The Official Week 3 Patriots at Bills Thread

[jmt57]

Please post your pre- and in-game insightful comments, knee jerk over reactions, praise, rants and any other thoughts regarding today's Week 3 game between the Pats and Bills here.

Please do not ask for a link to watch the game online. Use an internet search engine such as Google and type in a few keywords; you'll find plenty of choices.

Do not under any circumstances post a link to one of those sites here.



Enjoy the game, it should be a good one ....

GO PATS!

 

[Keegs]

hey this thread is great.

but what i could really use is a link to watch the game online. just kidding.

I have a feeling the pats D is gonna step up.

 

[Patriot to the Core]

Looking forward all week to this game!

 

[jmt57]

A few columns previewing the game to go through if you haven't already seen them, from PatsFans contributors:

Patriots – Bills Key Matchups ats Pub

Look for the Patriots to test the Bills by pounding BenJarvus Green-Ellis inside and Danny Woodhead outside to test the Buffalo defense and keep them honest. If they start having some success, it will bring the safeties closer to the box and make the Patriots passing game that much more effective.

Just the fact that Bills will expect another aerial assault by Brady should open up some big holes for the RBs. Look for C Dan Connolly and NT Kyle Williams to have a good battle upfront. Green-Ellis should have a nice day on Sunday.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Patriots Have Plenty of Balance :Ian's New England Patriots Blog

Looking at the ball distribution in the passing game in terms of direction, the numbers are almost identical to each part of the field. Of Brady’s 88 targets, he’s targeted 30 to the left (24 completions – 80%), 29 targets to the middle (21 completions – 87.5%), and 29 to the right (18 completions – 62%).

Here’s how it shapes up by down:

1st down: 15 targets to the left (12 completions – 80%), 15 to the middle (11 completions – 73%), 11 to the right (7 completions – 64%)
2nd Down: 9 attempts to the left (7 completions – 78%), 10 to the middle (8 completions – 80%), 8 to the right (7 completions – 87.5%)
3rd Down: 6 attempts to the left (5 completions – 83%), 4 to the middle (2 completions – 50%), 9 to the right (4 completions – 44%)
4th Down: 1 attempt to the right (incomplete)

My Five Keys To Victory For the Patriots Against The Bills ats Confidential

On defense, the Bills front seven definitely has some talent to deal with. Nose tackle Kyle Williams could be a handful for Patriots center Dan Connolly to contain. The linebackers are lead on the outside by Chris Kelsay and Shawne Merriman. Kelsay has given Patriots trouble to deal with in the past, and Merriman a few seasons ago was a real force rushing the passer with the Chargers.

The Bills could be vulnerable in the defensive backfield. Terrence McGee is injured, and definitely a loss for the Bills. Leodis McKelvin and Drayton Florence are decent cornerbacks, but they could get exposed by the Patriots offense.

Pre-game Thoughts: Patriots at Bills erek's Patriots Blog

The Bills have a solid one – two combo with Fred Jackson and CJ Spiller. While Spiller has been disappointing thus far in his young NFL career, Jackson is one of the most underrated running backs in the league. Like I had previously mentioned, Buffalo has rushed for an average of 193 yards per game. The Patriots, who have both Albert Haynesworth and Patrick Chung out for the game, will need to be prepared for Chan Gailey’s offense.

On the other side, the Patriots should do well rushing the ball Sunday. I expect Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis to have 100-yards and Danny Woodhead should get his touches as well. Even though Buffalo has Kyle Williams and first round pick Marcel Dareus along their defensive line, they have struggled to stop the run over the past few seasons. This could be the Patriots key to success against their division rival.

