We are on to the Billdos

[BaconGrundleCandy]

I love it go for 2

 

[Redman443]

When playing against a defense like BUF. I wanna see us run the ball a lot and wear them down like last year.

 

[SBLIII]

When playing against a defense like BUF. I wanna see us run the ball a lot and wear them down like last year.

will we have success running the ball?

 

[TheRainMaker]

will we have success running the ball?

We’ll find out.

 

[patfanken]

There are a lot of ways to look at this game, but it's important not to think about how the Pats can win the game but more about how they can LOSE it.

1.If you deleted the name Buffalo and their recent 20 year history, I think that you'd find that this defense is just good, it might be among the 3 best defenses the Pats will face all season. It will have 10 of 11 starter back and have improved the quality of depth, especially on the DL and secondary. Ed Oliver could end up being the DROY. Just as we have talked about how the continuity of our defensive personnel has helped make our defense so good, the same can be said for the Bills.

2. Over the 3 years McDermott has led the Bills, Brady has had 3 TD passes and 4 picks. He runs a week to week defense, like the Pats and has shown he can give Brady trouble. This week the Pats will come into this game wounded on the offense. There are 4 questionable offensive players who are all critical to the Pats success. Edelman's value is obvious. Newhouse's value, and I can't believe I'm saying this about Marshall Newhouse, is also critical given the how good the Bill's front is. Rex has been the team's best RB. And having a capable TE this week would REALLY help, both in the run game as well as in the pass.

Picking which "questionable" players actually suit up is a fools errand, but personally because its a long season, I'd rather Edelman and Lacosse don't play. Lacosse's high ankle injury isn't going to get better unless it is rested. If he plays, image he'll be OK, but if he keeps playing on it, it will never truly heal. He limped through week 2, and was out week 3. He is still limping now. Rex's value is in his quickness and a foot injury doesn't help that skill. The only reason his injury isn't so critical is that we have a plethora of decent RB's to get by. So lets assume those 3 guys are out.

3. The Bills have proven that they have the ability to disguise what they are doing and thus confuse (at least some of the time) Brady. The Pats will have to rely on having 2 of their 4 WR's being UDFA's to combat a secondary that is capable of playing tight man coverage and zone. So while the Pats are unlikely to allow the Bills offense to score more than 10-17 points; the Pats are going to be hard pressed to much score much more than that themselves.

4. So here's the thing. This game is going to turn on turnovers. That shouldn't be a surprise since most games do. But this is about the ONLY way the Bills can win. We saw how quickly the defense can score in the Jets game. What was it, 14 points in about a minute and a half?

So picture the Pats in an extremely loud stadium, early in the game trying to run a flawless offense with 3 or 4 key players out of the line up. So far the bounces have pretty much gone their way, but in this situation, a fumble, or a tipped ball that doesn't just fall to the ground, or a long PI, or a fumble that doesn't bounce back to the offense.

5. The Refs CAN play a big role here. Too many penalties on the offense can kill drives against an already tough D in a hostile environment. They can also give a boost to the Bills with a bunch of holding and PI calls. Not saying they will all be one sided, but home field IS home field.

6. I'm fairly confident that the Pats D will not allow the Bills to drive down the field 70 odd yard for a score, WITHOUT a chunk play or 2. I'll be more confident after a see a series or two where they play good run D though. That's been the strength of the Bill's offense so far. They have 2 goo RB's and a good run blocking OL with 2 good blocking TE's (I'm still kind of pissed the Pats didn't draft a TE in the 3rd or 4th rounds, and Knox was one of 3 I had available in those rounds, and he's looked pretty good so far for the Bills ) So stopping the run will be BB's #1 factor for this game.

The 2nd will be stopping the deep bomb. The Bills have 3 very fast deep threats with Brown being the top threat. They have a quick slot guy to be a safety valve for Allen, and an OC who is trying to establish a more Patriot- like offense for the Bills (week to week changes and taking advantage of an Edelman-lite) slot man and more patience in the pocket.

