What to Watch For: Bills vs Patriots
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
What to Watch For: Bills vs Patriots
“It's a big game for both teams, so we're going to go out there and try to play our best. This is a great team that's been playing really well all year. They've got a great defense. It's going to be a tough challenge,” said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during his press conference on Thursday.
New England comes in with a record of 11-3, while the Bills are 10-4 overall.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBoth teams have already clinched a playoff spot.
“I think it will be a great challenge [for] everybody to pick that intensity up that much more and pay that much more attention to detail. I think it's what we need at this point. We're still trying to play our best football. We have a great opponent right here,” said running back James White on Tuesday.
Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. and can only be seen on NFL Network or the NFL App.
See What to Watch for in the Slideshow Below
Patriots vs Bills
Saturday's game will be the 120th meeting all-time between the two franchises with the Patriots leading the series 75-43-1.
New England won both meetings with the Bills last season, and the meeting in Buffalo earlier this year.
“Some carry-over from the first game, but that was a long time ago and there’s quite a few differences between now and then. Some players we hadn’t seen, or didn’t see then that we’ll probably see now – [Devin] Singletary, or [Dawson] Knox, [Tyler] Kroft, so forth,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during his press conference on Tuesday.
The last Buffalo win was in October of 2016 when they shut out the Patriots 16-0 at Gillette Stadium.
See What to Watch for in the Slideshow Below
5 Things to Watch For: Bills vs Patriots - December 21, 2019
Tom Brady
Reality is beginning to set in that we could be seeing Tom Brady’s final games as a New England Patriot, or the final games of his career.
Starting with his contract which makes him a free agent after this season, Brady has seemingly been dropping hints about his future throughout the season and all those hints point at him leaving New England.
The day after his contract was announced, he put his Brookline Mansion on the market. Brady’s trainer, Alex Guerrero, put his Boston home on the market shortly after.
Most recently, Brady stepped down from his role as co-chair of Best Buddies, an organization he has been a part of nearly his entire time in New England.
Brady has the two final regular-season games and at least one playoff game, likely a home game, before it all really hits.
Brady This Season
In what could be his final season in New England, Brady has struggled.
He is completing just 60% of his passes with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
It is fair to point out that the offensive line has not held up as Brady has been sacked 26 times this season.
Battling an elbow injury last week against the Bengals, Brady completed just 51% of his passes.
“But we won, so. I'm happy we won. I wish we'd always do better. There's a whole season to improve on when you get to the end,” said Brady after the game.
This week, Brady and the Patriots offense go up against Buffalo safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer.
“They do a good job and they've been playing together for a while now. They make it tough on quarterbacks. Absolutely, you've got to just do your best,” said Brady during his press conference on Thursday.
Last time out against Buffalo, Brady completed just 46% of his passes while throwing a bad interception in the end zone.
Brady will look to have a better performance this week with a chance to clinch the AFC East.
PHOTO: Joe Calabro/GoLocalProv
Run Defense
The Patriots run defense has been gashed at times this season.
In the first game against Buffalo, the Bills rushed for over 100 yards in the contest.
New England then gave up 210 yards against the Baltimore Ravens and last week gave up 164 yards rushing to the Bengals.
This week, the Patriots will look to stop Bills running back Devin Singletary.
“He’s in there on all downs. He’s got some speed to the outside, good quickness to make guys miss, he’s involved in the passing game – he’s got 20-something catches, whatever it is. So, he’s a three-down player,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during his press conference on Tuesday.
In 11 games this season, Singletary has 136 carries for 729 yards and two touchdowns.
He averages an impressive 5.4 yards per carry.
Over the past six weeks, Singletary has games of 75, 106, 63, 89, and 87 rushing yards respectively.
Singletary also has 28 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns. He averages 6.9 yards per catch.
Behind Singletary is Frank Gore, who the Patriots saw earlier this season.
Gore has 160 carries for 573 yards and two touchdowns.
Pats Secondary
Cornerback Jonathan Jones has already been ruled out, and Jason McCourty is listed as questionable with a groin injury, as of Friday’s injury report.
That could mean that second-round pick JoeJuan Williams could see some action this week.
Williams has seen action in seven games this season, but played defensive snaps in just four of those games.
“That’s my whole job. Whenever I’m called upon, I’ll be up and I’ll be playing to the best of my ability. If you’re watching, you have to sit there and watch what’s in front of you and soak in and learn. When you’re out there in the field you have to play. I’m not worried about the playing time. Whenever my name is called I want to go out and contribute,” Williams told the media earlier this week.
New England could also use Patrick Chung in that role if Williams can’t hold up.
The primary cover for Williams or Chung would be Buffalo slot receiver Cole Beasley.
In 14 games with the Bills, Beasley has 60 catches for 670 yards and six touchdowns.
He is averaging 11.2 yards per catch.
PHOTO: Patriots Media Website
Phillip Dorsett
It has been an up and down season for just about everyone on the Patriots receiving corps and lately, the downs have hit Phillip Dorsett.
Over the last two games, Dorsett has been targeted just two times and has no catches.
Both of those targets came against Kansas City, he was not targeted last week against the Bengals.
His snap count has also fluctuated over the last few weeks.
For example, against Kanas City, Dorsett played 32 offensive snaps (48% of snaps).
One week later against the Bengals, he played just nine snaps.
On the season, Dorsett has 28 catches for 347 yards and five touchdowns.
With Julian Edelman battling injuries, Mohamed Sanu still nursing an ankle injury and N’Keal Harry working to be a bigger part of the offense, the Patriots could use a big game from Dorsett to take the pressure off.
PHOTO: Patriots Media Website
Playoff Picture
With just two weeks left in the regular season, the Patriots have a playoff spot locked up.
However, there is still the matter of the division and getting that first-round bye.
AFC East
If the Patriots beat Buffalo on Saturday, they lock up the AFC East for the 11th straight season.
If New England loses to Buffalo, they would need a win over Miami next week to clinch the division.
1st Round Bye
The Patriots can clinch a first-round bye this week with a win and a loss or tie by the Kansas City Chiefs to the Chicago Bears.
New England would also clinch a bye if they tie Buffalo and the Chiefs lose.
If both the Patriots and Chiefs win this week, the Patriots will have a chance to clinch a bye next week by beating Miami.
