Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots

“I mean it’s ‘Monday Night Football, ‘” added Rob Gronkowski, in a conference call with the Buffalo media. The divisional coaches Belichick has faced most other than Ryan during his tenure are Herm Edwards, who led the Jets from 2001 to 2005, and Dave Wannstedt, who roamed the Dolphins’ sidelines from 2000 to 2004. Watkins was nearly completely shut out against the Jets last week. One of Tom Brady’s favorite targets, wide receiver Julian Edelman, is out as well as running back Dion Lewis. The only reason I talk about them is they’re the No. 1 team in our division. Along with the guys already out, four offensive linemen are on the injury report, too. His first National Football League game was the 2009 season-opening loss to the Patriots. I am not the biggest Patriots fan but the combo of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady has been deadly for years now.

Bills LT Cordy Glenn vs. Patriots DE Chandler Jones: Gordy is a pending free agent in the spring, and his potential pay day will be dictated by how he holds up against elite players like Jones, who is in the defensive player of the year conversation with 10.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

It’s been a long time since the Bills have been on Monday night, and this game is the ultimate test. Rex Ryan has taken a less aggressive approach for this game, at least vocally, and hopefully has his troops in the right frame of mind. But for the Bills, outside of Sammy Watkins, the Bills don’t have any other major threats at wide receiver. In all likelihood, this will be one of the primary matchups worth watching on Monday.

How has the quarterback improved from Week 2 to Week 11?

“I think we were kind of a little embarrassed about how things went down”, Ryan said this week. And as you might expect, that’s not easy against any team, let alone New England. Meanwhile, Clay will likely be the focus of safeties and linebackers. The Pats prefer to dress seven linemen, so Jackson or Cannon could still be inactive even if they’re healthy enough to play.

It’s a comfort to know that Bill isn’t going to be overwhelmed by the moment.

The Patriots are No. 2 in run defense, which is the same ranking as the Bills’ ground game.

One thing that will change this week for Brady is that he won’t have his most reliable receiver in the lineup. On average, Brady has the shortest time before pass (2.13) this season, followed by Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton (2.19) and San Diego’s Philip Rivers (2.25).

In the end the Bills stun the Patriots at home, winning in primetime 30-27.

Buffalo wants to batter defenses with RBs LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams, setting versatile QB Tyrod Taylor up to work off play-action. Another element that would throw a monkey wrench into New England’s game plan is if Buffalo can manage to win the takeaway battle.

Patriots ball. Brady throws to Branch for 22. That would provide for the Patriots cover, and the UNDER. Going into the weekend, the Bills lead the league with 90 penalties and are tops in the NFL with 808 penalty yards.

The Patriots are a thorn in the side of Bills’ head coach Rex Ryan, back to his days as the Jets head coach.

Monday night has not always been the Patriots’ friend. I know you guys say I’m obsessed with them and all that but you guys are obsessed with them, not me. Meanwhile, the Patriots are sitting at 9-0 and are exactly where they want to be with just over a month of football left to be played with an opportunity to slam the door on the rest of the division against a key division rival.

“I think they’ve got a great complement in the backfield with those two guys along with the quarterback”, Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia said. Yeah, because they’ve won. For the most part the coaching staff seems relatively comfortable with those two players and both had a few decent moments that would leave you to believe they could contribute in this offense. I’ve lost seven of eight against them. “We’re not conceding that, I can promise you”. “By the end, you just like to play at 1 o’clock and be done with it”.