Getting swept by a conference foe doesn't happen in New England, well at least not by its professional football team. With an at home loss to Rex Ryan's Bills earlier this season, a loss today would give Buffalo a sweep. While I doubt that would happen, here are my keys to making sure the Patriots head into their bye week on a positive note.
Yes, the Bills handed the Patriots their first shutout ever in Gillette Stadium and today's game is in Buffalo, shouldn't we be at least a little bit concerned? No, as usual the only team who can beat the Patriots is the Patriots. Even if we look at this year's loss to the Bills and don't even concern ourselves with the fact that we were starting an injured third string quarterback, the Patriots still beat themselves.
- Chris Hogan with an offensive pass interference call negating a 90 yard completion to Edelman out of the gates
- 5 Patriot fumbles
- Edelman fumbling the ball out of bounds
- Brissett fumbling the ball on Buffalo's 18 yard line trying to secure a first down (Blounts previous run for a first and goal was called back with an Andrews hold.
- Cyrus Jones completely lost on kickoffs
- Gostkowski missing a field goal
- Edelman mugging a punt return
- 9 penalties
Okay, enough about how the Patriots shot themselves in the foot last time. This is what needs to happen today:
Solid Special Teams Play- Fielding punts, covering on kickoffs and making extra points should consume the special teams unit today. While a flashy punt return is exciting to watch, I'll take a few unreturned punts over muffed ones any day of the week. While we all know the importance of getting Gostkowski back on track, trying to do that in Buffalo isn't really ideal. Looking back at previous seasons, he has always struggled in upstate New York.
Adjust Before Halftime- If he were playing, the Patriots would be focused on not letting LeSean McCoy beat them. Well, he's not playing today so who we need to stop is a bit of a mystery which I hope is solved early on.
Contain the Quarterback-Keeping Tyrod Taylor in the pocket is probably what the defensive goal will be today. While it's not sexy to let the opposing quarterback stay upright all game, it does seem to be very effective for Matt Patricia and crew.
Keep Hands to Ourselves- I'm getting sick of the holding calls each week. Looking back at our previous game against the Bills there were way too many penalties which killed any and all momentum we had going for us. A whistle free day for the Patriots would be nice.
Ball Security- It was a focus this week in practice. Hopefully it is reflected on the field today.
Solid Special Teams Play- Fielding punts, covering on kickoffs and making extra points should consume the special teams unit today. While a flashy punt return is exciting to watch, I'll take a few unreturned punts over muffed ones any day of the week. While we all know the importance of getting Gostkowski back on track, trying to do that in Buffalo isn't really ideal. Looking back at previous seasons, he has always struggled in upstate New York.
Adjust Before Halftime- If he were playing, the Patriots would be focused on not letting LeSean McCoy beat them. Well, he's not playing today so who we need to stop is a bit of a mystery which I hope is solved early on.
Contain the Quarterback-Keeping Tyrod Taylor in the pocket is probably what the defensive goal will be today. While it's not sexy to let the opposing quarterback stay upright all game, it does seem to be very effective for Matt Patricia and crew.
Keep Hands to Ourselves- I'm getting sick of the holding calls each week. Looking back at our previous game against the Bills there were way too many penalties which killed any and all momentum we had going for us. A whistle free day for the Patriots would be nice.
Ball Security- It was a focus this week in practice. Hopefully it is reflected on the field today.
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