What channel is the Bills game on? How to watch Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots

ORCHARD PARK – On the surface, it seemed a little odd that CBS decided to flex Sunday afternoon’s game at Highmark Stadium between the 14-point favorite Buffalo Bills and the incompetent New England Patriots from 1 p.m. into the much more visible 4:25 window.

If form holds, the 11-3 Bills are most likely going to run the 3-11 Patriots right out of the freezing cold building, perhaps even by halftime.

But while it’s hard to fathom, Bills-Patriots is actually the best of three poor options for the back half of CBS’ Week 16 doubleheader, and this scenario is why flex scheduling became a thing several years ago, giving the NFL’s broadcast partners the ability to alter the original schedule.

Unforeseen things happen during the course of the season which can sometimes render games that looked good back in May when the schedule is formulated to become dumpster fires in December.

Back in May, it seemed like a good idea for the 49ers game at Miami Sunday to be the 4:25 game that would be broadcast to the majority of the country because San Francisco was the reigning NFC champion and the Dolphins were expected to be a legitimate contender to dethrone the Bills atop the AFC East.

Oops. The Dolphins and 49ers are now extreme longshots to even make the postseason, so that game means almost nothing. And because the other CBS late game is an abomination matching two of the worst teams in the league – Jaguars at Raiders – the network made an obvious call, opting to feature MVP frontrunner Josh Allen and the red-hot Bills in the hope that they can produce much better ratings.

“No, not surprised,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said Monday when he learned of the time change. “I mean, when you’re a good team that tends to happen this time of year and you just kind of keep your knees bent and stay flexible.”

Obviously, this change won’t affect either team; it’s not like the game was moved to Sunday night, or to a different day. It likely will affect fans attending the game though, especially those who planned their travel to and from around a 1 p.m. kickoff, but the NFL has made it perfectly clear that the fans watching at home are the priority over the fans at the stadium.

Here’s the broadcast and betting information:

What time is the Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots game?

• Date: Sunday, Dec. 22
• Time: 4:25 p.m.
• Place: Highmark Stadium

Who is favored to win Bills vs. Patriots game

• Betting line: Bills -14
• Over-under: 46.5
• Money line: Bills minus-1000 (bet $1,000 to win $100) and Patriots plus-650 (bet $100 to win $650).

Who is announcing the Bills vs. Patriots game

• Play-by-play: Ian Eagle
• Analyst: Charles Davis
• Sideline reporter: Evan Washburn

How to watch Bills vs Patriots game on TV, streaming

∎ Cable/Network TV: CBS. The game will be available locally via the following stations: WROC channel 8 (Rochester area), WIVB channel 4 (Buffalo area), WTVH channel 5 (Syracuse area), WKTV channel 2 (Utica area), WENY channel 2 (Elmira area), WRGB channel 10 (Albany area), and WBNG channel 12 (Binghamton area).

∎ Online streaming services: You can watch games on NFL.com and the NFL mobile app, and you can subscribe to NFL+, the league’s own streaming service, though you can’t cast the games to your TV – you must watch on your phone or tablet.

∎ TV streaming: You can also stream games if you have subscriptions to Spectrum, DirecTV, fuboTV, Sling, Vidgo, Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, and Paramount+.