How will our offense fare against Buffalo without LaFell?

aluminum seats · Sep 17, 2015

TBR said:
I keep seeing Bills fans write off Chandler like he's extremely average. Us Pats fans will have to see for ourselves, but you guys realize he had nothing but **** QBs throwing to him for all those years, right?

It's funny, seems like fans of bad teams have the most trouble seeing guys on their team objectively--all they see is that everything sucks. Can't blame them, really.

To me, Chandler has a lot of parallels to Welker. Kicked around for a few years without making much of impact on mediocre-to-bad teams (fun fact: Welker's high in receiving yards before joining the Pats was 687. Chandler? 655). Both performed well against the Pats, which can simply be small sample size or a sign of guys performing well on a (slightly) bigger stage. Chandler's a few years older, but otherwise they have a similar feel.

rochrist · Sep 17, 2015

TBR said:
LaFell had a big game last year. I'd like to hope Dobson will step up and have a big game. Or Chandler.

Also, I keep seeing Bills fans write off Chandler like he's extremely average. Us Pats fans will have to see for ourselves, but you guys realize he had nothing but **** QBs throwing to him for all those years, right?

It keeps being pointed out, but I'll do it again. This isn't the kind of game that Dobson (or LaFell) will have a huge impact. It will be Gronk, Chandler, Edleman, Amendola and the RBs that make the difference. There isn't a team in the league you need to get the ball out fast with more than these guys right now.

NG Pats Fan · Sep 17, 2015

Lafell loss is huge.without lafell we do not win the Super Bowl last year. Patriots finally spending money on a big physical possession receiver allowed us to go deep in the playoffs. We need him. 950 yards 7 Td last year. Game winning TD vs Ravens and TD in Super Bowl

Lafell is tall, physical, has good hands and is a red zone threat. He takes a lot of pressure off gronk and Edelman

I was hoping Dobson could be the guy but he is a bust. Another high draft pick whiff on a WR when Keenan Allen was sitting in our laps

Our offense is still great, but it becomes even greater with lafells return because he provides that big outside presence

PatsFan2 · Sep 17, 2015

Breakout game for Aaron Dobson? I can dream can't I.

JMarr · Sep 17, 2015

Why isn't anyone talking about the running game? Has the league/the Patriots come to this--where we don't even consider the ground game in talking about offensive game planning anymore?

I know we don't have much in the way of RBs, and I personally don't expect a lot out of Blount this year (and Bolden has looked horrible), but hopefully I'm wrong and McDaniels throws a lot of Blount force trauma into the game plan, setting up some big plays on play action.

I also can't believe Buffalo is only getting one point in this game. Have people lost their minds? It's like Rex is able to cast this spell over normally sensible people and make them stupid.

The Brandon Five · Sep 17, 2015

JMarr said:
Why isn't anyone talking about the running game? Has the league/the Patriots come to this--where we don't even consider the ground game in talking about offensive game planning anymore?

I know we don't have much in the way of RBs, and I personally don't expect a lot out of Blount this year (and Bolden has looked horrible), but hopefully I'm wrong and McDaniels throws a lot of Blount force trauma into the game plan, setting up some big plays on play action.

I also can't believe Buffalo is only getting one point in this game. Have people lost their minds? It's like Rex is able to cast this spell over normally sensible people and make them stupid.

We'll see. Buffalo's Run D was middle-of-the-pack last year (on an overall good Defense), with a 4.1 YPA mark. Last week they held Indy to 3.8 YPA.

With a rather inexperienced interior OL, I am not sure that we know how good the Pats' running game is this year. They gained 3.3 YPA against the Steelers in Week 1.

RobertWeathers · Sep 17, 2015

evans555 said:
I'm a die hard bills fan, and the chandler matchup perplexes me. I'm not sure what to think. He's a nice big reliable target, that can't block, is dependable in the passing game and 1 out of every 20 plays will have you yelling at the tv.

Glad you are posting here, @evans555

Whos the best Bills cover-guy at LB? Lawson is still good but not sure he has the quickness to stay with Gronk.

PScottman · Sep 17, 2015

sevengables_2207 said:
I think the Bills goal is to get pressure on the Brady

"With limited/little blitzing" I think is missing from this line. The plan under the Jets was always to try and get pressure with stunts, wide edges, stand ups across the line, etc without sending more than four and rarely five so they could flood underneath and prevent those quick throws. He was also good at setting up man looks for zones and vice versa.

Luckily, the Pats offense has evolved to add in multiple motions to better highlight those looks and make that man zone determination, but those four man "games within the game" with our young OL will be a huge challenge.

TommyD4207 · Sep 17, 2015

evans555 said:
I'm a die hard bills fan, and the chandler matchup perplexes me. I'm not sure what to think. He's a nice big reliable target, that can't block, is dependable in the passing game and 1 out of every 20 plays will have you yelling at the tv.

I'm fine with the fact that he can't block. We don't need him to block.

PScottman · Sep 17, 2015

TommyD4207 said:
I'm fine with the fact that he can't block. We don't need him to block.

Can he chip the DE, get into his route, turn and catch in a few seconds? Methinks he can, and will.

TommyD4207 · Sep 17, 2015

PScottman said:
Can he chip the DE, get into his route, turn and catch in a few seconds? Methinks he can, and will.

That's enough for me.

Actually, that's a bonus. Can he break a jam on the line, run 10 yards and turn around? That would be enough for me. If he can box guys out, he's invaluable.

Patstopia · Sep 17, 2015

No matter if we win or lose on Sunday. When the dust settles and the season ends. The Pats will still be in the playoffs and Buffalo will be shoveling snow on the porch to get to their hibachi!

Brady_to_Moss · Sep 17, 2015

Edelman will have a day...a very good day IMO

patriot1136 · Sep 17, 2015

Amendola will have a repeat of his great performance against the Bills in his first season with the Pats.

SammyBlueCat · Sep 17, 2015

Let me tell ya! Our kids will be quick as cats...

Gronkowski123 · Sep 18, 2015

if the line holds up, they'll be fine.
if the line stinks, brady will look like ****

naF staP · Sep 18, 2015

It sucks having LaFell out for this game. Pats need someone to stretch the field vs Bills, Dobson won't be able to. and that's a big Patriot problem. Here's why... Rex will play the Pats the same way he had the Jets play the Pats in the 2010 playoffs. Moss was gone, Pats had nobody to stretch the field so Rex stacked the box which shut down the run game and took away all the short to mid field passes. He plays this game the same way. Pats need to be very creative for this game and get the Bills to spread their defense. This is going to be a tough one to win.

supafly · Sep 18, 2015

naF staP said:
It sucks having LaFell out for this game. Pats need someone to stretch the field vs Bills, Dobson won't be able to. and that's a big Patriot problem. Here's why... Rex will play the Pats the same way he had the Jets play the Pats in the 2010 playoffs. Moss was gone, Pats had nobody to stretch the field so Rex stacked the box which shut down the run game and took away all the short to mid field passes. He plays this game the same way. Pats need to be very creative for this game and get the Bills to spread their defense. This is going to be a tough one to win.

I agree with you that this is likely going to be a tough game.

How will our offense fare against Buffalo without LaFell?

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