Pats Pre Game Post: Hunting Buffalo :Nick's Take

Sergio Brown, Josh Barrett, James Ihedigbo, and Ross Ventrone are our safeties… Yeah, not a very good group with Chung out. McCourty can handle Stevie Johnson though, but yards after the catch was a big thing in the San Diego game and with these safeties…

Defensive Keys to Buffalo - jays52

The most glaring advantage Buffalo has had is the luck of going against some really bad tackling. The most important thing in defending the spread is put the receiver on the ground the instant they catch the ball. The spread operates mostly on gaining minor separation against man and advancing the ball after the catch. With the defense so spread out, it makes gang tackling near impossible and negates pursuit to a large degree. It is on the DB's to get those receivers down now. The Patriots are a very fundamentally sound team and I anticipate this key to hold true.

Idle Thoughts - Pre-Game Musings -- patfanken

Vollmer's injury is the one that bothers me the most. Not for just tomorrow, but long term. The back is a tricky thing to have hurt. While Solder's faster than expected development makes the RT position as solid as if Volmer was playing, it hurts our depth in 2 ways. One we will be in big trouble if Light or Solder go down. Secondly, I would have thought that if Volmer had played, Solder would have had a BIG role as the Blocking TE against a teams whose major weakness this year has been setting the edge. Now I have no idea who will play that role....or how well they will play it.

 

[JSn]

Edelman, Ridley, Branch will have big games today.

Gronk continues to roll toward a TE TD record in homecoming game.

I'm really a bit worried about the defense, but at the same time with no Al, we might see some faster attacking play. Hitting the QB and stopping Jackson are the ONLY ways to win this one.

 

[Patriot Missile]

We'll see if this ground and pound attack theory really works.

 

[patsox23]

anyone have a link to a feed?

 

[jah]

Thinking this game hinges entirely on whether McCourty can step up or not.

 

[oldskool138]

Get ready Buffalo fans!

 

[italian pat patriot]

ready and excited for the game

Go Pats !

 

[Patspsycho]

Welcome to Ralph Wilson Stadium - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

 

[JoeShmoe]

Dowling inactive too

Man, were short today

 

[Rob0729]

Wow! The defense is depleted with Haynesworth, Chung, and Dowling out and Pryor and Wright on IR. Looks like San Diego is a Piric victory. Luckily, Dowling and Chung are short term injuries. Hopefully Haynesworth is too.

 

[Rob0729]

BTW, anyone who bet the under for this game might have as well spent the money on Powerball tickets. That is the safer bet than the under in this game.

 

[A.C Vegas]

to be honest i am a little excited about a possible combo of Welker,Edelman,Woodhead, Branch and Gronk set out there that's gotta be kind of scary to defend aganst if you the bills

 

[Patspsycho]

This means we have all three QBs and four RBs active. Time to unleash the monsters. I predict a never before seen formation featuring two QBs and four RBs. I nominate that we call this the hydra personnel.

 

[A.C Vegas]

This means we have all three QBs and four RB's active. Time to unleash the monsters. I predict a never before seen formation featuring two QBs and four RBs. I nominate that we call this the hydra personnel.

that means line them all up in a row back there and let the bills play guess who has the ball

 

[patsinthesnow]

So the 7 inactives are all injuries....TARPINIAN is active. Time to see greatness!

 

[Gwedd]

I am still predicting that the Patriots show up big time for this game and put up some good numbers, although Buffalo will score too. I think that our Defense, with it's back to the wall, will find the motivation and heart to get things done. The way that Fitzpatrick likes to play gunslinger, there's a very real chance that New England's "D" gets a pick-6.

Can New England lose this game? Sure. Any given Sunday and all that. However, i think that even banged up, the Bills will come up short this time.

Regardless, it's always a fun game to watch, and I'm signing off here so as to get a couple things done before settling in for the day. :rocker:

GO PATS!!

 

[Rob0729]

This means we have all three QBs and four RBs active. Time to unleash the monsters. I predict a never before seen formation featuring two QBs and four RBs. I nominate that we call this the hydra personnel.

The fact that Mallett is active is a horrible thing in my eyes. The fact that they can have guys like Mallett, all four RBs, and all six WRs active means the Pats are woefully thin at other positions most notably TE (1) and d-line.

EDIT: Didn't realize Price was inactive. Scratch the six WRs.