The good news for the Buffalo Bills is that they’re 1-2 coming off a big win over the Arizona Cardinals. But the bad news is they now have a date with the New England Patriots in Foxborough on Sunday.
The biggest and most pressing storyline for this one throughout the week will be who will start under center for New England in this game. But will it matter? Couldn’t they just throw out receiver Julian Edelman, a former college quarterback at Kent State and come out with the win? Well, hold on a minute. Let’s remember this is Rex Ryan versus Bill Belichick, it’s not just any matchup for Ryan.
Most notably, Ryan had early success against Belichick’s Patriots. His Jets upset the Patriots in the 2010 AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs, but his early success has been overshadowed by losses like this one back in 2012 on Thanksgiving Night.
Sorry Mark Sanchez, you’ll never be able to live that one down.
Back to this game and Ryan. He made it loud and clear this week that he doesn’t care who’s at quarterback for the Patriots.
“I can sit back and say I don’t care who plays quarterback, because [Tom] Brady ain’t,” Ryan said Sunday. “I don’t care who plays quarterback. Steve Grogan can play quarterback. If [Bill] Belichick’s playing quarterback, we’re coming after him, I promise you that,” Belichick said via ESPN.
Buffalo does have 10 sacks on 213 defensive snaps. Their 10 sacks is tied for third best in the NFL. New England has allowed five sacks on 87 pass attempts for a sack percentage of 5.4%. Bills OLB, Jerry Hughes already has three sacks and an additional five QB hurries this season. He’s regaining his form from his 2013 and 2014 seasons where he put up 10 sacks each year.
Regardless of who’s at quarterback, they’ll have to deal with the same pressure Cardinals quarterback, Carson Palmer faced all day on Sunday.
Date: October 2nd, 2016
Start Time: 1:00 EST
Location: Foxborough, NE
Venue: Gillette Stadium
TV Info: CBS
Live Stream: NFL Sunday Ticket/NFL Mobile
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With New England’s quarterback scenario in question, they’ll rely heavily on a defensethat gave the Houston Texans all sorts of fits last week on Thursday Night Football. Man coverage on Buffalo’s receivers could be a big problem, especially if they’re without Sammy Watkins (foot).