When 3-0 Isn't Really 3-0

[Formerly Allan in MD]

3-0 is 3-0.  Do you think Belichick feels otherwise? 

[reddogblitz]

You are what your record says you are.

[Rockinon]

Oh! Oh! Oh! I know the answer! 3-0 isn't really 3-0 when you get your butt handed to you in week 4 by the Buffalo Biills.

[djp14150]

16 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

They have dominated their opponents from the opening whistle.  Pittsburgh is a better team than Cincinnati.  The Bills have struggled to move the ball for long stretches in all three games.  The Patriots have not.  It's quite fair to say they are a better 3-0 team.  

But none of that means anything come Sunday.  If anyone thinks the Bills can't win, then they have no understanding of history or the game of NFL football.  

 

The jets team we beat was in better shape than their team and it was a road win

 

they play dolphins vs we play the giants. Giants are better.

 

pittsburgh vs Cincinnati..both 0-3 teams. Thry had the emotion of opponent game season win cellabrsting a super bowl win. Cincinnati is the better team than Pittsburgh. They both played Seattle and SF one home one road. Cincinnati overall played better.

[theRalph]

15 hours ago, JoPar_v2 said:

 

i love this “NE hasn’t faced any adversity so far”...in 3 games, after playing in the playoffs for the last umpteen years and the last 4 superbowls THEY havent faced adversity. They ain’t used to it. Wow yo. I’ve seen some very dumb **** here but this is some DUMB ****. I knew the homer bs would get bad after we won against the bengals but DAMN.

I wrote about adversity, in a game, this season. If you're unable to respond with any civility....don't respond or perhaps go ***** yourself. But based on the age you appear to be you probably don't know what that even is. SMH

16 hours ago, Jared said:

 

Down 3 out of 5 starting OL at the 3 most important OL spots, have barely NFL quality TEs, lost their FB for an unknown period of time.  Edelman has banged up ribs, apparently Gordon keeps getting his finger dislocated.  I don't think you can say NO adversity. 

 

It is true that they haven't played any elite opponents yet, but frankly other than the Chiefs, there don't appear to be any really elite teams out there in the league.  Every team has flaws.  The Fish are a dumpster fire, the Jets are... I don't know, a recycling bin fire?

I was referring to adversity in a game situation, i.e. trailing, being truly challenged. 

[theRalph]

2 hours ago, RaoulDuke79 said:

I don't think this is the "same old Bills" , but it is the same old Patriots. I like our chances better than I haveve in a while, but the Patriots are 7 point favorites for a reason. 

Well put Dr. Thompson. Hopefully the Bills go Gonzo on those pricks.

 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

I actually think we have played pretty dominating football. We have just gotten in our own way too many times. The Jets game was  a disaster in terms of getting in our own way. Same thing with the Bengals game with the two bad plays by JA and the Yeldon fumble. Otherwise I feel like the offense has been firing on all cylinders pretty much all three games. Defense has been solid for all three games with only a drive here or there that went south. 

 

And yeah, of course you can compare the Darnoldless Jets team and Miami to any of the three teams we have played.

[BananaB]

I thought we kind of dominated all three of our opponents in almost all aspects of the game though the scoreboard did not show it. Mistakes have cost us but we managed to get the W regardless, that’s all that matters.  Right now the Pats know how to win and we are just learning how to win. Atleast that’s what I hope is happening. I think these wins will be better for us down the road rather then blowouts, Jmo.... Hopefully it helps us take down these ***** this weekend. 

[Yav]

On 9/26/2019 at 9:50 AM, billsfan1959 said:

Apparently that is all you are doing, is looking at the stats of the NE games and proclaiming them to be almost unbeatable. Try looking at the actual games. NE and Buff put up almost exactly the same numbers against the Jets. Had Buffalo not turned the ball over 4 times, ended two drives due to penalties and dropped balls, they would have blown the Jets out by halftime. The BIlls dominated the vast majority of the Giants and Bengals games - again beating themselves with turnovers, penalties, and mistakes that prevented both games from blow outs out at half time.

 

The Bills did dominate their opponents in play. They prevented themselves from blowing all three opponents out.

 

The whole point of my original post was to show that they are a good team, offensively, and if they do not beat themselves, they are absolutely capable of beating of the Pats*. No matter how invincible you think they are.

Seriously? 

You may want to re-read what you posted. 

 

You're trying to justify your claim that the Bills are just as good as NE if they play mistake free, and through 3 games they haven't been able to do that. But hey, if NE turns the ball over and commits a bunch of penalties (and they get flagged for them) they would be just as bad as Miami. 

[PatsFanNH]

On 9/25/2019 at 10:46 PM, theRalph said:

There is a prevailing school of thought that places NE over the Bills based on their respective 3-0 records. That school maintains that, although the combined records of each teams' opponents are comparable (0-9 for NE, 1-8 for the Bills), the Patriots have been far more dominant in their games than the Bills. Film and stats support this. But the eyeball test does not. They've both played the Jets, but the Jet team NE faced was missing both Darnold and Mosley. I would venture that the Bengals are stronger than the Steelers based on the QB situation...Big Ben's elbow was non-contact, so it likely hampered him in the opener the week prior to the injury. And any team, including the Giants, has to be considered to be stronger than Miami. I'd give the overall edge to the Bill's opponents.

