The Buffalo Bills are currently on top of the AFC East, a position that the New England Patriots were so used to having in previous seasons. But now, the Pats are trying to claw their way out of a hole, as they continue to struggle on both ends of the floor. Will the Bills hand New England another loss and further hurt its playoff chances? Or will the Patriots end their three-game skid?
Whether Bill Belichick admits that the Patriots miss Tom Brady or not, it’s clear that they need better quarterback play right now, especially after their 33-6 home loss to the San Francisco 49ers – the team’s third loss in a row. Cam Newton has been horrendous of late. He didn’t score a touchdown and had three interceptions against the Niners. In their 18-12 loss in Foxboro in Week 6 to the Denver Broncos, Newton also didn’t have a touchdown while getting picked twice. On the season, Newton only has two passing touchdowns against seven interceptions. Perhaps, the loss to San Francisco was the wake-up call. The Patriots could push the panic button and start Jarrett Stidham against the Bills, but for now, that’s something that just has to be more monitored than expected to happen. The Patriots are averaging 19.2 points and 352.2 total yards per game just 29th and 24th in the NFL, respectively. As a Belichick-coached team, the Patriots can’t still be written off against any team.
The Patriots are 5-5 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 road games.
Yes, it was just against the lowly New York Jets, but Buffalo’s 18-10 road win in Week 7 showed how menacing the Bills’ defense can be. The Bills’ stop unit mauled Sam Darnold downfield and in the pocket, as they did not allow him to score a passing touchdown, picked him twice, and threw him to the ground six times. Given the dysfunction the Patriots are going through right now offensively, Buffalo’s defense has a good chance of adding more to New England’s woes. On offense, quarterback Josh Allen passed for 307 yards on 30-of-43 completions. Although he wasn’t able to score a touchdown, he at least managed to go interception-free for the entire contest. Buffalo is second in the league in third-down completion percentage (52.38), which helps them win possession battles, and having seen New England struggle to stop San Francisco from resetting its downs last Sunday, Allen and company should feel good about their chances of doing the same this coming weekend.
The Bills are 4-2 ATS in their last six home games.
