AFC Game Of The Week
New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills
Patriots: They’re back as if they never left. They’ve won six in a row. When I was on “The Prime” last week, I told David Huffman and Israel Rivera that this is the best team in the AFC right now. It hasn’t been easy to give that title to a team in the conference because it appeared as if nobody wanted that title, and it would change every single week. Mac Jones is hands down the best rookie quarterback in this recent draft class. What I like about this kid and his game is he never lets anything phase him. The game comes to him, and he’s become a quiet leader. This team follows him and they travel as far as he takes them. Say what you want about Bill Belichick, he continues to show why he’s the best coach in the game today and quite possibly in NFL history. I know some people who said he’d never see the playoffs again and he needed Tom Brady to succeed. Look at what they did against the Titans in week 12. Another dominant performance. I always give a list around this time of the year of teams I wouldn’t want to see down the stretch. This is one of them. I’ll never count a Bill Belichick coached team out of anything. I’ve learned that lesson in years past. They’ll look for their seventh straight win on Monday night.
Bills: Thanksgiving night was the perfect chance for them to get right. Boy, did they ever get it back together? Minus two Josh Allen turnovers, they were able to move the football down the field against a really good New Orleans defense. They have been one of the more confusing teams in the National Football League this season. One week, they’re dominant in each phase of the game. The offense is clicking and the defense is playing at a high level. Then, you have moments when you ask yourself what’s going on? To be honest, I never know which Buffalo team is going to show up because we could see the team who put up points in both New Orleans against the Saints and in East Rutherford against the Jets or we could see efforts as we did when they played the Colts or when they were stunned at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, there are a few things that worry me about the Bills offense. The first is the inconsistent running game. I can’t stress it enough. Run. The. Football! You will benefit from it. Trust me. The next is the same thing I’ve been saying with the Chiefs. After Stefon Diggs, who’s another reliable weapon for Josh to turn to? Emmanuel Sanders is there, but he can be hit or miss, Cole Beasley is the slot guy and Dawson Knox can be up and down as well. They return home for arguably their biggest game of the year and the biggest game in recent memory.
Patriots X-Factor: Kyle Van Noy– It’s good to see him back in a Patriots uniform. His role within the New England defense doesn’t go unnoticed. As a pass rusher, he can line up as an EDGE rusher or he can put that hand in the dirt and get in on tackling the run. His specialty is getting to that quarterback. All Belichick defenses have that one guy where they just rush the passer. Even when Kyle doesn’t get to the quarterback, he can still get his hands up and knock the football down.
Bills X-Factor: Devin Singletary– Good things can happen when you involve him in the offense whether it’s running the ball or he’s catching it on a screen pass. When he’s being fed the football, he’s a hard runner that can run it in between the tackles and burst himself into other levels of the defense. If the Bills elected to run the football more, Devin could be a 1,000-yard rusher. Getting him going early on can throw the Patriots’ defense off.
Final Thoughts: This is one of the bigger games we’ve had in the AFC East in recent memory! Buffalo was gift-wrapped this division during the Summer. While they can still win the East again, it won’t be easy because New England won’t go down without a fight. I’m watching the Patriots’ defensive front against Josh Allen. When Josh has it going, he’s taking shots down the field from the pocket or on the run. His mobility stands out. If you’ve watched when Josh struggles, defenses are playing zone against them. I see Belichick drawing up a gameplan of course to confuse the quarterback. This will be the best defense Mac will have played all year long. The Bills will get after him with a ton of different looks and schemes upfront. New England should take a page out of the Colts playbook and run that ball. Just like the Colts, the Patriots can run effectively and capitalize on short-yardage situations. This is going to tell us a lot moving forward.
Prediction: Patriots 23, Bills 21
