Mile High Posted October 2, 2004 Posted October 2, 2004 Alrighty, Sunday is almost here and the Bills face their bigggest challenge of the year. Tommy and the Pats come to town and this could be just the win we need to start our own streak. With that said it would be just as sweet to know that the Bills ended the Patriots streak as well. This IS the biggest game that I can remember in the past couple years which means so very much to the teams confidence levels. Throw away the last two games our season hopefully gets on track tomorrow at 1 pm at the Ralph. Match ups when we have the ball oline vs. dline (pats) rb's vs. linebackers (pats) wr's vs. secondary (bills) te's vs. secondary and linebackers (pats) bledsoe vs. secondary (pats) when they have the ball oline vs. dline (push) rb's vs. linebackers (bills) wr's vs. secondary (bills) te's vs. secondary and linebackers (push) brady vs. secondary (pats) Agree or disagree? Anyways the keys to this game are pretty much cut and dry imo. When we have the ball there is obviously a weakness in the Pats defense that was exposed in the Indianapolis game. The middle of their dline. Which was exposed all the way pretty much up till half time until Wilfork was brought into the game in place of Traylor. We have to run early in the game and often to be effective. This will bring more people up in the "box" which will eventually set up the pass for Bledsoe. And when we do start passing the ball the oline and Drew have to be sharp by picking up blitzes and audibling at the line on the read. For some reason I believe Bellichek is going to bring a huge amount of blitzers in to try to rattle Drew early on. The line has to hold effectlively and Drew must take advantage of this by either finding a one on one match up or dumping the ball off to a rb or a te. Lastly red zone scoring has to be capitalized time after time to keep the Pats down. With the time of possesion in favor of the Bills and limiting Brady on the field I feel we can be VERY effective as long as we control the clock. When the Pats have the ball the biggest thing that the Bills can have on their side tomorrow is the 12th man. This will make it hard for Brady to change the plays at the line if the fans are into it. In the last 10 games on the Pats first poss. they have scored on EVERY opening drive. This has to be stopped in this game to try and eliminate their confidence. On one hand, shutting down their running game is key right away. But on the other what if they don't pass on the first drive at all like they did with the Colts? I really don't see them doing this effectively against the Bills. Dillion will be a major factor when he runs outside tackles. Due to the inexperience of Kelsay and Denney. Schobel will be attacked and tested frequently as well but with support of our linebackers it will force Brady to throw. Which brings me to the secondary vs. Brady and his targets. This could very well make or break the game imo. Not because of the Pats wr's, but the perfect patterns and routes they run on a game to game basis. This is one of the things that makes Brady so great besides being sooo accurate he could sit back there all day and pick us apart play by play. lets hope not. He just has the nack to stay so cool in the pocket and finds the open man whether it is rb, te or a wr. Blitzing him isn't always a good thing to try to do cause he'll make you pay huge. Our dline has to play HUGE in this game. If they do it might create turnovers which the Pats barely have done over the past two years. The linebackers have to be able to wander a little in this game and make plays, if there. I think that a man defense gives us the best opportunity to win this battle in this game. Zone against Brady really does scare me. Bellichek had an interesting comment earlier in the week stating that our special teams play looks extremely solid this year. And it does. This again could be a gamebreaker for us. Our returning looks great but our coverage on kickoffs and punts looks superb. This game is going to be on one or two big plays or a turnover so I feel that the least mistakes and turns overs wins this game. It will be closer than most of you think. Remember division games are usually close no matter what the record with exception to last year's Bills vs. Pats series. go bills Just a side note. If the bills lose this game I really think the playoffs are out of the question at this point. The Bills will not bounce back if we go 0-3 to start off the year. THIS IS A MUST WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Astrobot Posted October 2, 2004 Posted October 2, 2004 It's not an impossibility to make the playoffs if we go 0-3. In this free agent era, a 9-7 team could make the playoffs. We've seen upsets already that would make the 10-6 teams almost a lock to make the playoffs. I could see the Bills running off 9-4 record from her on in with a gelling, improving O-line and a maturing head coach, and the injuries which have run rampant this season.
Mile High Posted October 3, 2004 Author Posted October 3, 2004 It's not an impossibility to make the playoffs if we go 0-3. In this free agent era, a 9-7 team could make the playoffs. We've seen upsets already that would make the 10-6 teams almost a lock to make the playoffs. I could see the Bills running off 9-4 record from her on in with a gelling, improving O-line and a maturing head coach, and the injuries which have run rampant this season. 53459[/snapback] right but, this team will not go 9-7 or 10-6 if they lose this game tomorrow. if we went 9-7 with a loss tomorrow we would have to go 9-4 the rest of the year. i'm sorry i just don't see it happening without the momentum from a big win against the pats. this is the game that makes or breaks our year folks.
Paco Posted October 3, 2004 Posted October 3, 2004 There is inherently a feeling of caution, so I appreciate your viewing the game in terms of how everyone is matched up. To be truthful, I think we do match up with NE. Rather well, actually. But all I keep thinking is "We lost the last two games. WE lost the last two. No one beat us. We lost them." One of your keys to the game is: This game is going to be on one or two big plays or a turnover so I feel that the least mistakes and turns overs wins this game. That's very, very true. And that's what bothers me. I don't question whether our talent on the field can beat their talent on the field. I question whether our talent on the field WILL LET our talent on the field beat their talent on the field. Play as we've been playing...but eliminate mistakes. Stay focused.
Mile High Posted October 3, 2004 Author Posted October 3, 2004 There is inherently a feeling of caution, so I appreciate your viewing the game in terms of how everyone is matched up. To be truthful, I think we do match up with NE. Rather well, actually. But all I keep thinking is "We lost the last two games. WE lost the last two. No one beat us. We lost them." One of your keys to the game is: This game is going to be on one or two big plays or a turnover so I feel that the least mistakes and turns overs wins this game. That's very, very true. And that's what bothers me. I don't question whether our talent on the field can beat their talent on the field. I question whether our talent on the field WILL LET our talent on the field beat their talent on the field. Play as we've been playing...but eliminate mistakes. Stay focused. 53496[/snapback] agreed, mistakes not just being turnovers either. dropped passes, missed assignments, blitz pick up, false starts, staying in lanes, ect. ect.. bottom line is the fewer little mistakes that are made against the pats the more of a shot you have to actually stay in the game. due to the fact that they usually always capitalize on the other teams mistakes.
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