Monday Night Football. Prime time. That’s what the Patriots have to look forward to in a few short days. The opponent? The 5-4 Buffalo Bills. The Bills are similar to the Giants in that their record does not reflect how good of a football team they are. They caught the injury bug early and have had to deal with a lot of adversity so far this season. Tyrod Taylor came on to the scene in training camp and everyone was stunned when Rex Ryan named him starting quarterback before the season opener. He played decently well to start the year and then was replaced by former first rounder EJ Manuel because of injury. Manuel has been a huge bust since being drafted out of Florida State, and when the Bills lost to the Jaguars in London he became the first QB in NFL history to have lost a start in 3 different countries (The Seahawks beat them in Toronto a few years ago). But with Taylor under center the Bills are 5-2 which is pretty impressive considering their only 2 losses are to the Patriots in Week 2 and against the Giants, who played well enough to put them in a position to beat the Patriots (Tom Brady prevailed yet again however). The Patriots come into Monday Night as hot as anyone in football right now. They are 9-0 and coming off of their biggest win of the season against the Giants in the Meadowlands. But they lost Julian Edelman in the process, which is a huge blow to Tom Brady and the Patriots offense. It’s not all bad however, because both Sebastian Vollmer, Tre Jackson and Marcus Cannon returned to practice this week which would drastically improve the offensive line if they were ready to go for kickoff. Another guy to keep an eye on is Scott Chandler. He was a Buffalo Bill a year ago and had a touchdown catch against the Giants this past week. With Edelman out, it will create more space in the middle for another target. And between him, Gronk and Amendola stepping in to replace Edelman, it will be tough for the Buffalo secondary to lock up all of them. To add to this, the Patriots are without Dion Lewis, who was a huge threat out of the backfield against Buffalo in week 2. This is because the Bills defensive line is one of the best in football. Marcel Darius, Jerry Hughes and former Texans number one overall pick Mario Williams have shown to be the backbone of Rex Ryan’s defense. Tom Brady threw 59 passes in that game, many to Lewis who used that stage as his “coming out party” in terms of reestablishing himself as a legitimate NFL back. With LeGarrette Blount as more of a big, short yardage runner, expect to see a lot more of Brandon Bolden or James White to get serious playing time to act as the receiving back that Lewis was during week 2. The Bills are coming off of a huge win of their own. They have 11 days to prepare for the Patriots because they most recently played on Thursday Night Football, also in the Meadowlands, against the New (Jersey) York Jets. It was Rex Ryan’s first time back since being fired a year ago and it was an extremely emotional win for the Bills. They played extremely well and made enough plays to win the game when Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw an interception against his former team. It was Taylor’s second game back from injury and he has proved all of his doubters wrong after backing up Joe Flacco in Baltimore for the past 4 seasons. Shady McCoy has played well when he is in the lineup, and historically has played exceptionally well on Monday Night Football dating back to his days in Philadelphia. And Charles Clay has done a tremendous job all season long replacing Scott Chandler at the TE position, alongside Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods on the outside. For as much as I love to give the Bills fans I know a hard time about this offense is full of nothing but rejects, they are very good when healthy and have shown it on the field. One thing to keep in mind is the discipline of the Bills. Historically, Rex Ryan led teams are fairly undisciplined and this season is no different. Through 9 games this season, the Bills have an NFL high 107 penalties (90 accepted) for 808 yards. This will play a factor because it means that they traditionally beat themselves in games, and the Patriots will take advantage of every opportunity that Buffalo gives them. Watch for Tom Brady to have another huge game as well. Bacarri Rambo came out yesterday and said that he felt “disrespected” that Tom Brady threw the ball so much when they were up by so much in the fourth quarter of their week 2 matchup. Are you kidding me?! Hey Bacarri, want to know how to stop the Patriots from throwing so much? Make a couple plays and force them to try and mix it up. It’s not rocket science. Anyway, this went public today and you can bet that Tom Brady is licking his chops hearing that. Prediction:
Patriots 38 Bills 17
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Pat O'Hearne
Just a kid from Boston trying his luck in Cleveland Archives
March 2017
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