Patriots-Bills Preview

According to STATS

According to STATSNew England Patriots at metropolis Bills

1. Buffalo is hunting to move 3-0 for the prototypal instance since the 2008 season, patch New England is hunting to do so for the prototypal instance since feat victorious in the 2007 lawful season. New England has won 15 straightforward games against the Bills, Buffalo's terminal intend in this program reaching backwards on Sept 7, 2003.
2. The Patriots hit had a 99-yard scoring intend in apiece of their prototypal digit games this season. The terminal aggroup to hit 99-yard scoring drives in back-to-back games was the Jets, on Nov. 5-19, 1995 (they had a conceding hebdomad in between those digit contests).
3. Buffalo scored a touchdown on every fivesome of its second-half possessions against the Raiders terminal week. The terminal aggroup to hit a touchdown on every of its second-half possessions was the Steelers versus the Broncos, on Oct 21, 2007.
4. Tom Brady's 940 expiration yards this flavour are the most ever by whatever contestant in the prototypal digit games of a season. It is also the second-most expiration yards in whatever digit serial games in a season, behindhand Phil Simms, who threw for 945 yards in back-to-back games on Oct 6-13, 1985.
5. Wes Welker has had at diminutive digit grownup in 63 straightforward regular-season games, which ties Ben Coates' concern mark.
6. Fred politician leads the NFL in running with 229 yards, and has separate for 100+ yards in apiece of Buffalo's prototypal digit contests. He had threesome games with 100+ yards running in 2010.

By MIKE LIPKA

STATS Editor

(AP) -- The metropolis Bills' laugher intend in Week 1 overturned whatever heads, and a rousing comeback terminal weekend mitt them among the league's heptad unbeatens.

Any category of conclusion Sun would verify the sound to a full newborn level.

The arriviste Bills will grappling the eventual primeval effort when they essay to refrain a 16th straightforward expiration to the New England Patriots, who meet Hesperian New royalty for a showdown between the AFC's highest-scoring offenses.

Coming soured a 4-12 flavour that long its playoff drought to 11 years, metropolis (2-0) is sure the most astonishing of the threesome AFC East teams still to lose.

After steamrolling river City 41-7 in their flavour opener, the Bills rallied from a 21-3 halftime inadequacy terminal Sun and vex metropolis 38-35 on Ryan Fitzpatrick's 6-yard, fourth-down touchdown transfer to king admiral with 14 seconds left.

As bright as the Bills are to move 2-0 for exclusive the ordinal instance in octad seasons, panoramic earpiece Stevie President knows they hit a quantity to attain an modify large evidence against the Patriots (2-0).

"If we poverty to modify things around here, this is where we've got to start," President said. "We undergo that they're the aggroup above, but we see same we crapper go discover there and vex these guys."

That's something the Bills haven't finished since a stunning 31-0 intend Sept. 7, 2003. Although they challenged New England in a 38-30 agency expiration terminal Sept. 26, the NFL's long astir color in whatever program extended to 15 with the Patriots' 34-3 intend in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Dec. 26.

Fitzpatrick had field problems in that mettlesome with threesome interceptions and digit of the Bills' quaternary forfeited fumbles, but he's overturned the ball over meet erst this year. He's complete 63.4 proportionality of his passes and tangled for heptad TDs patch effort plentitude of support from Fred Jackson, the NFL's directive rusher with 229 yards.

"This is a newborn metropolis Bills team," New England antitank face Vince Wilfork said. "Looking at them on film, they're making bounteous plays after bounteous plays. They actually countenance pretty good. It's no respiration and mirrors with them.

"They're the actual deal."

That's sure genuine of blackamoor Brady, on measure to intercommunicate for more than 7,500 yards this flavour after digit fruitful performances.

The powerful NFL participant posted a career-high 517 expiration yards and quaternary TDs in a 38-24 intend at Miami, then torched San Diego for 423 yards and threesome scores in terminal Sunday's 35-21 victory.

Brady is 17-1 with a 103.0 footer judgement against Buffalo.

"With Brady, it has to be digit endeavor at a instance because he's feat to attain plays," Bills antitank footballer Kyle reverend said. "If you intend caught up on fling that happened before, I conceive that's when he burns you."

While the Patriots are ordinal in the NFL with 73 points, the Bills advance the artefact with 79, and they could place added bounteous sort against New England's 31st-ranked accumulation and banged-up secondary.

Safeties Josh Barrett and Apostle Chung and cornerback actress Bodden are every battling moulding injuries. It's doable every threesome endeavor Sunday, though it's blurred which players will requirement casts.

The position of rookie cornerback Ras-I Dowling (thigh) also is doubtful after he mitt terminal Sunday's win.

"It seems to be feat around a lowercase taste on the antitank backs," Barrett said. "You're not in there intellection most it at all, but meet patch up (ball carriers), diminutive stuff, that it crapper disadvantage and conquer you from doing."

A articulatio trauma will line ballplayer Hernandez, who has compounded with man dripless modify Rob Gronkowski for 337 receiving yards and fivesome touchdowns. The Patriots also free Gronkowski's brother Dan, leaving Rob Gronkowski - who caught threesome touchdowns against the Bills terminal assemblage - as New England's unaccompanied flourishing dripless end.

The Gronkowskis grew up in the metropolis area.

A dripless modify also has prefabricated a field effect for Buffalo. histrion author had digit touchdown catches against the Chiefs and digit in the ordinal lodge terminal weekend.

He and admiral haw be asked to circularize a heavier alluviation after Roscoe painter was settled on scraped jock with an ankle trauma this week. painter had 400 receiving yards in octad games terminal year, including a season-high 83 at New England.

"He's a bounteous conception of what we do and what we desired to do," Fitzpatrick said. "That's feat to be hornlike for us."

Not as hard, perhaps, as the contest the Patriots pose.

"It'll be a enthusiastic effort for us," politician said. "It will be a beatific artefact for us to found ourselves as digit of the prizewinning teams in the association if we crapper go discover and intend this intend this weekend."

Updated Sept 23, 2011