Pats @ Bills preview

[BobDigital]

It is a short week and I know the win in fresh but I just wanted to start this thread and point out a few things I think are interesting.

#1 Rush D. The Bills currently have the #1 Rush defense allowing only 71 YPG. Needless to say they will likely be able to make the Patriots one dimensional. The passing attack will need to have a strong day and this team should be a good test for that.

#2 Orton improves that team. This is not cause Orton is good but cause Manuel was bad. Orton is usually sub par but starter level.

#3 Watkins - Dude is a soon to be beast. 284 for a rookie and is on pace for over 900. He is their leading WR and has the most targets on the team. After him though their leading pass catcher is Fred Jackson. They don't have a ton of top options. Should be Revis on Watkins all day.

#4 Fred Jackson is a pain. This guy for some reason always gives the Patriots trouble. They bottle up Spiller usually but Jackson gashes them. I doubt that will change as he looks in top form this year too. Just need to contain it as best they can.

#5 Pass rush. They Bills have a very good pass rush with 17 sacks on the year which ties for the NFL lead with the Jets. The interior will be tested by Marcell Dareus (5 sacks and 330 LBs) and of course Mario Williams on the outside. A few other good players support them but they are the 2 you have to stop to me.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

"We're on to Buffalo now."

Fred Jackson hobbled off in the 4th quarter yesterday and did not return. That should help. I think the reason Fred Jackson gives them trouble is that he's a damn good running back. Him being less than 100% can only help. For all the talk last night of an improved run defense, there is still room for improvement. The stats don't look great last night at 4.4 ypc (which is their season average, too), but around 20 of the Bengals' 79 yards came on an end-of-the-half draw play when the Pats were guarding against the hail mary. The remaining 3.5 ypc is not bad. With Spiller and Jackson, the Bills look like they should be a running team, but the productivity of their run game has been poor. Their ability to get 1st downs running is among the worst in the league, and their 4.0 ypc is fairly pedestrian. With Kyle Orton at QB, I think the Pats defense has an opportunity to make a statement.

The Pats offense, on the other hand, is going to be tested. Buffalo has a top 5 defense so far this year, and Ralph Wilson stadium is going to be rocking. Buffalo has had a handful of times where they get to test themselves against the Pats for the division lead and have come-up lacking. I hope to see the same this week, but I don't expect the offense to look anywhere near as good as they did last night. That Buffalo run D is tough, so much more will be put on Tom, his protection, and the pass catchers. Without a run game, play action won't be as productive, and adjustments will be tougher to make on the road.

It will be interesting to see just how this year's Bills team compares to years past. The defensive improvement is noteworthy. Hopefully the Pats are reasonably healthy and can demonstrate that they are giant step above the units of years past.

 

[Pats-Phan]

Watkins is great for a rookie and will be a phenomenal player in this league but he is not yet a top WR. If Revis shadows him he will shut him down. That should let the safeties cheat up a bit to help with the run.

OLine needs to play like they did against Cinci. Dareus and Atkins are both very good DTs but Dareus is a bigger stronger guy where Atkins is quicker. Should be interesting to see if the interior OL can handle another talent DT with a different playing style.

 

[FourierSeries]

We beat the best team in the AFC last night so that gives me confidence. But the way the Pats looked in those first 4 games still haunts me. I know we all like to hate on the Bills, but they have a legit defense. They won't be easy to beat in Buffalo.

If we play like we did tonight, we should win.

 

[JMC00]

If the line plays decent Gronk and Wright could both have good games against those LBs.

 

[BelichicksHoodie]

We beat the best team in the AFC last night so that gives me confidence. But the way the Pats looked in those first 4 games still haunts me. I know we all like to hate on the Bills, but they have a legit defense. They won't be easy to beat in Buffalo.

If we play like we did tonight, we should win.

Denver is better than the Bengals. I'd even go as far to say the Chargers are better than they are and as of last night, we're better as well. They beat two bad teams and handled a solid Ravens squad, they weren't nearly as "Great" as everyone made them out to be.