Allen so far has been a feast or famine type QB, but is still learning and more importantly improving. This SHOULD be a tough D for him to combat consistently, so I see the Bills looking to run the ball and throw the ball deep at the start, and then take advantage of the room that will exist in the middle for their slot and TE's. (at least that would be my game plan. )

One of tougher things to deal with when you play a QB like Allen, is that you are forced to play more zone defenses than you'd like. Ideally you don't want your DB's with their backs to the QB when he can run for big gains before they realize it. That takes away one of Pat's secondary's best attributes.

I'm still going to pick the Pats to cover in my pool. (currently 11 of 114 ) but I'm not comfortable to say the least. As I pointed out that there are just too many ways where things can go wrong, and again the Bills don't suck. Good defense, Good Coaching, and a Great home crowd. Just sayin'

BTW- If the Pats are able to move the ball fairly well, say 25 or more points, with the group they are likely going to have Sunday; then I feel bad for the rest of their opponents, even KC. However, if they shut down the Bills offense like in previous weeks (10 or less), it will tell us a lot less, since they will have SEVERAL more difficult offenses left to see.

 

[BelichicksHoodie]

When playing against a defense like BUF. I wanna see us run the ball a lot and wear them down like last year.

They have a good front and our line isn’t at its best at the moment. If we can get our run game going I think we’re in for a good time. If we become one dimensional it’s the only slim chance Buffalo has I feel.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

There are a lot of ways to look at this game, but it's important not to think about how the Pats can win the game but more about how they can LOSE it.

1.If you deleted the name Buffalo and their recent 20 year history, I think that you'd find that this defense is just good, it might be among the 3 best defenses the Pats will face all season. It will have 10 of 11 starter back and have improved the quality of depth, especially on the DL and secondary. Josh Allen could end up being the DROY. Just as we have talked about how the continuity of our defensive personnel has helped make our defense so good, the same can be said for the Bills.

2. Over the 3 years McDermott has led the Bills, Brady has had 3 TD passes and 4 picks. He runs a week to week defense, like the Pats and has shown he can give Brady trouble. This week the Pats will come into this game wounded on the offense. There are 4 questionable offensive players who are all critical to the Pats success. Edelman's value is obvious. Newhouse's value, and I can't believe I'm saying this about Marshall Newhouse, is also critical given the how good the Bill's front is. Rex has been the team's best RB. And having a capable TE this week would REALLY help, both in the run game as well as in the pass.

Picking which "questionable" players actually suit up is a fools errand, but personally because its a long season, I'd rather Edelman and Lacosse don't play. Lacosse's high ankle injury isn't going to get better unless it is rested. If he plays, image he'll be OK, but if he keeps playing on it, it will never truly heal. He limped through week 2, and was out week 3. He is still limping now. Rex's value is in his quickness and a foot injury doesn't help that skill. The only reason his injury isn't so critical is that we have a plethora of decent RB's to get by. So lets assume those 3 guys are out.

3. The Bills have proven that they have the ability to disguise what they are doing and thus confuse (at least some of the time) Brady. The Pats will have to rely on having 2 of their 4 WR's being UDFA's to combat a secondary that is capable of playing tight man coverage and zone. So while the Pats are unlikely to allow the Bills offense to score more than 10-17 points; the Pats are going to be hard pressed to much score much more than that themselves.

4. So here's the thing. This game is going to turn on turnovers. That shouldn't be a surprise since most games do. But this is about the ONLY way the Bills can win. We saw how quickly the defense can score in the Jets game. What was it, 14 points in about a minute and a half?

So picture the Pats in an extremely loud stadium, early in the game trying to run a flawless offense with 3 or 4 key players out of the line up. So far the bounces have pretty much gone their way, but in this situation, a fumble, or a tipped ball that doesn't just fall to the ground, or a long PI, or a fumble that doesn't bounce back to the offense.

