How To Watch, Stream And Bet Tonight’s NFL Wild Card Playoff Game

A familiar AFC East rivalry will take center stage on the first night of the 2022 NFL playoffs.

The New England Patriots are visiting Orchard Park to face the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round on Saturday evening. It should make for a thrilling primetime game between longtime foes that fans won’t want to miss.

Keep reading for an in-depth preview of tonight’s Bills-Patriots showdown, including a viewing guide—which contains the start time, TV channel and live streaming options—plus updated odds, against the spread picks, a prediction on the final score and more.

NFL Playoffs 2022 Bracket

2022 NFL Playoff Schedule

AFC

1. Tennessee Titans (BYE)

2. Kansas City Chiefs vs. 7. Pittsburgh Steelers (Sun, Jan. 16 at 8:15 p.m. on NBC)

3. Buffalo Bills vs. 6. New England Patriots (Sat, Jan. 15 at 8:15 p.m. on CBS)

4. Cincinnati Bengals vs. 5. Las Vegas Raiders (Sat, Jan. 15 at 4:30 p.m. on NBC)

NFC 

1. Green Bay Packers (BYE)

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. 7. Philadelphia Eagles (Sun, Jan. 16 at 1:05 p.m. on Fox)

3. Dallas Cowboys vs. 6. San Francisco 49ers (Sun, Jan. 16 at 4:40 p.m. on CBS)

4. Los Angeles Rams vs. 5. Arizona Cardinals (Mon, Jan. 17 at 8:15 p.m. on ESPN)

Patriots (10-7) vs. Bills (11-6): AFC Wild Card Preview

Matchup: AFC No. 6 at AFC No. 3

Date: Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022

Start Time: 8:15 p.m. ET

Location: Highmark Stadium, Orchard Park, NY

Watch: CBS

Live Stream: Paramount+

Saturday evening’s battle between the Patriots and Bills will more at stake than any of the prior 123 matchups involving these teams.

This Wild Card clash, taking place on the AFC side of the 2022 NFL playoff bracket, marks the first time in the Super Bowl era that these storied AFC East rivals are meeting in the postseason.

One would have to go all the way back to the 1963 Eastern Division playoff to find the only other occurrence of a Bills-Patriots postseason game.

It’s a fitting rubber match to decide the season series after the longtime rivals split their two matchups during the campaign.

New England has historically owned this rivalry, boasting 77-46-1 lead in the series. The Pats have been especially dominant since the turn of the millennium, going 36-8 in that span.

Buffalo did pull off a rare sweep last year, however, winning both regular season games for the first time since 1999.

New England has made significant changes since then, retooling the roster during a free-agency spending spree that followed the franchise’s first missed playoff appearance since 2008. The organization also returned several key contributors after suffering from a league-high amount of opt-outs last year.

Most notably, the Pats made a quarterback swap from Cam Newton to rookie Mac Jones at the start of the 2021 campaign.

Jones has been a revelation for the club after getting selected No. 15 overall. He just became the 13th first-year signal-caller—and first in a half-decade—to start at least 10 games and guide his team to the postseason.

The Alabama product secured his first win over the Bills in Week 13 despite throwing a mere three passes. It was the fewest passing attempts for a winning team since 1974, when Buffalo’s Joe Ferguson passed just three times against the Jets.

New England’s running game was the catalyst behind its 14-10 victory in a contest that was played in inclement conditions with high winds. The Patriots combined for 222 yards and a score on 46 totes in one of the most bizarre Monday Night Football games ever.

Buffalo would avenge that loss just 20 days later, getting a huge showing from rising star QB Josh Allen. The fourth-year signal-caller went off for 314 yards and three touchdowns while avoiding any turnovers or sacks in a 33-21 drubbing.

The performance helped Allen notch his third “W” in seven tries against the Patriots.

Oddsmakers are projecting New England and Buffalo’s second primetime meeting in less than two months to be an exciting one.

The Bills have been installed as a five-point favorite, marking only the second time in the last 25 years that Buffalo has laid five or more points against this opponent.

The Bills did cover as seven-point chalk last year, however, and has proven quite capable of picking up big wins over the Patriots since Tom Brady left after the 2019 campaign.

With conditions expected to be brutally cold—Accuweather is predicting it will go down as one of the most frigid in the long history of the NFL playoffs and the second-coldest Wild Card round matchup ever—anything could happen on the gridiron tonight.

Patriots at Bills 2022 AFC Wild Card Odds

NFL odds courtesy of FanDuel.

Point Spread: Bills -5

The Bills are opening their 2022 NFL playoff run as a five-point favorite, up a half-point from the 4.5-point spread this game went up on the board with.

The public has a slight lean towards Buffalo in this matchup, evidenced by 54 percent of all bets against the spread on the home side.

The sharps are also believers in the Bills, as 57 percent of the handle is on the AFC East champions to beat the Patriots in the Wild Card round.

Total: Over-under 43.5 points

The Bills-Patriots total opened at 43.5 points and has held fast at that number. It jumped up to 44 for a time at some shops, but was quickly bet back down to its initial mark.

This line has remained stagnant despite a large volume of wagers on the under. Approximately two-thirds (66 percent) of the public bets are on that side of the total.

Sharper bettors are making a contrarian play in this Wild Card round game and it’s showing in the betting trends. As of Saturday afternoon, 61 percent of the money bet on the total is on the over.

Moneyline: BUF -225, NE +190

The Patriots are a sizable underdog in their return to the postseason after a one-year hiatus. Their +190 moneyline odds will pay out $1.90 for each $1 risked on an upset.

Buffalo’s -225 odds translate to one needing to wager $2.25 to win $1 on the team advancing to the Divisional Round for the second straight year.

These moneyline odds imply a 69.2 percent probability that the Bills are victorious in their 2022 NFL playoff opener. New England has been given a 34.5 percent chance at leaving Orchard Park with a win as underdogs.

These percentages eclipse 100 due to the “vig”, also known as the cut a shop takes for facilitating bets.

Bills vs. Patriots Betting Trends

• The Bills were the fourth-winningest team against the spread this year, covering in 60 percent of their contests (9-6-2 ATS).
• Buffalo has covered or pushed in each of their last four games leading up to the 2022 NFL Playoffs.
• The Patriots were also one of the top teams against the spread this season, covering at a 58.8 percent clip (10-7 ATS).
• New England was especially strong in the latter half of the campaign, covering in seven of its last 10 matchups, but has only beaten the number once in the last month.
• The Bills have won three of their last four games against the Patriots dating back to the start of last season.
• While Buffalo has been the better team outright over the last two seasons, the Patriots did cover in two of the last four meetings—both times as an underdog—and have outright won eight of the last 11 clashes with the Bills.
• The total in the last five New England-Buffalo games has gone 3-1-1 towards the OVER.
• The visiting team has won each of the last three games between these AFC East rivals.
• New England was one of the best road teams in football this season, going 6-2 SU as a visitor overall with a 2-1 SU record as an underdog away from Foxboro in 2021.
• The Patriots were a solid bet in these road contests, going 5-3 ATS overall and 2-1 ATS as a ‘dog.
• Buffalo was favored in all nine of its games at Highmark Stadium in 2021. The Bills were one of the better home teams this year, going 6-3 SU and 4-3-2 ATS at their own digs.

Patriots at Bills Playoff Predictions

Spread Pick: Patriots +5

Total Pick: Over 43.5 points

Prediction: Patriots 23 – Bills 21