Breaking: NFL announces kickoff time for Bills-Patriots season finale

The NFL has finalized their Week 18 slate, including the Buffalo Bills’ upcoming matchup with the New England Patriots.

Before even getting there, the Bills (12-3) and Patriots (8-8) both have plenty on the line.

With the Kansas City Chiefs (12-3) winning in Week 17, Buffalo will still have to beat New England to lock in the top seed in the AFC, even if they defeat the Cincinnati Bengals (11-4) on Monday.

The Pats need to top the Bills and get some help around the league to get into the playoffs.

Despite all those scenarios, the prime-time slot for the season finale was given not given to this AFC East showdown. Instead, it’s the standard, Sunday, 1 p.m. kickoff time on January 8.

It was always likely that Buffalo’s game would be put on Sunday considering their Monday Night Football matchup with Cincy, which concludes Week 17. It’s already going to be a short week for the Bills, even more so if the contest was pushed to Saturday.

When the NFL originally announced the 2023 schedule, the league gave the contest a “to be determined” kickoff time with both Sunday and Saturday as options.

In Week 10, the Bills defeated the Patriots by a score of 24-10.