High Flyn' Bills Face Patriots in Week 3
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- Created on Friday, 23 September 2011 17:18
- Written by Dooley
The Buffalo Bills are the flavor of the week after their exciting win over the Oakland Raiders in Week 2. While many analysts are singing their praises, it doesn’t take an Einstein to figure out the real tests for the Bills lie within the AFC East.
Enter the New England Patriots. This team is again one of the favorites to win a Super Bowl.
The 2-0 Patriots are commandeered by 2010 MVP Tom Brady, who has 940 yards and seven touchdowns in this season’s two games. All time he is 17-1 against Buffalo.
Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Bills, who is often mentioned in the same sentence as his alma mater, Harvard. But this season, Fitzpatrick has captured lightning in bottle, by also throwing for seven touchdowns, with his favorite receivers being Scott Chandler (3 TDs) and Stevie Johnson (2 TDs). While he certainly doesn’t have the experience of Brady, he proved last week that he can lead the Bills to an exciting comeback.
While the Pats have the edge at quarterback, the Bills might have an advantage in the running game. The Patriots have a decent running game with backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead, (Steven Ridley may be used more as the season continues; he has only two rushing attempts this year.) But the Bills have two truly explosive backs in Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller. ESPN Stats and Information analyst, John Parolin, wrote that he running game is one of the tools the Bills need to utilize on Sunday.
Defense will probably be the deciding factor in this game, especially if the Patriots can force the Bills to turn the ball over. However, the Bills signed Nick Barnett in the offseason away from the Packers, and obviously Buffalo wants him to show up for a game like this. The Bills cannot let the Patriots score as quickly as the Raiders did last week or the Pats will surely put the game away.
While almost no one is picking the Bills to win, they have a fighter chance’s. A victory on Sunday would make Western New York and the rest of the NFL believe in this year’s Bills.
