Patriots 2014 Opponents, 5 First Impressions of the Bills Pt. 2
The New England Patriots return home to Foxboro to take on the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. It is the final regular season game for the Patriots who will get a bye for Wild Card Weekend and return home for the divisional round of the playoffs.
The game will be televised by CBS and the kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
The Patriots (12-3) survived another close game against the New York Jets, winning 17-16 in Met Life Stadium as Vince Wilfork partially blocked a field goal with five minutes left to secure the victory. The defense held the Jets to two second half field goals and the offense did just enough in the second half for the win.
With the victory the Patriots secured a bye and coupled with the loss of Denver on Monday Night Football, means that the Patriots have homefield advantage thru the playoffs. So the short trip to the Meadowlands will be the last road trip for New England unless they pack for a Super Bowl trip.
The Bills (8-7) saw their playoff hopes dashed in Oakland as the Raiders beat Buffalo 26-24 in a very disappointing effort after shutting down the very potent offenses of Denver and Green Bay in the two games prior.
Oakland’s defensive line dominated up front limiting the Bills to just 13 yards on the ground. Kyle Orton was off-target for much of the day and was under duress for most of the game from the Raiders pass rush.
So as we enter the final regular season game of the 2014 NFL Season, here are our 5 First Impressions of the Bills Pt. 2:
Caught Looking Ahead?: After very impressive wins against two of the most potent offenses in the NFL in Green Bay and Denver, getting manhandled up front against what was a two-win team in Oakland has to be a cold slap in the face for the Bills.
Their playoff hopes were hanging by a slim thread and they needed to win out and get some help to get into the tournament. Most thought that the Bills hopes would ultimately rest on beating the Patriots in the final weekend and watching the scoreboard for some good news elsewhere.
One has to wonder, if their recent streak of dominant defense had them looking past the woeful Raiders towards the final matchup in New England. They certainly didn’t seem like the same team that shut down Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers on consecutive weeks. Since the Patriots game of October 12, the Bills hadn’t allowed more than 24 points. Oakland scored 26 and rookie QB Derek Carr outplayed the veteran Orton.
Now their playoff-less frustration reaches a league long of 15 seasons.
Time To End 13 Seasons of Frustration In New England?: Since 2001 Bill Belichick’s Patriots have owned the Buffalo Bills both at home and away. The Patriots own a gaudy 12-2 record on the road and at home? A perfect 13-0….could this be the time for a change?
Following the Denver loss, the Patriots have secured home field advantage for the playoffs with absolutely nothing to play for on Sunday. That means that certain players who’ve been playing hurt could be rested and Belichick may pull his starters early.
Doug Marrone and his staff can start the building phase for 2015 by doing what no Bills coach has done in recent memory and that is beating the Patriots in Foxboro. It will give them the chance to end the season with a winning 9-7 record and facing what should be rookie QB Jimmy Garappolo in the second half (if not sooner), the chances will never be better.
Orton or Manuel at QB? The Time is Now: The Bills know where they need to upgrade beginning with the offensive line which needs more work but most specifically at QB. The team benched E.J. Manuel after four games and signed Kyle Orton who has started every game since. Orton obviously isn’t the long-term answer either.
Now the dilemma for the coaching staff is whether to cut bait with Manuel or give him a final chance to prove his worth and beating the Patriots in Foxboro, even though they have nothing to play for could re-ignite his career.
But the truth is, the Bills probably won’t look for another QB in the 2015 NFL Draft. They used their first round pick on moving up for Sammy Watkins this season. That leaves them in the position of looking at potential free agents that could include Jay Cutler, Colin Kaepernick and Sam Bradford to name a few. With some talented skill position players, this offense should not the 18th scoring unit in the NFL.
Sunday a Glimpse at the Future: One of the sub-plots of Sunday’s game with New England will be watching two of the Bills young WRs, Sammy Watkins and Robert Woods going against Darrelle Revis and the Patriots secondary.
Woods the 2nd year player from USC was a player that the Patriots were supposedly interested in during the 2013 NFL Draft has 61 catches for 660 yards and four touchdowns. Watkins is the exciting rookie from Clemson who has 62 catches for 925 yards and 6 touchdowns. He needs just 75 yards on Sunday to get 1000 for his rookie year.
In a game devoid of far-reaching consequences in terms of playoff seeding, it will be an opportunity to peek into the Bills future as their two talented wide outs should be fixtures in the rivalry for years to come. And in their cases, the future is definitely bright.
Spikes Returns To Foxboro: Bills Linebacker Brandon Spikes spent the first four years of his career as a member of the Patriots and didn’t always see eye-to-eye with Bill Belichick. During free agency Spikes signed with the Bills and engaged Patriots fans with a ton of trash talk, equating his time here with being a slave.
Spikes guaranteed two Bills victories over New England during the pre-season, something he regretted after the Patriots 37-22 win in Buffalo in October. But coming back to play in his former digs will certainly have the mercurial Spikes fired up on Sunday.
It should be interesting to see what kind of reception Spikes gets, he was always one of the more entertaining players to cover in his time with the Patriots and he’ll be looking to make a mark in this game.
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