MORSE: Week 18 Patriots Preview – Looking at the Bills Depth Chart

Mark Morse

11 months ago at 6:00 am ET

JAMIE GERMANO/ROCHESTER DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE / USA TODAY NETWORK

Here is an abbreviated Bills preview. This is a must-win for the Patriots if they want their season to continue with a playoff game. Nobody knows how the Bills are going to come out and play after the near-death experience with Damar Hamlin. I expect that the Bills will be giving it their all with the #2 seed in play and two playoff home games, but for Damar Hamlin as well.

OFFENSE

3 WR 1 TE

	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
QB	Josh Allen	Case Keenum	–	–
RB	Devin Singletary	James Cook	Nyheim Hines	Taiwan Jones
WR	Stefon Diggs	Khalil Shakir	–	–
WR	Gabe Davis	Jake Kumerow IR	–	–
WR	Isaiah McKenzie	Jamison Crowder IR
TE	Dawson Knox	Quintin Morris	Tommy Sweeney	–
FB	Reggie Gilliam
LT	Dion Dawkins	Tommy Doyle IR		–
LG	Rodger Saffold	Ike Boettger	Bobby Hart	–
C	Mitch Morse	Ryan Bates	Greg Van Roten	–
RG	Ryan Bates	Greg Van Roten	Ike Boettger	Justin Murray
RT	Spencer Brown	David Quessenberry

Josh Allen is the real deal. He can do it all. He can take your QB pressure and turn it into a big gain with his legs. He has a strong and accurate arm. The weather in Buffalo will not make a difference to him. They have great receivers in Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Diggs has 130 yards receiving on 101 catches. The diminutive Isaiah McKenzie is a little water bug that can make you look silly with his multiple moves. The running backs are good. Devin Singletary is on pace to equal last season’s output despite missing one game. They traded longtime 3^rd down back Zach Moss to Indianapolis for Nyheim Hines. I think Buffalo won out on that deal.

At TE they have the dependable Dawson Knox and former BC ace Tommy Sweeney. The Offensive line is very consistent with Dion Dawkins at LT, Roger Saffold at LG, Mitch Morse at C, Ryan Bates at RG, and Spencer Brown at RT.

DEFENSE

3-4 Base

LDE	Greg Rousseau	Boogie Basham	–	–
LDT	Ed Oliver	Jordan Phillips	–	–
RDT	DaQuan Jones	Tim Settle
RDE	Shaq Lawson	AJ Epenesa O	Von Miller IR
WLB	Terrel Bernard	Tyler Matakevich	Baylon Spector	–
MLB	Tremaine Edmunds	A.J. Klein
SLB	Matt Milano	Tyrel Dodson		–
LCB	Tre’Davious White	Taron Johnson	Christian Benford	Siran Neal
SS	Jordan Poyer	Cam Lewis	Dean Marlowe
FS	Jaquan Johnson	Jared Mayden	Damar Hamlin IR	Micah Hyde IR
RCB	Dane Jackson	Kaiir Elam

Buffalo has a few injuries on Defense but they are still a formidable group. Epenesa, Hamlin, and Hyde are out and several other players are not 100%. I think their Injury Report is a joke and the league should look into this. How does somebody like Taron Johnson come back from a concussion so fast?

The Bills D line is a stone wall. Anchored by Ed Oliver and Jordan Phillips, add in DaQuan Jones and Shaq Lawson to finish out the line. Add Tim Settle’s contribution as a backup and they are a good and deep group. Matt Milano is having another great season. Tremaine Edmunds plays all over the field. Even with Micah Hyde and Jamar Hamlin out, Tre’Davious White and Jordan Poyer are excellent cover players and ball hawks. I love their two rookies Christian Beneford and Kaiir Elam. Jaquan Johnson will be asked to fill in for Hamlin (in for Hyde). He may be the weak link. Dane Jackson is filling in at RCB.

	Special Teams

	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PK	Tyler Bass	–	–	–
P	Sam Martin	–	–	–
H	Sam Martin
PR	Nyheim Hines	Khalil Shakir	Jamison Crowder IR	–
KR	Isaiah McKenzie	James Cook
LS	Reid Ferguson			–

Tyler Bass is normally a consistent player, but he has had his misses this season too. He ranks 6^th in the league with Nick Folk as 7^th. Sam Martin is the Punter and Holder and ranks 13^th. Nyhein Hines is 9^th in Punt Returns. Patriots Marcus Jones is 1^st in the AFC, 2^nd overall. The Bills are not registering in KO returns. Marcus Jones is second. Due to the Patriots’ woeful Punting game, I would say that the Bills have a slight edge. But the Patriots have Marcus Jones and he is a threat any time he gets his hands on the ball. Bailey will not be back this season. Bill Belichick announced that Jake Bailey had reached the end of his activation period and will be put on season-ending IR. Marcus Jones came off the Injury Report and was a Full Participant in practice.

Injury Report

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

	Position	Injury	Wed	Thu	Fri	Game Status
Marcus Jones	CB	Concussion	DNP	LP	FP	(-)
Jonnu Smith	TE	Concussion	DNP	LP	LP	Questionable
Jonathan Jones	CB	Chest	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
Jakobi Meyers	WR	Shoulder	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
Jalen Mills	CB	Groin	LP	LP	LP	Questionable
DeVante Parker	WR	Concussion	LP	LP	FP	(-)
Davon Godchaux	NT	Illness		DNP	FP	(-)
Myles Bryant	CB	Shoulder		LP	FP	(-)
Brenden Schooler	DB	Hip		LP	LP	Questionable

BUFFALO BILLS

Player

Position

Injury

Wed

Thu

Fri

Game Status

Josh Allen

Ankle/Right Elbow

(-)

Tyrel Dodson

MLB

Knee

(-)

Taron Johnson

Concussion

(-)

Dawson Knox

Hip

(-)

Cam Lewis

Forearm

(-)

Matt Milano

OLB

Knee

(-)

Jordan Phillips

Shoulder

(-)

Jordan Poyer

Knee/Vet Rest

DNP

(-)

Rodger Saffold

Vet Rest

DNP

(-)

Stefon Diggs

Vet Rest

DNP

(-)

The Bills have suddenly become healthy? I think their Injury Report is not truthful. Let’s see on Sunday how many of these players are really healthy.

Glad to see Marcus Jones and Myles Bryant are returning. Would like to see Jonathan Jones on Sunday. I hope Parker doesn’t take playing time away from someone like Kendrick Bourne.

Bottom Line

I think the Bills rebound from their shock and despair over the Damar Hamlin near-death incident. They are the more talented team, especially on offense. I think the Bills’ defense will stop the Pats from running and forcing them to pass. Not sure the Patriots have the horses to beat the Bills’ secondary. I also believe the Bills’ pass rush will present problems for Mac Jones. The Patriots’ Defense will not be as bad as it was for the last two meetings last season, they are much improved. Can they keep the Pats in the game? Final Bills 30 Patriots 17