A week four matchup sees the Buffalo Bills heading to New England to take on Bill Belichick and the Patriots. Entering week four with a record of 1-2, coming off their first win of the season against a heavily favored Arizona Cardinals team the Bills are looking to build momentum. On the other side of the matchup, the New England Patriots come in 3-0 as one of the NFL’s top teams. Having been forced to improvise without starter Tom Brady due to his four-game suspension handed down by the league the Patriots have had a carousel at quarterback that has not slowed them down one bit. This game will be the last of his suspension, as the Patriots will have their quarterback back for their week five matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
Having gone (0-2) against the Patriots a season ago losing both matchups by one score a piece the Bills looks to enact some revenge on Bill Belichick and company in perhaps their best opportunity they have had in years. Having played Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett in Brady’s absence the Patriots offense has looked quite different compared to the past. Designed quarterback runs and a heavy dose of the run have dominated the offensive game plan. With the injury to backups Garoppolo and Brissett, questions at who will start and play quarterback in Sundays matchup has been up in the air. “Yeah, you’ve got the best quarterback in the history and then—these guys are good but I don’t know if they’ll rank quite up there with Tom Brady, so yeah, I would. And I’ll tell you what though, my sources tell me that Babe Parilli (former Boston Patriots quarterback) is going to be the quarterback and if he is, he doesn’t move the way he used to and I’d be very confident, so we’ll see what happens there,” said Bills head coach Rex Ryan.
As smooth as the season has gone for the Patriots, especially offensively despite the quarterback situation the Bills have not been able to say the same. Although no quarterback controversy the Bills have had their problems offensively having fired offensive coordinator Greg Roman after starting (0-2). In his first test, Anthony Lynn, the new offensive coordinator led the Bills to 33 points and over 200 yards on the ground rushing.
By all tests Lynn had passed his first test as offensive coordinator and has the support of the staff and players around him. LeSean McCoy explained, “We’ve talked even before he was the OC (offensive coordinator) about different things he would do and how he would do it and this last game plan was excellent. He was cutting out plays a lot. A big dramatic volume of offense. He made it simple, left it at so the players could showcase their talent and let them go, let them loose. And there wasn’t a lot of thinking, just more playing. There were opportunities that we missed, opportunities that I missed and it could have been an even bigger day for us. But it’s a good thing that he’s letting us have that other option, just let us go. Not having as much volume at offense, letting these playmakers play.”
The Bills offense will go up against a Patriots offense that has given up 15 Points per game through the beginning of the season. Something will have to give in this matchup as a defense in the Patriots that has surrendered 90 yards per game and a Bills offense that has picked up over 120 yards per game. Perhaps in the Patriots favor are the less than stellar Bills passing attack. A Patriots team that has struggled defending the pass will look to take advantage of the last ranked Bills passing attack. The play though of Jamie Collins and has led the Patriots defensively this season as their top playmakers. Collins has picked up two interceptions and a sack on the season being involved in seemingly every big play.
Defensively speaking the Bills defense from a numbers standpoint is behind that of the Patriots. The Patriots are coming off of a shutout defensive performance against the Houston Texans on Thursday night, while the Bills forced five turnovers including four interceptions in their win against the Cardinals. “I mean our defense front, they’ve worked on running their games, understanding protections. That has a lot to do with it. And then just effort. Guys are giving great effort. And like I said, things happen. Interceptions seem to come in bunches, sacks come in bunches, and we’re happy that they’re happening for us right now,” mentioned Bills defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman.
A win against the Patriots would mean a huge step in the right direction for the Bills as it would push them to (2-2) and chip away at the Patriots divisional lead before Tom Brady Returns. For the Patriots a win, and the return of Brady would all but cement them as the top team in the league.
