Bills vs. Patriots Preview: ‘Tears of Joy’ as Buffalo Plays for Damar Hamlin
In their regular season finale, the Buffalo Bills host the New England Patriots in an AFC East matchup from Highmark Stadium on Sunday.
The Bills and all of the NFL continue to offer their support and best wishes to Bills safety Damar Hamlin. Hamlin, 24, collapsed on the field during the first quarter of Monday's game and was administered medical attention after it was later revealed that he had suffered cardiac arrest.
The Bills announced positive news from Hamlin's doctors about his recovery on Thursday, that Hamlin has shown "remarkable improvement" and while still critically ill, "he has demonstrated that he appears to be neurologically intact." In light of the shocking injury, Sunday's game in Buffalo will be undoubtedly emotional as football has taken a backseat throughout the league.
Hamlin's health remains the top priority. Safe to say the news of Hamlin's health improvements has quarterback Josh Allen, coach Sean McDermott and the rest of the team ready to take the field.
"We want to go out there and play for 3," Allen said. "Obviously we'll be playing with less heavy hearts now. Today's news was a lot of tears of joy, I'll tell you that."
The Monday Night Football matchup will be a battle between one of the best offenses in the Bills and one of the worst in the Patriots.
The Bills own MVP-candidate Allen has the sixth most passing yards (4,029) and is tied for the second most total touchdowns (39). Buffalo also found success on the ground in its most recent victory over the Chicago Bears, rushing for a season-high 254 yards with much thanks to running back Devin Singletary and rookie James Cook.
New England needs the win to make the postseason, while Buffalo's playoff path is more complicated.
WHO: Buffalo Bills (12-3) vs. New England Patriots (8-8)
ODDS: The Bills are 7.5-point favorites vs. the Patriots.
GAME TIME: Sunday, January 8, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. EST
LOCATION: Highmark Stadium (Orchard Park, New York)
TV/RADIO: CBS | WGR 550
THE FINAL WORD: Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins spoke publicly for the first time since Monday night, when he became an unintentional footnote in one of the scariest incidents in professional sports history:
"Obviously it’s been hard, just because, you know, I had something to do with the play (and) whatnot,” Higgins said, per Mitch Stacy of the Associated Press. "But everyone has been making me feel whole again. I talked to his mom and everything is OK, he’s doing good, so I’m in a good place right now.”
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