THE MATCHUP: SAINTS VS BILLS 2021 WEEK 12

The New Orleans Saints will play in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving night for the third time in the last four seasons on Thursday evening, this time in an interconference matchup as they host the Buffalo Bills at the Caesars Superdome. New Orleans (5-5), currently tied in record with the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers for what would be the NFC's final two Wild Card Playoff spots, will be looking to improve their standing in the conference race for the postseason, while the Bills (6 -4) are involved in a heated battle for the AFC East lead with the New England Patriots (7-4). This will be New Orleans' fourth time playing on Thanksgiving, all taking place since 2010 and all victories (at Dallas-2010, vs. Atlanta2018, at Atlanta-2019).

While both the Bills and Saints share small market roots, they also have the commonality of being backed by two of the most vocal fan bases in the National Football League. Being in the friendly, warm confines of the Caesars Superdome on Thursday evening, should serve as an an advantage for New Orleans.

Thursday will be the first time that the Bills and Saints will face each other on prime time. It also marks the start of a crucial stretch in the NFC postseason race, as it begins a period where four of the next six contests will take place inside the Caesars Superdome. After getting off to a 4-1 start, Buffalo will be looking to move back into a tie for first in the AFC East with the Patriots and capture their second consecutive division title to force an opponent to feel the effects of Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. in the month of January, needing to break a two-game road losing streak.

SAINTS-BILLS SERIES HISTORY

The Saints and Bills have met 11 times with New Orleans holding a 7-4 lead riding a five-game winning streak in the series. The Saints have a 3-3 record in home contests Two of the games have been decided by a touchdown or less, one by four points. New Orleans Head Coach Sean Payton has posted a 3-0 record against Buffalo. The teams first faced off in 1973, as the Saints recorded a 13-0 shutout, the first in club history and didn't meet again for seven years. A view of the results: 

Date Result Site Att. 

• 11/4/731 WIN, 13-0 Tulane Stadium 74,770
• 9/21/80 LOSS, 26-35 Superdome 51,154
• 10/3/83 LOSS, 21-27 @ Rich Stadium 49,413
• 12/10/89 WIN, 22-9 @ Rich Stadium 70,037
• 12/20/92 LOSS, 16-20 Superdome 68,591
• 12/27/98 LOSS, 33-45 Superdome 39,707
• 9/9/01 WIN, 24-6 @ Ralph Wilson Stad. 71,447
• 10/2/05 WIN, 19-7 Alamodome 56,688
• 9/27/09 WIN, 27-7 @ Ralph Wilson Stad. 70,261
• 10/27/13 WIN, 35-17 Superdome 72,045
• 11/12/17 WIN, 47-10 @ New Era Field 67,501

THE LAST MEETING

New Orleans Saints 47, Buffalo Bills 10; November 12, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, N.Y. - The Saints improved to 7-2 with a convincing win at Buffalo in a clash between two clubs with serious playoff hopes with one of the most prolific running performances in team history. The six touchdowns rushing set a club record, and New Orleans' 298 yards rushing were third-highest in team history.

The Bills took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by K Steve Hauschka. But fueled by a successful fourth and one attempt from the Buffalo 30-yard line on the subsequent possession where RB Mark Ingram II gained 25 yards, the Saints took a lead they wouldn't relinquish with a one-yard scoring rush by the running back.

New Orleans ran a franchise-record 47 straight points to take a commanding 47-3 lead. The Black and Gold controlled the clock for a season-best 41:23 to go with a club record 20 rushing first downs.

The Saints took the 47-10 victory on the six rushing touchdowns, a career-high three scores by Ingram, who had 131 yards rushing and one apiece by QB Drew Brees and rookie running backs Trey Edmunds and Alvin Kamara (106 yards), who collaborated with Ingram for the first day of dual 100-yard rushers for the Saints since 2006.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS-BUFFALO BILLS SERIES FAST FACTS

Saints' Largest Margin of Victory vs Bills:

37 (Saints 47, Bills 10, 11/10/17 at New Era Field) 

Bills' Largest Margin of Victory vs Saints:

12 (Bills 45, Saints 33, 12/27/98 at Louisiana Superdome)

Current Series Streak:

Saints 5 (9/9/01-present)

Saints' Longest Win Streak vs Bills:

5 (9/9/01-present) 

Bills' Longest Win Streak vs Saints:

 2, 2x (9/21/80-10/30/83 and 12/20/92-12/27/98)

Most Points by Saints in a Game vs Bills:

47, (Saints 47, Bills 10, 11/12/17 at New Era Field)

Most Points by Bills in a Game vs Saints:

45, Saints 33 (12/27/98 at Louisiana Superdome)

Most Combined Points (Both Teams):

78 (Bills 45, Saints 33, 12/27/98 at Louisiana Superdome)

Fewest Points by Saints in a Game vs Bills:

13, Bills 0 (11/4/73 at Tulane Stadium)

Fewest Points by Bills in a Game vs Saints:

 0, Saints 13 (11/4/73 at Tulane Stadium)

Fewest Combined Points (Both Teams):

13, (Saints 13, Bills 0, 11/4/73 at Tulane Stadium)

BUFFALO BILLS WEEK 11 RECAP

From BuffaloBills.com

The result of Sunday's game was not up to the standard of Buffalo Bills football and the players and coaches in the locker room know that. After the game, the players stated that they need to execute better to give themselves a chance to win. 

