Patriots Country

Patriots Lose Two Key Starters in Season Finale

The New England Patriots are without two key starters against the Buffalo Bills.

Evan Massey

Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.
Dec 15, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez (0) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The New England Patriots are set to take on the Buffalo Bills in their final game of the 2024 regular season. Fans are hoping to see the team lose and lock up the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

However, it is sounding like Jerod Mayo and the Patriots are going to compete hard to try and win the meaningless game. That would be a huge mistake from a franchise perspective for the future.

Despite the team needing the No. 1 overall pick to speed up their rebuild, there is a very real chance that New England could shoot itself in the foot today.

All of that being said, they are missing a couple of key players for today's game against the Bills' backups.

As shared by the team, today's inactives list includes six players.

Against Buffalo, the Patriots will be without two star players in cornerback Christian Gonzalez and tight end Hunter Henry. They will also play without running back Jamycal Hasty, guard Lester Cotton, guard Sidy Sow, and tight end Mitchell Wilcox.

On the other side of the field, the Bills are not expected to play their key players much today. Josh Allen will get the start to preserve his streak, but he won't be on the field long.

Buffalo's inactives include cornerback Taron Johnson, wide receiver Amari Cooper, linebacker Terrel Bernard, cornerback Christian Benford, defensive end Gregory Rousseau, tackle Dion Dawkins, defensive tackle Ed Oliver, and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones.

It will be interesting to see how today's game ends up going. New England needs to lose this game, but that may not end up happening.

Today will be a rare occasion that the diehard fans of a team will be rooting to see their squad lose.

Only time will tell, but the Patriots will either end today with the No. 1 pick or the brutal disappointment of blowing it and having a much less valuable selection.

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Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Evan Massey is a sports reporter and analyst who covers college football, the NFL and NBA. He has contributed to the On SI network since July 2021. He has also written for ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Forbes, Bleacher Report, NFLAnalysis.net, NBAAnalysis.net and many other publications. In his free time, Evan enjoys spending time with his wife and son.

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