New England Patriots: Power ranking the franchise’s top 5 rivalries

5. Buffalo Bills

The New England Patriots have played more games against the Buffalo Bills throughout history than all but one other team in the NFL. They’ve met 119 times in the regular season, and they also went head-to-head once in the playoffs.

While it might seem unusual to slot a team the Patriots have combated so many times this low on a ranking of all-time rivalries — especially when that team shares a division with them — the Bills simply don’t elicit the same kind of furor and vitriol from the Pats and their fans as certain other squads.

For starters, New England has largely had Buffalo’s number over the course of their shared existence in the NFL. The Patriots own the all-time regular season series by a 75-43-1 margin, and they’re also 1-0 against the Bills in the postseason.

If we’re looking at decades, the Patriots hold a 4-2 edge over the Bills there as well. New England and Buffalo alternated decades during the 20th century, with the Patriots winning the ’60s and ’80s, and the Bills winning the ’70s and ’90s.

The Patriots have positively smashed the Bills into submission though since the turn of the century, going 35-5 against their rivals to the west since 2000.

Of course, the major caveat here is that we could be experiencing a sea change in the Bills/Patriots rivalry now that Tom Brady is gone.

Buffalo is a trendy pick to win the AFC East for the first time since 1995 this season, as many analysts think that if anyone’s going to do it, the Bills are the best-positioned to finally usurp the division crown from the Pats.

Until and unless that happens though, this rivalry belongs at the bottom of this list.