The spot last week, with the New England Patriots preparing to host an AFC East showdown with the Buffalo Bills fresh off a bye week, felt just about perfect for Week 15 of the season.
What Patriots fans definitely didn’t expect, though, was the surprise absence of one of the team’s most irreplaceable players.
Middle linebacker Robert Spillane emerged from New England’s Week 13 win over the New York Giants with foot and ankle injuries, but the severity, in a game the Patriots led 30-7 at halftime, was kept under the radar. That Spillane, who carried a questionable designation into the Bills game last week, was officially active after pregame warmups made his injury seem like a complete non-issue.