Bills – Patriots rivalry The Bills – Patriots rivalry is a rivalry between two franchises in the National Football League ' s The teams play in the AFC East , and play two scheduled games each season as a result . The series debuted in 1960 as part of the American Football League . With the 2012 season the Patriots lead the series 62 – 41 – 1 ; the two clubs have combined for thirteen AFL / AFC championships . Six Bills players , coach Marv Levy , and team founder Ralph Wilson are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame , while five Patriots players and coach Bill Parcells are presently enshrined in Canton . Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly compiled a 12 – 8 career record against the Patriots with 29 touchdowns and 28 interceptions ; O . J . Simpson compiled a 10 – 4 record against the Patriots with 14 rushing touchdowns and three touchdown catches . Tom Brady presently holds a record of 20 – 2 against the Bills with 52 touchdowns and 17 interceptions . History . 1960 – 69 . The Bills and Patriots played for the first time in a preseason game during the first season of the American Football League on July 30 , 1960 . The game was played at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo , and the Patriots won the game 28 – 7 . The teams met for their first regular season game during Week 3 of the inaugural season of the American Football League in 1960 . The game was played at Nickerson Field at Boston University on Friday , September 23 , 1960 . The Bills scored a touchdown in each of the first two quarters and shut the Patriots out 13 – 0 . The two teams met for their first and only playoff match in the AFL divisional game in December 1963 . The Patriots won 26 – 8 . In this game , Jack Kemp played quarterback for the Bills and Gino Cappelletti made four field goals and two extra points to help lift the Patriots to victory . Throughout the remainder of the decade , the teams would complete a 12 – 9 record in favor of the Patriots . The Bills won the AFL championship game in 1964 and 1965 , and won the division in 1966 . The Patriots lost to the San Diego Chargers in their only championship appearance in 1963 . 1970 – 79 . In the 1970s , the two teams played each other in the NFL , after the AFL – NFL merger . During this time period , the Bills defeated the Patriots 12 games to 8 . The Bills sustained a winning streak of 11 games from November 1971 to October 1977 . Much of this was due to the performance of O . J . Simpson and the " electric company " offensive personnel for the Bills . The two teams played a pair of highly competitive games in the 1974 season . The Bills withstood a late Patriots rally at Rich Stadium to win 30 – 28 on October 20 . Two weeks later on November 3 the Bills edged out the Patriots 29 – 28 when a last - second field goal attempt by the Patriots was blocked . O . J . Simpson had one of the most dramatic games of his career on November 23 , 1975 against the Patriots . Simpson ran in two touchdowns and caught two touchdown passes from Joe Ferguson as the Bills won 45 – 31 . Patriots rookie Steve Grogan threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns but was intercepted three times . 1980 – 89 . The 1980s was a dominant decade for the Patriots , with New England winning the decade series 13 – 6 . The Patriots also completed their own 11 game winning streak over the Bills from January 1983 to September 1988 . The Bills began to rebuild their team in the late 1980s with the additions of Jim Kelly at quarterback , Thurman Thomas as running back , Andre Reed as a receiver , Bruce Smith on defense , and Marv Levy as coach . The Bills bested the Patriots to win the AFC East division four years in a row from 1988 – 92 . During the final stretch of the 1980s , the Bills took three out of four meetings with the Patriots . 1990 – 99 . In the 1990 season , the Bills reached the Super Bowl for the first time , playing against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV . Although obviously not a game in the rivalry , the 1990 Giants were coached by Bill Parcells and defensive coordinator Bill Belichick , who would both go on to later coach the Patriots . The Giants won 20 – 19 . The Bills continued to dominate the Patriots in the first part of the decade , winning eight of the first nine games , including five straight games against the Patriots . New England , however , made the rivalry more competitive with the addition of Drew Bledsoe as quarterback and the hiring of Bill Parcells as head coach . The Bills also saw many of their Super Bowl players leave during this time period . By the end of the 1990s , the Bills led the decade with 12 wins to the Patriots ' 8 wins . Throughout the decade , the two teams combined to win the AFC East six times , with the Patriots reaching the Super Bowl in 1996 and the Bills reaching the Super Bowl in 1990 , 1991 , 1992 , and 1993 . The decade saw several memorable games between the two . On September 11 , 1994 the Patriots , under new team owner Robert Kraft , hosted the Bills ; Buffalo led 28 – 14 at the half and 35 – 21 at the start of the fourth quarter after Mike Lodish grabbed a Patriots fumble at the New England goalline . The Patriots scored two touchdowns to tie the game but Buffalo won 38 – 35 after Steve Christie booted a 32 - yard field goal at the end of the fourth . Late