 

[pencilneckgeek]

We beat the best team in the AFC last night so that gives me confidence. But the way the Pats looked in those first 4 games still haunts me. I know we all like to hate on the Bills, but they have a legit defense. They won't be easy to beat in Buffalo.

If we play like we did tonight, we should win.

What the hoodie said. Cinci isn't close to being the best team. I suppose I should be ready for another week of over-reaction to a lopsided prime time game around here.

The Pats won't play like they did last night, because they will be playing a different team. If they play hurry-up with the run game, they will be punting a lot. There will be a different game plan, and they'll be facing a defense that is much better than Cinci, and they will be on the road in one of the tougher stadiums to play. The DL of the Bills is a tougher group than Cinci (at least until Atkins recovers fully from the torn ACL), and the OL is still a relative weak point for the Pats.

 

[Boomer B]

I'm no expert but I think we should target Spikes in the passing game. We all know how well he defends the pass.

 

[sb1]

At least McDaniels knows Orton and his tendencies.

Florio headline: MCDANIELS PLANS TO SPY ON KYLE ORTON

 

[dales804]

Is this the best tweet you'v ever seen? I laughed so hard at it. Where's @Uncle Rico?

Buffalo Bills @buffalobills · 6m6 minutes ago
WATCH: Uncle Rico I mean Kyle Orton throws the pigskin a quarter mile over them mountains http://bufbills.co/MUUYdo

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

Here is my "local" perspective on the bills.

Bills have a very talented team and will pose a problem, especially at home with that crowd amped-up in a probable frenzy.

They are best in the running game; on both sides of the ball. However, their best RB, Fred Jackson, may not be 100% and, on the other side of the ball, a key cog for them, DT Kyle Williams, is also injured.

Orton is a significant improvement over Manuel but still not anything special. Orton does have weapons to throw too however. Watkins along with Mike Williams and Robert Woods can all play. The speedster, Goodwin, is also very dynamic and a matchup nightmare should he be able to stay on the field.

Marcel Dareus may be playing as well as any defender in the NFL thus far. He's been a dominating force who has been doubled most of the time. Mario Williams can take over a game so has to be accounted for. Probably the biggest surprise on the bills defense has been Jerry Hughes. He's been a pass rush force opposite M Williams. If K Williams is back healthy, this may be the best DL in all of football. Our OL will have their hands full this game.

The back-end of the Bills defense is where the weaknesses lie. The secondary can be thrown upon (if the QB has time) and the LB's (especially B Spikes and rookie P Brown) are suspect covering the pass and can be exploited by the better QB's. Gronk, Wright and Vereen should be major matchup advantages for the Pats this contest. Hopefully the OL allows Brady time to get the ball to them.

 

[SalemPats]

In my opinion the Bills are one of the most talented teams in the league.

Defense: Their D-Line is top 5 along with the Jets/Rams. They have a decent secondary and a solid LB core. If Kiko Alonso was healthy they would have a scary defense. We need to attack the middle of the field, a lot of slants, curls, etc..

Offense: Jackson, Spiller, Watkins, Woods, Williams, Chandler are very good weapons. Manuel is awful, probably the worst in the NFL in terms of a starter. Orton is solid, not great not bad. He's rusty, we need to throw a lot of stunts, show a lot of blitzes to confuse him. If you saw the Lions game on Sunday he made a lot of misreads in the 1st half that should have cost them the game.

 

[TBR]

Is this the best tweet you'v ever seen? I laughed so hard at it. Where's @Uncle Rico?

I just puked a little

 

[juny]

This game will be won/lost based on the Pats OL play. They will be tested by the good Bills DL. Another blowout if they protect Brady like they did in SNF.

 

[foreboding]

It is a short week and I know the win in fresh but I just wanted to start this thread and point out a few things I think are interesting.

Bills Fan here.

The biggest advantage the Pats have this weekend is the absolute dominance they have established over my team. The players, the coaches, they all feel it. I think if the Bills beat the Pats it will be like winning the playoffs for this team. They may over react, I hope that we get a chance to see!

Why I think the Bills might win...