5. The Refs CAN play a big role here. Too many penalties on the offense can kill drives against an already tough D in a hostile environment. They can also give a boost to the Bills with a bunch of holding and PI calls. Not saying they will all be one sided, but home field IS home field.

6. I'm fairly confident that the Pats D will not allow the Bills to drive down the field 70 odd yard for a score, WITHOUT a chunk play or 2. I'll be more confident after a see a series or two where they play good run D though. That's been the strength of the Bill's offense so far. They have 2 goo RB's and a good run blocking OL with 2 good blocking TE's (I'm still kind of pissed the Pats didn't draft a TE in the 3rd or 4th rounds, and Knox was one of 3 I had available in those rounds, and he's looked pretty good so far for the Bills ) So stopping the run will be BB's #1 factor for this game.

The 2nd will be stopping the deep bomb. The Bills have 3 very fast deep threats with Brown being the top threat. They have a quick slot guy to be a safety valve for Allen, and an OC who is trying to establish a more Patriot- like offense for the Bills (week to week changes and taking advantage of an Edelman-lite) slot man and more patience in the pocket.

Allen so far has been a feast or famine type QB, but is still learning and more importantly improving. This SHOULD be a tough D for him to combat consistently, so I see the Bills looking to run the ball and throw the ball deep at the start, and then take advantage of the room that will exist in the middle for their slot and TE's. (at least that would be my game plan. )

One of tougher things to deal with when you play a QB like Allen, is that you are forced to play more zone defenses than you'd like. Ideally you don't want your DB's with their backs to the QB when he can run for big gains before they realize it. That takes away one of Pat's secondary's best attributes.

I'm still going to pick the Pats to cover in my pool. (currently 11 of 114 ) but I'm not comfortable to say the least. As I pointed out that there are just too many ways where things can go wrong, and again the Bills don't suck. Good defense, Good Coaching, and a Great home crowd. Just sayin'

BTW- If the Pats are able to move the ball fairly well, say 25 or more points, with the group they are likely going to have Sunday; then I feel bad for the rest of their opponents, even KC. However, if they shut down the Bills offense like in previous weeks (10 or less), it will tell us a lot less, since they will have SEVERAL more difficult offenses left to see.

The defensive Josh Allen plays for Jacksonville. I understand how you could confuse one JAG for another.

 

[SBLIII]

The Bills are madly overrated. They are in for a rude awakening...

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[Ring 6]

The Bills are madly overrated. They are in for a rude awakening...

Agree.

 

[Midship]

I don't see how a Josh Allen led team does anything against this Patriots defense. Will be a comfortable win in Buffalo.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

Thinking about this game I started watching this really great game from 1996.

 

[Soliel]

There are a lot of ways to look at this game, but it's important not to think about how the Pats can win the game but more about how they can LOSE it.

1.If you deleted the name Buffalo and their recent 20 year history, I think that you'd find that this defense is just good, it might be among the 3 best defenses the Pats will face all season. It will have 10 of 11 starter back and have improved the quality of depth, especially on the DL and secondary. Ed Oliver could end up being the DROY. Just as we have talked about how the continuity of our defensive personnel has helped make our defense so good, the same can be said for the Bills.

2. Over the 3 years McDermott has led the Bills, Brady has had 3 TD passes and 4 picks. He runs a week to week defense, like the Pats and has shown he can give Brady trouble. This week the Pats will come into this game wounded on the offense. There are 4 questionable offensive players who are all critical to the Pats success. Edelman's value is obvious. Newhouse's value, and I can't believe I'm saying this about Marshall Newhouse, is also critical given the how good the Bill's front is. Rex has been the team's best RB. And having a capable TE this week would REALLY help, both in the run game as well as in the pass.

