Patriots News 12-14, Players To Watch Against The Bills
Key Patriots players poised to make decisive impacts in a high-stakes showdown for the AFC East crown
Follow us
Follow Us
🕑 Read Time: 9 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots Commentary
HOME > Patriots Blog > Patriots Commentary
Good morning. Here is your Patriots news, 12-14, and NFL notes this week. The Patriots have won 10 in a row and, at 11-2, are playing for the AFC East title this afternoon against the team that has won it five years in a row.
This is the biggest game they’ve played since Tom Brady was on the team. And that isn’t just hyperbole; this is a massive game for the team. Yes, they can still win the division if they lose today, but to beat Buffalo twice this year sends a message that they are for real, which many national pundits are still on the fence about.
Buffalo is favored today, and as Vrabel said earlier this week, you can throw records out the window. People are still talking about the Patriots’ schedule rather than the way they’ve played.
Brooke Cersosimo of NFL.com wrote about the game and why she chose Buffalo earlier this week.
“I keep coming back to something my fellow games picker Ali Bhanpuri pointed out earlier this week: It’s possible New England could win 15 games without beating more than one team that finishes the year with a winning record.
“That one team? Buffalo, which New England beat in Week 5. Now, the Patriots, winners of 10 straight, have a two-game lead in the division and can win the title by defeating the Bills at home on Sunday.
“You know, it just doesn’t feel quite that easy. Josh Allen continues to put the team on his back when asked and knows what it’s like being the hunted. That’s a new scenario for Drake Maye, who dismissed that idea earlier this week. Maye must show he can handle the pressure in what will feel like a true playoff game between two heavyweights.”
So, this is a big one for both teams; the Bills don’t want to concede the division in Gillette Stadium of all places. It is tough to beat a team twice in one season. And this is not going to be a game for the faint of heart.
Kevin Faulk: The former Patriot great running back and his wife Latisha suffered heartbreak last week when their daughter Tanasha died unexpectedly at the age of 30.
The Faulks have suffered so much tragedy; an infant son died years ago, and four years ago, when Faulk was the running backs coach at LSU, his daughter Kevione, who was working as a student-worker on the football staff, died at just 19 years old.
So much tragedy for one family to bear. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Faulk family.
Tom Brady: The former Patriots’ great quarterback and now Fox color analyst had some glowing remarks about Drake Maye and Josh McDaniels this week on the Colin Cowherd podcast.
“With Drake, he has the physical ability, he has the size. In terms of physical skillset, his downfield passing ability is awesome,” Brady said.
“Josh McDaniels has done an incredible job this year for the Patriots. Drake is running the same system that I was in. I know how good that system is for quarterbacks.
“How Josh does teach these young quarterbacks all the different reasons why he’s doing what he’s doing; why we’re trying to beat this coverage or how we’re going to protect to give you the best chance to be successful. So he’s in a great system to be successful.
“McDaniels just talks about his work ethic, his willingness to get better and improve week in and week out,” Brady added. “He’s a sponge for information and that’s more important to me than what I see on the film. Because when I hear that, I know that he’s doing the things it takes during the week that are going to show up consistently on the field.”
Jahlani Tavai: The Patriots’ linebacker missed some time at practice and the Bengals’ game with what was described by the team as a personal matter.
Earlier this week, Tavai’s partner, Kalei Mau, posted to her Instagram account that the pair had been mourning the loss of their unborn daughter after a medical emergency in late November.
Mau wrote that, “I got an extremely rare blood infection. On November 20, I was placed in a medically induced coma after I was found unresponsive in my bed. I was asleep for six days. Unfortunately, with my organs failing and the sickness infecting my placenta, our baby passed away in my womb.
“Hours later, my body went into natural labor, and Jahlani watched me deliver our baby unconscious. He said it was like my body just knew what to do.
“Her name is Ka ua, which means ‘The Rain’ in Olelo O Hawai’i. And with Ka ua, everything grows. By the grace of God and the power of prayer, I woke up, and it was clear what I had to continue to live for. Thank you, Jesus.
