Turnovers and Red Zone

[Billzfan23]

To me the turnover differential and the red-zone efficiency are the 2 keys here. There's no doubt that the Pats will move the ball against our defense, especially because of their no-huddle. I don't see the Pats weak defense stopping Fred Jackson and our young receivers. That being said, the team that turns it over will lose, and the team that doesn't score touchdowns in the red zone will lose.

 

I actually wouldn't be surprised if we see Chan kick the field goal a couple of times on 4th and short, and it costs us a few points. He showed that in 4th and short against the Raiders, despite the fact that our defense hadn't gotten any strong stops early in that game (one was good, one was blocked)

 

I think the Pats will view getting off the field and only giving up 3 as a moral victory and a successful result against the Bills, and I think the Bills will do the same.

 

Turnovers are huge - the Pats LOSE that game (or could have) if the Chargers didn't make 4 trips to their 30 yard line and get nothing out of it (happened last Sunday) and instead have 4 turnovers (one on downs). If the Bills can force a fumble or two or get a couple of picks - then it's a different game. Red zone scoring and turnovers are the two keys - it's good to see that the Bills don't have to play perfect football to win (when in past years, they did)

 

A lot of unknowns can happen - that's what makes me more pumped up for this game than I have been for a regular season game in years. We could see a batted ball at the line of scrimmage lead to an easy pick for our defense, or we can see a costly overtime drop like Stevie had last year against Pittsburgh, and a whole lot of other individual matchups that are going to be SOOO FUN to watch. Can't wait to see whether Merriman or Haynsworth have an impact first and which one responds to their underwhelming starts to the season. At corner, I can't wait to see if it's our rooke Williams getting burned or their depleted youngsters that struggle.

 

I hope that if Fitz throws a couple of ducks or mis-reads in the spread - that they fall harmlessly to the turf instead of the dreaded pick 6. I'd LOVE to see us generate a pass rush with our ends, as neither team has done a good job getting pressure without the blitz.

 

This Sunday is going to be a BLAST!