FOXBORO, Massachusetts (Ticker) -- The waiving of Lawyer Milloy didn't exactly turn into a disaster for the New England Patriots.
Sporting the NFL's best record and an 11-game winning streak, the Patriots can clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a victory Saturday against the Buffalo Bills. New England is 7-0 at Gillette Stadium this season and 16-3 in its last 19 home games.
The Patriots are guaranteed of one of the AFC's top two seeds and will host a divisional playoff game on the weekend of January 10-11.
New England's winning streak is the longest in the NFL since Indianapolis and Jacksonville also won 11 in a row in 1999.
Setting a franchise record for wins did not appear to be the likely fate for the Patriots in 2003. Remember back before the opening week of the season when the Patriots could not convince Milloy to accept a pay cut and ended up releasing their Pro Bowl strong safety. The Bills pounced on Milloy and then pounded the Patriots, 31-0 in the season-opening battle between the division rivals.
Milloy played a major part in the victory, forcing an interception with a deflection and recording a sack and five tackles.
Drew Bledsoe, another former Patriot, engineered scoring drives of 80 and 90 yards on his first two possessions and completed 17-of-28 passes for 230 yards for Buffalo.
But what seemed like a dream start turned into a disappointment for the Bills, who may make a coaching change at the end of the season. Gregg Williams is in the final year of a three-year contract and is not expected to be retained by Bills general manager Tom Donahoe.
Meanwhile, Belichick led the Patriots to the AFC East title for the second time in three seasons. In 2001, the Patriots went 11-5 during the season and beat Oakland and Pittsburgh in the playoffs and upset the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Patriots have the Super Bowl in their sights again and could well be on a collision course with the Rams, who are also in the driver's seat for home-field advantage.
If the Patriots lose Saturday, they would slip to the second seed if the Kansas City Chiefs beat Chicago on Sunday.
Tom Brady has an astounding 39-12 record as the Patriots starting quarterback. He was 4-0 in his career against the Bills before getting intercepted four times in the season-opening loss at Buffalo. Defensive tackle Sam Adams returned one of those 37 yards for a touchdown.
Bledsoe lost both meetings to his former team last season, 38-7 at Buffalo and 27-17 here before getting his first win in the 2003 opener. In his return to Gillette Stadium last December, Bledsoe was intercepted four times.
The Patriots intercepted Chad Pennington five times last week in a 21-16 victory over the New York Jets. Linebacker Willie McGinest returned one of them 15 yards for a touchdown.
New England has allowed the least points in the AFC (238) while the Bills have averaged just 16.2 points per game.
Buffalo managed just 11 first downs and Bledsoe threw for only 114 yards in a 20-3 loss to Miami last week.