Picking which "questionable" players actually suit up is a fools errand, but personally because its a long season, I'd rather Edelman and Lacosse don't play. Lacosse's high ankle injury isn't going to get better unless it is rested. If he plays, image he'll be OK, but if he keeps playing on it, it will never truly heal. He limped through week 2, and was out week 3. He is still limping now. Rex's value is in his quickness and a foot injury doesn't help that skill. The only reason his injury isn't so critical is that we have a plethora of decent RB's to get by. So lets assume those 3 guys are out.

3. The Bills have proven that they have the ability to disguise what they are doing and thus confuse (at least some of the time) Brady. The Pats will have to rely on having 2 of their 4 WR's being UDFA's to combat a secondary that is capable of playing tight man coverage and zone. So while the Pats are unlikely to allow the Bills offense to score more than 10-17 points; the Pats are going to be hard pressed to much score much more than that themselves.

4. So here's the thing. This game is going to turn on turnovers. That shouldn't be a surprise since most games do. But this is about the ONLY way the Bills can win. We saw how quickly the defense can score in the Jets game. What was it, 14 points in about a minute and a half?

So picture the Pats in an extremely loud stadium, early in the game trying to run a flawless offense with 3 or 4 key players out of the line up. So far the bounces have pretty much gone their way, but in this situation, a fumble, or a tipped ball that doesn't just fall to the ground, or a long PI, or a fumble that doesn't bounce back to the offense.

5. The Refs CAN play a big role here. Too many penalties on the offense can kill drives against an already tough D in a hostile environment. They can also give a boost to the Bills with a bunch of holding and PI calls. Not saying they will all be one sided, but home field IS home field.

6. I'm fairly confident that the Pats D will not allow the Bills to drive down the field 70 odd yard for a score, WITHOUT a chunk play or 2. I'll be more confident after a see a series or two where they play good run D though. That's been the strength of the Bill's offense so far. They have 2 goo RB's and a good run blocking OL with 2 good blocking TE's (I'm still kind of pissed the Pats didn't draft a TE in the 3rd or 4th rounds, and Knox was one of 3 I had available in those rounds, and he's looked pretty good so far for the Bills ) So stopping the run will be BB's #1 factor for this game.

The 2nd will be stopping the deep bomb. The Bills have 3 very fast deep threats with Brown being the top threat. They have a quick slot guy to be a safety valve for Allen, and an OC who is trying to establish a more Patriot- like offense for the Bills (week to week changes and taking advantage of an Edelman-lite) slot man and more patience in the pocket.

Allen so far has been a feast or famine type QB, but is still learning and more importantly improving. This SHOULD be a tough D for him to combat consistently, so I see the Bills looking to run the ball and throw the ball deep at the start, and then take advantage of the room that will exist in the middle for their slot and TE's. (at least that would be my game plan. )

One of tougher things to deal with when you play a QB like Allen, is that you are forced to play more zone defenses than you'd like. Ideally you don't want your DB's with their backs to the QB when he can run for big gains before they realize it. That takes away one of Pat's secondary's best attributes.

I'm still going to pick the Pats to cover in my pool. (currently 11 of 114 ) but I'm not comfortable to say the least. As I pointed out that there are just too many ways where things can go wrong, and again the Bills don't suck. Good defense, Good Coaching, and a Great home crowd. Just sayin'

BTW- If the Pats are able to move the ball fairly well, say 25 or more points, with the group they are likely going to have Sunday; then I feel bad for the rest of their opponents, even KC. However, if they shut down the Bills offense like in previous weeks (10 or less), it will tell us a lot less, since they will have SEVERAL more difficult offenses left to see.

Don’t sweat it Ken. The Bills still suck

 

[PatsGirl2011]

The Bills team I saw against the Bengals last week was not great and definitely not on the Pats level of talent. I’m sure they will be fired up and Allen will try to protect the ball, but the Pats’ roster should beat them either way. I’m guessing the game will be close initially, but I believe the defense will be the reason we pull away in the 3rd quarter.

