smith, TE Mason Taylor, LB Kiki Mauigoa
Jaguars: LB Yasir Abdullah, OL Walker Little, TE Hunter Long, DL Emmanuel Ogbah, DL Austin Johnson
Chargers at Chiefs
Chargers: WR Quentin Johnston, S Elijah Molden, WR Derius Davis, CB Nikko Reed, LB Kyle Kennard, OL Trey Pipkins, WR Dalevon Campbell
Chiefs: CB Trent McDuffie, WR Hollywood Brown, OT Jawaan Taylor, TE Jared Wiley, G Trey Smith, RB Elijah Mitchell, DT Zacch Pickens
Cardinals at Texans
Cardinals: CB Max Melton, WR Marvin Harrison Jr., S Jalen Thompson, S Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, OL Evan Brown, OT Paris Johnson, WR Xavier Weaver
Texans: OL Jarrett Kingston, WR Braxton Berrios, RB Nick Chubb, QB Graham Mertz, CB Ameer Speed, LB E.J. Speed, DE Solomon Byrd
Browns at Bears
Browns: CB Denzel Ward, RB Dylan Sampson, G Zak Zinter, G Wyatt Teller, T Jack Conklin, TE David Njoku, DT Adin Huntington
Bears: QB Tyson Bagent, RB Travis Homer, WR Jahdae Walker, LB Ruben Hyppolite, DE Dominique Robinson, DT Jonathan Ford
Commanders at Giants
Commanders: QB Jayden Daniels, DE Drake Jackson, OL George Fant, CB Jonathan Jones, OL Trenton Scott, RB Chris Rodriguez
Giants: EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux, WR Ryan Miller, P Jamie Gillan, OL James Hudson, WR Gunner Olszewski, DL Rakeem Nunez-Roches, QB Russell Wilson
Raiders at Eagles
Raiders: QB Geno Smith, CB Greedy Vance, RB Zamir White, OL Jordan Meredith, TE Ian Thomas, WR Alex Bachman, DL Leki Fotu
Eagles: LB Josh Uche, QB Sam Howell, CB Mac McWilliams, RB A.J. Dillon, OT Lane Johnson, DT Jalen Carter
Bills quarterback has played 124 career regular-season games. And he’s on the brink of accounting for 300 total touchdowns.
Via NBC Sports research, Allen is closing in on Aaron Rodgers’s record for the fewest games needed to get to 300 total touchdowns. Rodgers did it in 134 games.
For his regular-season career, Allen has 217 passing touchdowns, 77 rushing touchdowns, and two receiving touchdowns.
He’s also chasing his third career season of 25 or more touchdown passes and 10 or more rushing touchdowns. All other players in NFL history have combined for two. (Cam Newton and Kyler Murray each did it once.)
With 34 total touchdowns in 2025, Allen is six touchdowns away from his sixth straight season of 40 or more total touchdowns. Aaron Rodgers also has six seasons of 40 or more total touchdowns.
Time will tell which of the six quartebacks taken in the first 12 selections of the 2024 draft will be regarded as the best of the bunch. For now, however, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is the one who is on the brink of doing something historic.
He has won 10 straight games while throwing for 200 or more passing yards in each one. If Maye does it again on Sunday against the Bills, he’ll be only the fifth player to ever do it in 11 straight games, per NBC Sports research.
Peyton Manning did it twice, in 2009 (14 games) and 2012 (11 games). Tom Brady did it in 2007 (13 games). Aaron Rodgers did it in 2011 (13 games). Dan Marino did it in 1984 (11 games).
Maye would join Marino as the only players to accomplish that feat before the age of 25.
The names are impressive. This isn’t something that happens for flashes in the pan but for bona fide franchise quarterbacks.
Maye is proving, one game at a time, that he belongs in this category. In only his second NFL season, things are looking up for the Patriots. Which is a lot better than it was looking in 2023 and 2024.
The Patriots announced a few roster moves ahead of Sunday’s game against the Bills.
Running back D’Ernest Johnson has been signed to the active roster from the practice squad. Johnson has appeared in three games for New England this season and has four carries for seven yards.
Johnson will be the No. 3 back behind Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson because Terrell Jennings has been placed on injured reserve. Jennings was ruled out on Friday due to a concussion and he will now miss the rest of the regular season.
The Patriots also elevated defensive lineman Leonard Taylor from the practice squad for Sunday’s game.
The 9-4 Bills are on the brink of losing their five-year hammerlock on the AFC East. They’re also on the verge of yet another 10-win season.
They’ve done it every year since 2019. The next one, barring an 0-4 free fall, will be their seventh in a row.
That would tie the 1975 through 1981 Cowboys for the fifth-longest streak of 10-win seasons. The Patriots have the record, with 17 (2003-19). The 49ers did it 16 straight times, from 1983 through 1998. The Chiefs have a 10-year streak, from 2015 through 2024. (They need to run the table to extend it.) And the Colts won 10 or more games for nine seasons in a row, from 2002 through 2010.
The 17-game season, which arrived in 2021, makes it easier for all teams to get to 10 wins. But the Bills haven’t had a 10-7 season that would justify an unofficial asterisk.
After going 10-16 in 2019 and 13-3 in 2020, they’ve gone 11-6 in 2021, 13-3 in 2022 (the Damar Hamlin game was suspended and not made up), 11-6 in 2023, and 13-4 in 2025.
