ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The last time the Buffalo Bills entered a game against the New England Patriots with a better record than their AFC East opponent was Week 4 of the 2012 season, when Buffalo was 2-1 and New England was 1-2.
In contrast, in Thurman Thomas' first seven seasons the Bills never had a worse record than the Patriots when they met. It took until Week 16 of the 1994 season when the Bills, then 7-7, met the Patriots, then 8-6.
The AFC East has been flipped upside down in the past 25 years, with the once-dominant Bills sliding into mediocrity while the once-lowly Patriots haven risen to become the league's most consistently successful team.
The two worlds will collide Monday night at New Era Field when Thomas' No. 34 jersey is retired at halftime of a game in which the Patriots (5-2) are favored by 14 points, according to Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, over the Bills (2-5).
Thomas will join teammates Jim Kelly, whose No. 12 jersey was retired in 2001, and Bruce Smith, whose No. 78 was retired in 2016, as Bills whose uniform numbers are officially retired. (Former running back O.J. Simpson's No. 32 is not circulated, but not formally retired.)
Thomas' jersey number was previously retired at Oklahoma State and Willowridge High School in Houston.
"To be out here, though, knowing that it's Monday night against our nemesis, [Patriots coach Bill] Belichick and [quarterback] Tom Brady, it hasn't hit me yet," Thomas said Wednesday. "But I'm sure the closer I get to it, when I get to it, it will hit me that this is really something special."
Over his 12-year career in Buffalo from 1988 to 1999, Thomas gained 100 or more yards from scrimmage in more games (11) against the Patriots than against any other team, including fellow division rivals the Colts (10), Dolphins (10) and Jets (9). His 1,925 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns against New England were more than he had against any other opponent.
Thomas had a 14-9 record against the Patriots in his career with the Bills, but his best games against New England came during Buffalo's run of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances from 1990 to 1993. In eight games over those four seasons, Thomas averaged 134 yards from scrimmage per game and the Bills had a 7-1 record against the Patriots.
"Obviously [the Patriots] weren't very good back then, which a lot of Patriots fans don't remember," a chuckling Thomas said Wednesday.
A second-round pick of the Bills in 1988, Thomas' career blossomed at the height of the Bills' boom and during some of the worst seasons in Patriots history, including a 1-15 mark in 1990 and 2-14 finish in 1992.
"Sometimes when we looked at their record -- I can remember sometimes they were 1-9 or 0-8," he recalled. "[It was] kind of like a homecoming game, like Oklahoma State playing Kansas. Like, oh boy, I'm licking my chops here to gain a lot of yards and score a couple of touchdowns.
"All of those teams, they were competitive but they weren't very good. And we were at the peak of our time, when we were pretty much beating them twice a year."
Thomas' best two games against New England came in his second season, 1989. He gained 204 yards from scrimmage and scored twice in a 31-10 win over the Patriots at Rich Stadium on Oct. 1 and followed with 171 total yards and two touchdowns in a 33-24 loss at Foxboro Stadium on Nov. 19.
"There were some games where we won -- a lot of games that we won -- and there were a few times where they upset us for some reason," Thomas said. "They always had a loaded defense and it was led by [Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker] Andre Tippett.
"It wasn't the greatest stadium we played in [at New England]. ... We had a lot of Bills fans that would go to those games in the early '90s, but they had a lot of Patriots fans that were there who were really sticking it to us. Even though we were winning, they were still running off at the mouth all of the time. I used to get into a pissing match with a couple of fans, even when the score was out of hand. They were always great fans, they were always there sitting right on top of you, whether they were winning or whether they were losing. They were gonna give you the business no matter what."