 

Here's the thing: NE has not yet faced any real adversity (except for the Stidham pick-six). The Bills have. Of course that can be explained away by saying NE is superior...hard to argue this. But it is easy to argue that the Bills in their three wins have had to climb more mountains than NE. So we have NE, the heavy weight champion that has easily beaten three weak foes and the Bills, an upstart challenger that has had to fight for inches in 2 of 3 wins. The Buffalo Bills have been in far nastier fights than the Patriots. There is, I would estimate, a bit of an edge to the Bills that NE doesn't have, based on what it took to arrive at 3-0. Not all 3-0 records are created equal.

 

I believe the Bills will be something of a shock to the Patriots. Certainly the Bills are the best team, by far, that NE has faced this season. Buffalo may well win this game. If so, will the national media laud the Bills, or explain it away by saying NE was short-handed and a bit injured? 

 

There is an old adage that says "when we suddenly determine the Bills are good, it will in retrospect be revealed they were already good. The opposite applies also, perhaps for NE. Stat-of-the-Day: In the 18 seasons of Bill and Tom show, the Patriots have gone 4-0 only four times.

The Pats considered better because...

 

1. Pats D - 1 point 199 yards a game.  

 

2.  They are the PATRIOTS, and DEFENDING SB champions! 

 

that said you play who is on your schedule and in the end all that matters is the W. 

[row_33]

Bill Simmons read the riot act on the Bills for his podcast game preview, harsher than i expected him to be, it's after a good interview with Flea about his Lakers fan memories.

 

 

[billsfan1959]

1 hour ago, Yav said:

Seriously? 

You may want to re-read what you posted. 

 

You're trying to justify your claim that the Bills are just as good as NE if they play mistake free, and through 3 games they haven't been able to do that. But hey, if NE turns the ball over and commits a bunch of penalties (and they get flagged for them) they would be just as bad as Miami. 

I don’t need to re-read anything. My point was exactly that:: If they don’t beat themselves they can play with NE. If you don’t believe that, fine. The truth is, you don’t know who will win on Sunday any more than I do.

 

At least I believe in my team

[Nextmanup]

On 9/26/2019 at 1:57 PM, billsfan1959 said:

Last I looked, they are both undefeated. You nor I have any idea which team is better rght now. That is why they actually play the games. I guess we will see who is better this weekend.

Only way to assess competence is by record?  Come on, man.

 

It's OK, you can concede that NE is better.  

 

The world won't end.

 

 

 

 

[row_33]

31 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

I don’t need to re-read anything. My point was exactly that:: If they don’t beat themselves they can play with NE. If you don’t believe that, fine. The truth is, you don’t know who will win on Sunday any more than I do.

 

At least I believe in my team

 

there's no reason to deny that the Pats should win this game

 

but the game will be played....

 

[billsfan1959]

37 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Only way to assess competence is by record?  Come on, man.

 

It's OK, you can concede that NE is better.  

 

The world won't end.

 

 

 

 

I won't concede anything until the game is over.

 

It's ok if there are those of us who actually think the Bills have a pretty good team.

 

The world won't end

27 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

there's no reason to deny that the Pats should win this game

 

but the game will be played....

 

Actually there is. If you don't believe the Bills can win, then don't watch.

[row_33]

25 minutes ago, billsfan1959 said:

Actually there is. If you don't believe the Bills can win, then don't watch.

 

you aren't the boss of me

 

i will watch and expect the Bills to lose real bad, but hope for something better than that

[skibum]

I think you could argue that about the Pat's defensive dominance so far, but their offense is just a well-oiled machine any way you look at it. Adversity or not, they're going to get their opportunities and take advantage of them. 

Edited September 27, 2019 by skibum

[row_33]

11 minutes ago, skibum said:

I think you could argue that about the Pat's defensive dominance so far, but their offense is just a well-oiled machine any way you look at it. 

 

argue that it's the best D of the Brady Era, yeah that's been argued by many... 

 

 

[billsfan1959]

7 minutes ago, row_33 said:

 

you aren't the boss of me

 

i will watch and expect the Bills to lose real bad, but hope for something better than that

How sad your life must be. Good luck with that...

[ganesh]

On 9/26/2019 at 3:40 PM, billsfan1959 said:

 

 

	Drives	Tot Net Yds	Scores	TD	FG	Missed FG	Safety	INTs	Fumbles	Punts
1st Qtr	11	425	4	3	1	0	0	1	1	5
2nd Qtr	7	281	2	1	1	1	0	1	2	1
3rd Qtr	7	73	1	0	1	0	1	1	0	4
4th Qtr	8	383	4	4	0	0	0	0	0	4

 

 

I love that last line of the stat table.....mistake free football in fourth quarter and 4 TDs....Impressive.