The New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills will play each other on Monday Night Football in a classic AFC East battle. Rex Ryan would love to end the Patriots' eight-game winning streak, but New England is the home team.

Let's preview the game and pick a winner.

New England Patriots (9-0)

The Patriots beat the Bills back in Week 2 in a high scoring affair, 40-32. That game was in Buffalo, and now the Patriots will be the host team. However, this second match-up may not be as easy.

Bill Belichick has lost several key offensive contributors back-to-back, first losing Dion Lewis and then Julian Edelman last week. Danny Amendola is expected to replace Edelman in the slot for Tom Brady.

At 9-0, the Patriots are in first place in the AFC, and they got some luck on Sunday Night Football. The Cincinnati Bengals fell to the Arizona Cardinals, giving the Patriots a two-game lead in the conference. Only the Carolina Panthers have 10 wins at the moment.

LeGarrette Blount will get an increased workload moving forward, and he's shown in the past he can handle it. Overall, the Patriots rushing attack ranks 28th in yards this year, and that has to improve. Now is the time for Aaron Dobson to really step up and live up to that second round draft pick.

Chandler Jones leads the Patriots defense with 10.5 sacks, and the linebackers have been fantastic. Jamie Collins could be the key player in this game because he has to make sure Tyrod Taylor doesn't pick up easy first downs with his feet.

The Patriots play the Denver Broncos next week.

Buffalo Bills (5-4)

After a disappointing 3-4 start, the Bills have won back-to-back games over the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets. A 5-4 record may not look very impressive, but if the Bills win this game, they will be the No. 5 seed in the AFC, just one spot ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

LeSean McCoy will be the big factor to watch in this game. When he's playing at his peak, McCoy is arguably the best running back in the league. He had 112 rushing yards in each of the last two games for the Bills, and he may be crucial to the running game the team has to establish to keep the Patriots offense off the field.

The defense hasn't quite lived up to expectations, but the Bills defensive unit is improving slightly. They have only allowed four touchdowns in the last two games, but the secondary has been pretty inconsistent. The Bills pass defense ranks 21st in yards allowed and 22nd in touchdowns allowed. Last season the team led the NFL in sacks with 54, but ranks 29th in sacks this season with just 14.

The Bills play the Kansas City Chiefs next week.

Schedule

The Patriots and Bills play each other on Monday night at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. The game will be played at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. You can watch a live game stream here.

Prediction

All signs point to a Patriots victory, but I just have a feeling Ryan and Bills will win this one. With the Broncos losing two of their last three and the Bengals on a losing streak, this game honestly isn't a must win situation. It will be interesting to see the Patriots without Edelman. Taylor and McCoy should be able to accumulate a lot of rushing yards and control the lock in a close contest.

Bills win 23-20

 Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1