I remember the day very well. September of 2003 on a beautiful late summer afternoon in Orchard Park, Gregg Williams Bills destroyed Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. The 31-0 score field a great deal of optimism that the Bills would not only compete with the Patriots, but might have passed them in the AFC East. That optimism was so far off base that by the end of the year, not only were the Bills brutal again, Williams got fired, his Buffalo career capped off by a soon to be Super Bowl winning patriots team beating them….31-0.
Fast forward 8 seasons later and the Bills are still trying to find a way to beat Brady, Belichick and the Big Boys of the AFC East. The 15 losses in a row is a huge embarrassment to the entire Bills franchise and it should be. When the games are in Foxboro, The Pats have played the role of Lucy to the Bills Charlie Brown, letting Buffalo stay close only to pull the ball away right at the wrong moment. But in orchard Park, the games, for the most part, have been a joke. 2010 is a good example of how dominant New England has been in this series. Ryan Fitzpatrick and company had been scoring at a decent clip and had even put up 30 in Foxboro earlier in the season. But the Patriots made a mockery of that Bills team; forcing 5 turnovers and making Fitz feel like he should be on Wall Street instead of One Bills Drive.
2011 does have a bit of a different feel for the Bills. I do not believe fans will be satisfied with a moral victory, but I do not think this will be a blowout. While Brady and company have been unstoppable so far this year, the New England defense has been a sieve, making Chan Henne look like an actual starting quarterback. This very good, but flawed New England team that has some obvious issues on both sides of the ball. The offensive line is banged up, they cannot run the ball consistently, have no deep threat and one of the star tight ends, Aaron Hernandez, is out this week. Defensively they don’t have the key veterans that have crushed team’s hopes in the past. They can say what they want but they miss Richard Seymour on the defensive line. These are things that make them beatable and keep them from crushing teams. Of course they still have Brady, Welker, Gronkowski and Belichick. That’s why they come into Orchard Park as 9 point favorites.
I wrote it here two weeks ago that just seeing the Bills come into a game like this at 2-0, with the NFL nation taking notice, makes this about as exciting as it has been for a regular season game since the 2004 game against the Steelers when Bledsoe and company imploded against Pittsburgh’s backups. There is actually something at stake on Sunday and even though it is so early in the season that feels special for Bills fans.
I think Fitzpatrick and his offense will be able to move the ball on New England and make platys What he needs to guard again is feeling as if he needs to score a touchdown on every drive to keep up with the patriots. That will lead to turnovers which will be the kiss of death for this team. I like Chan Gailey’s mentality for his defense. He is daring them to try to be great for these games. He does not want to see them play tentatively, which is something Brady can do to teams. He is going to make plays, so on defense the Bills need to accept that and try to get to him and maybe get their hands on the football.
Prediction:
Patriots 33
Bills 24
(Mike’s season record 2-0)
I think this one is close throughout, but the Patriots have respect for this Bills team and will show up ready to play. The streak hits 16 and a late New England touchdown gives them the cover in Las Vegas
MCatalana@13wham.com
