Patriots 2014 Opponents, 5 First Impressions of the Bills
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Dan Carpenter kicks a 58 yard game winning field goal against Detroit on Sunday. (USA Today photo)[/caption]
The New England Patriots go back on the road on Sunday afternoon for a very important divisional game against the Buffalo Bills. The game will take place in Orchard Park and the kickoff is slated for 1 p.m.
This will be the first of two meetings between the teams this season and both are tied for first in the AFC East. Miami is second at 2-2, coming off of an early bye week and the Jets are currently in the cellar at 1-4 after losing in San Diego.
The Patriots (3-2) rebounded on a short week beating the Cincinnati Bengals 43 – 17 on Sunday Night Football after being pasted in KC just six days prior. Tom Brady had a big night passing for 292 yards and two touchdowns and the running game gashed the Bengals for 220 yards.
On defense, the Pats got their best game from Darrelle Revis thus far and forced three turnovers while limiting the Bengals running game to just 79 yards. The aggressive approach kept Cincinnati off-balance thru most of the game.
The Bills (3-2) had a huge come from behind win over the Detroit Lions, 17 – 14 on Sunday. Trailing 14-0, the Bills scored the game’s final 17 points including a 58 yard field goal by Dan Carpenter in the final seconds. Kyle Orton passed for over 300 yards and the Buffalo defense sacked Matthew Stafford six times.
The teams have met 111 times in their history going back to 1960 with the Patriots holding a 66 – 44 – 1 edge overall. The rivalry has been marked by domination on both sides at times and since the Belichick era began, the Patriots are 25-3 against Buffalo including 5 in a row and 20 of the past 21.
On the road the Patriots are 31 – 22 – 1 overall against the Bills with last year’s contest a close 23 – 21 win on Week 1 of the 2013 season.
As part of the lead-up to the game on Sunday night, we’ll have a detailed breakdown of the matchups later in the week, but here are Five First Impressions of the Bills:
Schwartz Has Revamped Bills Run Defense: The Buffalo run defense has been their Achilles Heel for the past few years and with the addition of Jim Schwartz as the new Defensive Coordinator, they have righted the ship.
Buffalo is currently #1 in the NFL in rushing defense allowing only 71.5 yards per game. They’ve also been remarkably consistent allowing no more than 86 yards rushing in any of their first five contests.
The addition of former Patriots MLB Brandon Spikes has been a huge boost for the Bills rush defense. Spikes a big, physical, downhill thumper instantly upgraded the soft underbelly of the second level with his play.
Orton Instantly Upgrades Offense: Bills QB Kyle Orton, pressed into service with the benching of QB E.J. Manuel brought the Bills back in the closing minutes with a come from behind win in Detroit passing for over 300 yards.
Orton on his fifth team in nine years is probably not the long-term solution at QB but for a player who didn’t even spend the entire training camp with Buffalo showed some remarkable grasp of the offense. Orton got everyone involved hitting 10 different receivers with at least one reception in the win over the Lions.
In the past two games, Manuel was able to complete only 33 percent of his passes to his wide receivers, relying mainly on checkdowns to his running backs. But Orton got them involved immediately, completing 66.7 percent (14 for 21) of his passes to the Bills wide receivers. It is definitely something to monitor going forward.
Buffalo’s Front Four Another Big Test: The Patriots have struggled to protect Tom Brady for the most part this season. They seemed to have fixed those problems in the big win over Cincinnati last week. This week will provide another big test.
With big DT Kyle Williams missing the Bills stuffed the Lions running game and harassed QB Matthew Stafford all game sacking him six times (Marcell Darues had three) and allowing only a first quarter offensive touchdown. The Lions only other score came on a pick-six.
The Bills pressure was outstanding, holding the Lions to only 1-11 on third downs. Their 3rd down defense is outstanding, leading the NFL at holding opponents to 31.8 percent on the season. The Bills have three players with three or more sacks (Dareus, M.Williams, Hughes) so their production is coming from everyone.
Talented and Deep Group at WR: The Bills spent their first pick of the 2014 NFL Draft on WR Sammy Watkins. The talented, speedy receiver from Clemson is already paying dividends with 24 catches for 284 yards and two touchdowns on the season. He seems to already have a nice rapport with Orton and his big 20 catch set-up the winning FG.
But besides Watkins, the Bills can boast some nice depth at the WR position with Robert Woods, Mike Williams and Marquise Goodwin outside. They also have the talented Scott Chandler at tight end and as Orton becomes more comfortable in the offense, they should be testing the limits of opposing defenses more and more.
The Bills also possess two good running backs in the passing game in C.J. Spiller and the ageless Fred Jackson who at 33 is not only the oldest running back in the NFL but still one of the most productive, turning in a performance Sunday with over 100 yards rushing and receiving.
Turnovers Likely To Be Key: On any given Sunday, the team that wins the turnover battle most likely will win the game. This week, the turnover battle will be even more interesting to watch as both teams are at the top of the heap in turnovers.
The Bills and the Patriots (along with SD, and GB) are tied for the best turnover ratio at plus 6 in the NFL. The Bills have forced six interceptions to go along with seven recovered fumbles. They have yet to lose a fumble on the season, but have thrown four interceptions.
Whoever wins the turnover battle on Sunday should be in great position to win this game.
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