1. Orton. He can play and he will not be rattled like QB's from recent Bills teams. He got smacked around yesterday and despite a terrible first quarter (hasn't played since last year and only been with the team 4 weeks) he got better as the game went on. He is no Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, but IMO he is a Matt Stafford or a Tony Romo quality QB. For the Bills, that's a HUGE improvement. This season here are the yards the Lions have given up to opposing passers: Eli Manning: 144 yds, Cam Newton: 251 yds, Aaron Rodgers: 147 yds, Geno Smith: 204, Kyle Orton: 308 yds

2. Lots of Offensive weapons...and Orton. Orton again you say? Well sort of, the Bills are stacked with offensive talent, young yes, but talented. Watkins has vacuum cleaner hands, Woods is tough and makes tough grabs, Williams was TB's #1 for a reason and Spiller/Jackson are both dangerous. We have a QB who understands, he just needs to make the right read and get these guys the ball, in space. EJ over threw them, threw it behind them or threw it in the dirt.

3. Pass Rush. These guys are getting after it. Number 1 in the league. You guys all know about Williams and Williams and Dareus, but do not sleep on Hughes... and Stefan Charles is playing fantastic. Our two outside corners are rock solid, we only struggled against the huge Chicago WR's, and Philip Rivers who is playing the best of any QB in the league right now IMO...yet they still made big plays. Aaron Williams has made us forget all about Byrd.

4. Run Defense. Last season our pass rush was splashy and exciting but our over emphasis on blitzing exposed our run defense. Schwartz has these guys playing disciplined gap defense and they are still getting a pash rush and are the #1 rush defense in the NFL at this point.

5. Home game, new owners. The Ralph will be rocking and the new owner, Terry Pugula, the Buffalo savior will be introduced. This man is truly the saint of Buffalo, he is spending hundreds of millions to revitalize the city and just dropped over a billion to buy the Bills to be sure they stayed forever. It will be insanely noisy.

6. Special Teams. Carpenter is a weapon. Guy can kick FG a mile away. new regime uses starters on ST. The best guys play ST no matter what other position they play. Two of our starting WR are making tackles on ST. Spiller and McKelvin return balls. Marrone thinks you have to win ST to win the game. I like it...so far.

7. Your defense seems vulnerable.
8. Your WR do not scare anyone.
9. Brady does not like to get hit. Our guys hit the QB...alot.


Why I think the Bills might lose....

1. Tom Brady of course.
2. Bill Belichick seems to know how to get inside the Bills collective heads.
3. Gronk, oh man Gronk, he looks like he is his old self again...
4. Somehow, every year the Pats seems to have their best running game of the year against the Bills, I am afraid this might happen again.
5. You always beat us.
6. I am afraid if our LB's have to cover your two TE it will be a long day. Spikes is awesome but not sure he can cover a TE for long, good news for the Bills is that Brady wont have much time.


Orton got immediate fan cred with this quote:

Reporter asks why the offense will be better with him over EJ. Ortons response:

"That's just a crap question, I'm not answering that stupid question."

 

[JMC00]

Just a reminder to some people that might have missed it, even though it is an AFC game it will be on FOX. And the crew doing the game is Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa

 

[PATS16N0]

I hate the Bills but have to admit Orton is a total boss.

 

[upstater1]

Fred Jackson actually came back into the game in the 4th qtr

 

[Dutchmaster617]

We will sit here and praise the Bills Dline and rushing attack rightfully so, as both are issues for us on the road.

But if we lose, if we even struggle one thing is sure to be overlooked, that man Kyle Orton.

He is better than Tannehill, Carr, Smith, and Dalton. I may give you Cassell but he won't be throwing the way he did week 2. Consider this our toughest challenge so far in the pass defense. Tebow took his job because they thought the season was over, then suddenly DEN played defense and nobody realized what Orton would have done with that turnaround on D.

 

[Joey007]

Denver is better than the Bengals. I'd even go as far to say the Chargers are better than they are and as of last night, we're better as well. They beat two bad teams and handled a solid Ravens squad, they weren't nearly as "Great" as everyone made them out to be.

I do think that Cincy has the best defense of those three. So I feel like we faced the toughest defense of a contender in the AFC.