that season the Bills hosted the Patriots ; Buffalo was 7 – 7 while the Patriots were 8 – 6 . Buffalo ' s run of playoff appearances ended when the Patriots erased a 17 – 3 gap , scoring 38 unanswered points . Frank Reich , replacing Jim Kelly , was intercepted twice and the Bills fumbled three times ; Ricky Reynolds ran back a Buffalo fumble for a touchdown . The 41 – 17 Patriots win eliminated Buffalo from the playoffs . In 1995 the Patriots authored their first season sweep of Buffalo since 1987 . The Patriots won on " Monday Night Football " on October 23 , winning 27 – 14 . Then on November 26 the Bills at Rich Stadium clawed to a 25 – 13 lead after three quarters , but in the fourth Bledsoe threw two touchdowns to Ben Coates , then Chris Slade scored on a Kelly interception and a 35 – 25 Patriots win . 1996 was Jim Kelly ' s last season ; his Bills won 17 – 10 on September 8 at Rich Stadium on a 63 - yard touchdown throw to Quinn Early and then on a last - second goalline stand . On October 27 at Foxboro Stadium the Bills clawed to a 18 – 15 lead at the two - minute warning ; Curtis Martin ran in a ten - yard score , then Willie McGinest intercepted Kelly and ran in a 46 - yard touchdown , but Kelly then completed a 48 - yard touchdown off two Patriots defenders to Andre Reed ; the onside kick failed and the Patriots won 28 – 25 . The 1998 season saw the return of Doug Flutie , who ' d been Patriots quarterback in 1988 – 89 ; he replaced Rob Johnson as Bills quarterback after Buffalo started 1 – 3 . Flutie led the Bills to win four of his first five starts , including a 13 – 10 victory over the Patriots at Rich Stadium on November 15 , but on November 29 in Flutie ' s return to Foxboro Stadium the Patriots , despite a broken index finger for Drew Bledsoe , rallied to a controversial last - second touchdown to Ben Coates and a 25 – 21 Patriots win . The Bills behind Flutie finished the decade defeating the Patriots twice in 1999 . 2000 – 09 . The 2000s was the most lopsided decade for the rivalry to date . On November 5 , 2000 Flutie and the Bills defeated the Patriots and new head coach Bill Belichick at Foxboro Stadium 16 – 13 in ovetime . But after this the Patriots won eighteen of the next nineteen against the Bills . This decade also saw several notable personnel changes . Following New England ' s 2001 championship year , Drew Bledsoe was traded by New England to Buffalo in 2002 . Lawyer Milloy was then cut after the 2003 preseason and was immediately signed by Buffalo . Doug Flutie , released by the Bills after 2000 , joined the Patriots by way of the San Diego Chargers in 2005 . The Patriots assembled a five game winning streak over the Buffalo Bills in the beginning of the decade , which was snapped when Buffalo defeated the Patriots 31 – 0 during the first game of the 2003 season . However , the Patriots then defeated the Bills by the same score in their next match up . That win began a 15 game winning streak for the Patriots against the Bills stretching through 2010 . The game on December 28 , 2008 was noteworthy ; the regular season finale , the 10 – 5 Patriots needed a win and help from other teams to win the AFC East , while the 7 – 8 Bills were wrapping up the ninth straight season without a playoff berth . Played with severe wind gusts that required stadium officials to use ropes to keep the goalposts from swaying , the game was a 13 – 0 Patriots win as Matt Cassel , subbing for injured Tom Brady , threw only eight passes . 2010 – present . On September 25 , 2011 , the Bills came back from a 21 – 0 deficit to defeat the Patriots 34 – 31 and snap the 15 game losing streak . Despite this win , the Patriots won the final meeting of the season , erasing a 21 – 0 Bills lead to win 49 – 21 ; coming a week after erasing a 17 – 0 lead to Miami , it was the largest comeback win since erasing a 21 - point gap against the Bears . The game on September 26 , 2010 was noteworthy on several levels . It was the highest - scoring game in the series ( 38 – 30 Patriots win ) since 1994 . It was first start of the season for Buffalo ' s former backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick . Randy Moss caught two touchdowns ; they turned out to be his last with the Patriots . The two clubs clashed in a pair of memorable games in 2012 . On September 30 the Patriots erased a 21 – 7 Bills lead in the third quarter by outscoring them 45 – 7 , winning 52 – 28 . On November 11 the Bills stayed toe to toe with the Patriots ; down 37 – 31 the Bills were driving until Devin McCourty intercepted a Fitzpatrick pass in the endzone . Entering 2013 the Patriots lead the decade series 5 – 1 . Connections Between the Teams . There have been several players who have played for the Bills and Patriots , including : In addition to players , the two teams have shared head coaches . Lou Saban was the first coach in Patriots history but was fired after five games of the 1961 season . He took over the Bills in 1962 and won two American Football League titles ( 1964 – 65 ) . After a five - season period in Denver he returned to the Bills for the 1972 – 76 period , helping make O . J . Simpson an NFL star . Hank Bullough coached both teams – he was co - head coach ( with Ron Erhardt ) for the Patriots at the end of 1978 and coached the Bills for the final twelve games of 1985 and the first nine games of 1986 .