Buffalo Bills receive major QB update ahead of Patriots' matchup

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The Buffalo Bills do not have anything outside of pride to play for this week against the AFC East rival New England Patriots.
While they are expected to rest most of their key players, the Bills still want to win. Josh Allen will get the starter under center to preserve his consecutive starts streak, but is not expected to play much at all.
On the other side of the field, there have been questions about who will start at quarterback for the Patriots.
Drake Maye has been dealing with some lingering injury issues and there was some buzz that he could sit out of the Week 18 matchup. Now, that question has been answered.
As shared by ESPN's Mike Reiss, Maye will indeed be the starting quarterback for New England on Sunday.
News story: Drake Maye expected to start season finale.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 1, 2025
Said head coach Jerod Mayo: "I've never been a part of a team as a player or as a coach going into a game not wanting to win. That's not going to change today."https://t.co/xv1smW1Us8
Maye has had a great rookie season for the Patriots. He will be difficult for the Buffalo defensive backups to stop.
On the year, Maye has completed 66.8 percent of his pass attempts for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He has also picked up 421 yards and two scores on the ground. At just 22 years old, Maye will be a major opponent for the Bills for years to come.
For Buffalo to win this game, they will need to find ways to pressure Maye. The defense will need to eliminate the big play. Offensively, Mitchell Trubisky will need to take care of the football and the Bills will need to protect him.
More than likely, Buffalo will try to establish the ground game early against New England.
Winning this game without the starters won't be easy, but the Bills have enough talent to get the job done. Finishing out the year with the backups leading Buffalo to a win and a 14-3 record would be epic.
While the game may not mean much in the grand scheme of things for the Bills, but it would give them some excitement, morale, and momentum heading into the playoffs.
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Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.