“The day after I got out of the hospital, I got to kiss my daughter for the first and last time. She was perfect to me. It was so hard to leave her. But when I walked outside, it started to rain, and it brought me joy to know she’ll always be with me.”
Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Mike and I broke down the upcoming game against the Bills on our Wednesday podcast. Derek has been out of town for a bit, and we hope to get him back as soon as possible. But we will have our postgame podcast of the Bills game, on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m.
Please check it out. And be sure to like, share, and leave us a review.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position.
This will be displayed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
So, the bye week is over, and the Patriots, rolling along at 11-2, face the Bills at home today with the opportunity to clinch the division for the first time since 2019. Since 2001, the Patriots or the Bills have won the division every year except 2002 (Jets), and 2008 (Dolphins), who won the division over the Patriots via tie breakers.
With that in mind, here are (from a Patriots’ perspective) the players to watch in today’s game.
Harold Landry: The Patriots’ edge rusher, who leads the team with 7.5 sacks, has been slowed with a knee injury in the past several games. After the bye week break, it will be interesting to see how he fares in trying to get after Josh Allen today.
He’ll be going against Bills tackle Spencer Brown, who has been hurt with a shoulder injury. The Patriots need to get pressure on Allen and keep him in the pocket. When he breaks containment and gets to the outside, lots of things happen to the defense, all of them bad.
Landry and co-edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson have to step up and bring their A-games this week.
TreVeyon Henderson: The rookie running back has been getting better as the season goes on, and brings the big play element to the table. Facing a Bills run defense that hasn’t played well all year, there will be some opportunities to hit some chunk plays in the running game.
Henderson has that speed, like the Bills’ James Cook, that makes him dangerous in the open field. The Patriots haven’t been very adept at running the ball this year, so it will be interesting to see if they can generate much on the ground.
We’d like to see Henderson get more looks in the passing game, isolated on a linebacker instead of just in the flat. He’d be a mismatch that Drake Maye could take advantage of.
Khyiris Tonga: The big nose tackle has been injured but is expected to return today. The Patriots need him for their run defense against the Bills this week. With Milton Williams still on IR at least until after the Ravens’ game, and Christian Barmore banged up, the run defense is facing the top running game in the league, averaging 157.8 yards per game.
Tonga has been an excellent addition to the team this season, far exceeding expectations. And plugging him into the offense in short-yardage situations could help those red-zone issues as well.
Mack Hollins: The former Bills’ wide receiver wasn’t a factor in the Week 5 matchup (no targets, no catches). That will change today. Hollins has been a big part of the Patriots’ passing game, providing a big, physical target, while also doing a great job blocking for the backs and other receivers.
I look for him (and Stefon Diggs) to have big games against their former team today. Diggs shone in Week 5 (10-146), but this will be Hollins’ week to test the intermediate zones of the Bills’ defense.
Robert Spillane: Mike Vrabel said that Spillane is questionable to play today because of a foot injury. He’s been a tremendous asset to the defense; his downhill playing style will be needed to blow up runs in the backfield before allowing James Cook those cutback lanes where he is so dangerous.
The Patriots will probably use him on occasion as a spy against Josh Allen to keep him from springing free as a scrambler and making plays with his feet.
Buffalo uses a ton of motion and window dressing to keep defenses off balance. Spillane is the guy who will have to sift through all of that to keep the Patriots’ defense on target.
Drake Maye: All of the Patriots’ (and Maye) doubters all say the same thing. “We don’t really know how Maye will play until he plays in a high-stakes game.” That, to me, is a cop-out.
One of the sillier statements like this came courtesy of The Athletic. “A win by Allen’s Bills on Sunday would essentially end Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s MVP chances (Matthew Stafford is likely going to win anyway).”
What if Maye lights up the Bills today? Then the same people will say, “But can he do it in a playoff game…in a second playoff game?”
Watch the tape, he’s faced all kinds of coverages and schemes, and the team is averaging 29.1 points per game during the 10-game winning streak, never scoring less than 23 points. Maye is currently second in the league in passing yardage with 3412, despite having zero 300-yard games. That’s consistency.