 

[Redman443]

They have a good front and our line isn’t at its best at the moment. If we can get our run game going I think we’re in for a good time. If we become one dimensional it’s the only slim chance Buffalo has I feel.

I remember last year, Brady only threw a few passes. It was all about the run game and that’s probably still a good idea this year. Jakob Johnson and Newhouse need to step up and block for Sony

 

[mosi]

I remember last year, Brady only threw a few passes. It was all about the run game and that’s probably still a good idea this year. Jakob Johnson and Newhouse need to step up and block for Sony

Brady threw it 45 times last year! The Pats settled for FGs and the defense was solid. That was the game in Buffalo. The game at the end of the year in NE was not as close as the score would indicate and Sony ran well that game.

 

[Uptown]

 

[captain stone]

He’s been a very pleasant surprise IMO. If he can hold up without being in shape, he could be a find given the circumstances.

What exactly has been a pleasant surprise from him? That he hasn’t had Brady killed...yet?

 

[patfanken]

The Bills team I saw against the Bengals last week was not great and definitely not on the Pats level of talent. I’m sure they will be fired up and Allen will try to protect the ball, but the Pats’ roster should beat them either way. I’m guessing the game will be close initially, but I believe the defense will be the reason we pull away in the 3rd quarter.

Not to single you out, but what I don't get is the talk about "the Pats level of talent. What does that even mean? If the "level of talent" was what it was all about then of the last 8 teams in last year's playoffs it was almost universally agreed that the Pats had the 8th best roster of "talent".

First of all, the overall talent for 95% of the players in the league is pretty much the same. And those 80-100 "special players" are spread out among the teams pretty evenly, so around 3 per team. Right now I'd guess the Pats 3 are Brady, Gilmore and Collins and maybe not even Collins. It only been 3 games. Some teams might have only one, like Howard in Miami, and some might every now and then you might get 5 or 6 in the odd year.

But the fact is that teams don't usually win games or championships because there is a complete talent gap between teams, but because of how they are coached. It's much more about how that talent is USED. How the team is built. How committed they are as a group. How mentally tough they are and how they respond to adversity. Those are the reasons why the Pats won in 2001 AND in 2018. Not because they had championship talent, but because they had a championship TEAM that overcame some other teams' "talent".

This defense, the one everyone is calling as perhaps the best of the BB era, isn't made up of the best talent in the league. Only Gilmore and Collins have what you might call "special gifts". Not to say the other 2o odd guys aren't good players, but relative to the rest of the players in the league, just based on physical talent, they aren't all that different.

Haven't we talked all week about how because defense has been together for so long, their communication allows them to do a lot of things that have made them successful....to date. Here, at least, its the coaching, commitment, attention to detail, mental toughness, selflessness, AND talent that makes it all work year after year. Some years there seems to be more "talent" and some years, less. Yet the results always seem to be about the same. When the we get a few breaks we win it all, and when we don't we're in the final mix.

It was a bad cliche a DECADE ago, but it remains a truism that perhaps explains why this dynasty has lasted so long. I think it was Pioli who said it, and I paraphrase, "its not about acquiring talent, it's about building a team. And then if I could add, "coaching the sh!t out of it".

OK rant over. Thanks for your patience

 

[patfanken]

Thinking about this game I started watching this really great game from 1996.

Interest fact that comes from the end of this game. The Pats score with about 1:40 left to take a point lead. Adam V come on to kick the extra point from the 10, and MISSES. The lead remains at 3. After a KO to the Pats 12, the ball is returned to the Pats 35. A few plays later its at about the 50.

Can you imagine if the "place kickers mafia" had existed THEN!!!!!!! AV would have nothing but a distant memory from that game and a HOF 25 year career would have been over before it started, and we'd be a few superbowls short of what we have now.

Fortunately WMac picks Kelly and goes all the way and the Pats win, but what if......