The Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots will continue their 2026 NFL regular season schedules on Sunday when the two teams do battle at Highmark Stadium in Week 4.
Like there will be every week, there are plenty of expected headlines that will pop up during the days leading up to this one between the Bills (3-0) and Patriots (1-2). Yes, some will be obvious... but others not so much.
With that, here are Bills Wire's five storylines to watch for ahead of Week 4:
Losing the AFC East
One of the biggest headlines on the Bills heading into the entire 2026 NFL season was the team not winning the AFC East last season. Buffalo won it five-straight years but the New England Patriots ended up doing it in 2025.
The Bills' locker room is going to be asked about losing the division
title throughout the week. That should be motivating.
Pats woes
This is not quite a "trap game" like last week's win against the Los Angeles Chargers was heading into it. That's because it's still an AFC East game which always heightens the importance.
Even so, considering the Pats did win the division in 2025 and how bad the Patriots have been through the first three games this season is going to be discussed in Buffalo.
Josh bouncing back
It wasn't all on quarterback Josh Allen, but the Bills offense had five turnovers against the Chargers. Three of those were credit to Allen.
Looking through the scope of how good he was in the first two games of 2026, he's going to be asked about needing to bounce back from a lackluster game for the first time this season.
Greg's pace
A player who has not had a single lull this year is Greg Rousseau. The edge defender is off to a hot start.
Rousseau leads the entire NFL with six sacks in three games and he's starting to garner national attention for that.
The man himself will be asked about his start and if he can continue it this week, but teammates will be asked about his pace as well.
Benford bump
We're still waiting for the injury update for cornerback Christian Benford (foot).
Benford exited last game with the injury and did not return. Head coach Joe Brady did not have an update after the game and probably won't give us much of one during the week since he's very coy about injuries.
If Benford is still hurt by Sunday, rookie Davison Igbinosun will likely start in his place.
This article originally appeared on Bills Wire: Bills vs. Patriots: 5 storylines to watch for ahead of Week 4