I expect Maye to play like he has all season, and it is going to be fun watching these two QBs play today, and for a long time against each other in the division.
The schedule this week is obviously dominated by the Patriots and Bills here, with the opportunity to clinch the division. The Bills have won it five years in a row, since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay.
But we’ll also be watching some other key AFC games that feature the Chiefs, Ravens (who the Patriots play next week), Steelers, and, of course, the other teams in the division. Has Miami truly turned the corner, or are they just skewering their draft position?
Now we’ll see how the rest of the schedule goes.
Thursday Night Football:
Atlanta over Tampa Bay 1-0
Sunday Day Games:
Chicago over Cleveland
Cincinnati over Baltimore
LA Chargers over Kansas City
New England over Buffalo
NYG over Washington
Philadelphia over Las Vegas
Jacksonville over NYJ
Houston over Arizona
Green Bay over Denver
Detroit over LA Rams
Carolina over New Orleans (for the division lead)
San Francisco over Tennessee
Seattle over Indianapolis
Sunday Night Football:
Dallas over Minnesota
Monday Night Football:
Pittsburgh over Miami
Last Week 8—6
2025 Season 141—66—1
2024 Season 204—68
2023 Season 178—94
2022 Season: 178—92—2
2021 Season: 183—88—1
2020 Season: 169—86—1
2019 Season: 162—93—1
“Well, I mean, I think that there are a lot of guys that could or would make different impacts. I mean, certainly Gibby [Jack Gibbens] has great knowledge and communicates.
“I think that Marcus Jones could be a guy who could coach and play. There are just a lot of guys. I mean, I think KC [K’Lavon Chaisson], I think Harold [Landry III], I think these guys that – it’s not all about just knowing football in being a coach. It’s about finding the right way to reach players, knowing sometimes how much to give them and how much not to give them, just depending on what level you’re talking about, coaching.
“You can make an impact in a lot of different ways, such as coaching. And again, anybody that I’ve coached or played with – again, there are a lot of guys out there that have gone on to coaching at different levels. I try to stay in touch with them, and somebody helped me progress and become a coach, so I try to do the same thing.”
Mike Vrabel was asked about which players he thinks would make good coaches, specifically Jack Gibbens.
“Probably just patience. Patience and knowing where he wants to go with the ball.
“I think the receivers have all helped him out and done a good job. I think the protection – it starts with the protection and making sure that he’s putting guys where he wants them, so he knows – the quarterback knows – if he’s hot or if he’s not hot.
“But the running backs have got to be able to protect and pick up blitzers, and then there’s not panicking, taking off and running, and staying in, transitioning and transferring up into the pocket.”
Mike Vrabel was asked about the difference between last year, when Drake Maye’s passer rating against the blitz was one of the lowest in the league, and this season, when it is now one of the best.
“I feel good. Feel good like I do about everything. We’re trying to coach and improve. There are things that we’ve done really well, and there are things that we’ve done okay.
“So, again, whatever situation it is that comes up, we’ll have to be prepared for it, be able to extend drives no matter what the down and distance is, and I think, most importantly, have an understanding of how critical the red zone is when you get down there.
“And that everything that we’ve been preaching and talking about, we’ll have to continue to execute and make sure that we’re doing everything we can to get touchdowns, and the difference that that makes in close ball games.
“Force them to kick field goals. The same thing can be said defensively. So, I think we were both 2-for-4 last game. And again, in a close game, that’s about what it turned out to be. We made a kick at the end. And so, if we can get them to kick or attempt field goals, we’ll have to do everything we can to score touchdowns.
Vrabel was asked how he feels about the offense’s ability to improve some of the short-yardage and red-zone issues that have come up in the last few weeks.
_______________
“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our PatsFans.com Patriots No Huddle podcasts on Apple and YouTube as Derek Havens, Mike D’Abate, and I discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.
From our archive - this week all-time:
April 29 - May 14 (Through 26yrs)
Join 2,000+ fans getting exclusive stats, analysis, and insights delivered straight to their inbox every week. Never miss a play.