After trailing early in the game against the Colts, the team couldn't find their footing, and the offense couldn't get in a rhythm. Turnovers have been the Achilles heel for the offense in their losses this season. After the game, Josh Allen put the blame on himself and stated that he needs to do a better job of protecting the football. With the short week, Allen explained how they can put an emphasis on fixing these issues while shifting focus to the Saints.

Here's a list of notable notes from Sunday's game:

• Bills fall to 6-4 and now sit a half game behind the New England Patriots (7-4) in the AFC East
• Bills suffered their first home loss in the month of November since Nov. 4, 2018 (41-9 vs. Chicago)
• Bills produced 307 total yards and extended their streak of 20 games with at least 300 yards - the longest active streak in the NFL
• Bills snapped their streak of 18 games leading or tied at halftime – was the longest streak in the NFL coming into the game
• Tyler Bass snapped his streak of 16 consecutive made field goals – also the longest streak in the NFL coming into the game

Read More: Colts 41, Bills 15 | Game recap, highlights & photos

Bills quickly shift focus to Thursday's game after tough loss to Indianapolis

Top 3 things we learned from Bills vs. Colts | Week 11

Top 5 storylines to follow for Bills at Saints | Week 12

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS WEEK 11 RECAP

A lengthy injury report and the rushing attack of the Philadelphia Eagles was too much for the New Orleans Saints to overcome as they dropped their third consecutive game, this time a 40-29 defeat to the Eagles on Sunday, Nov. 21 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

"We didn't do the things necessary to win in this league," Saints Coach Sean Payton said. "All of us have to do a better job. It's going to be a short week."

The Eagles (5-6) ran the ball at will against the Saints, carrying the ball 50 times for 242 yards. Philadelphia also forced Saints quarterback Trevor Siemian into two interceptions, the second one returned 51 yards for a touchdown by cornerback Darius Slay toward the end of the second quarter.

The Saints scored 15 consecutive points in the fourth quarter - 22 total for the period - to get back into the game. It was the third consecutive fourth quarter rally for the Saints (22 points in fourth quarter of loss to Atlanta, nine points in loss to Tennessee) but they came up short each time. It is the team's first three-game losing streak since the 2016 season.

Read the full week 11 recap

Week 12 In the NFC South

The Atlanta Falcons play at the Jacksonville Jaguars at noon CT on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play at the Indianapolis Colts at noon and the Carolina Panthers play at the Miami Dolphins at noon with New Orleans the only NFC South team playing a home game this week.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS-BUFFALO BILLS 2021 STATISTICAL COMPARISON

League Rankings

SAINTS-BILLS CONNECTIONS

New Orleans Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen competed for a roster spot in training camp with the Bills in 1996.

Buffalo Running Backs Coach Kelly Skipper served on Allen's staff when he was head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 2012-14.

Bills RB Taiwan Jones played for Allen in Oakland from 2012-14.

Saints CB Bradley Roby and Jones were teammates in Houston in 2019.

New Orleans WR Kenny Stills was on both the Buffalo active roster and practice squad during their 2020 postseason.

Buffalo LB A.J. Klein played for New Orleans from 2017-19.

Saints QB Trevor Siemian was a teammate of Bills WR Emmanuel Sanders both in New Orleans in the final two months of the 2020 season as well as in Denver from 2016-17.

Buffalo Defensive Line Coach Eric Washington is Shreveport native who played tight end at Grambling State from 1989-90.

Buffalo cornerback Tre'Davious White prepped at Green Oaks High School in Shreveport and was a consensus All-American at LSU, where he was a teammate of Saints LB Kwon Alexander.

New Orleans DE Carl Granderson and Bills QB Josh Allen were college teammates at Wyoming.

Buffalo LS Reid Ferguson played for LSU.

New Orleans WR Tre'Quan Smith and Buffalo WR Gabriel Davis powered the UCF wideout corps in 2017.

Klein, New Orleans FB Alex Armah, Buffalo DE Mario Addison, DT Vernon Butler and T Daryl Williams were teammates in Carolina. Butler prepped at North Pike (Summit, Miss.) High School and was teammates with Saints T Jordan Mills at Louisiana Tech in 2012. Mills started 53 games on the offensive line for Buffalo from 2015-18.

New Orleans P Blake Gillikin and TE Juwan Johnson played with Bills T Ryan Bates at Penn State.

New Orleans Vice President/Assistant General Manager/College Personnel Jeff Ireland, Buffalo Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen and Senior Personnel Advisor Brian Gaine worked together in the same Miami front office from 2008-13 with Ireland serving as general manager.