Bills-Patriots Preview

 

SCOUTING REPORT

Bills-Patriots: 10 observations After breaking down film of both teams, Scouts Inc. offers 10 things to watch in this week's Bills-Patriots matchup. 1. Will Buffalo stay with the no-huddle offense? The Bills fired offensive coordinator Turk Schonert and replaced him with QB coach Alex Van Pelt, but they will keep the no-huddle. This experiment has been a near disaster in the preseason. The offense cannot stay on the field, and the ball often is snapped with a lot of time left on the clock -- adding up to a tired Bills defense that is on the field for too many snaps. This offensive unit must get into some type of flow with Van Pelt calling the plays.

· Full Scouting Report

Matchup
	W-L	PF	PA	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
BUF	3-7	155	228	1-3	2-4	1-2	1-6
NWE	7-3	290	164	6-0	1-3	3-1	5-3
· Complete Standings

Individual Leaders

Buffalo Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Edward... 60.2 1170 6 7 Fitzpa... 51.9 659 3 6

New England Passing   CMP% YDS TD INT Brady 66.4 3049 20 6 Hoyer 81.8 52 0 0

Buffalo Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Jackso... 129 528 4.1 0 Lynch 87 272 3.1 1

New England Rushing   CAR YDS AVG TD Marone... 116 455 3.9 6 Taylor 45 201 4.5 2

Buffalo Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Owens 35 563 16.1 2 Evans 28 396 14.1 5

New England Receiving   REC YDS AVG TD Moss 63 925 14.7 8 Welker 79 854 10.8 4

Full Player Stats: Buffalo | New England

TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS
TEAM OFFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Total Yards	BUF	305.0
	NWE	365.0
Yards Passing	BUF	190.0
	NWE	223.1
Yards Rushing	BUF	115.1
	NWE	142.4
TEAM DEFENSE	TEAM	PER GAME AVERAGE
Yards Allowed	BUF	326.1
	NWE	309.0
Pass Yds Allowed	BUF	204.4
	NWE	201.4
Rush Yds Allowed	BUF	121.6
	NWE	107.6

HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUPS (SINCE 2001)
New England leads 16-1
Dec 28, 2008	BUF 0, @NWE 13
Nov 9, 2008	BUF 10, NWE 20
Nov 18, 2007	BUF 10, @NWE 56
Sep 23, 2007	BUF 7, NWE 38
Oct 22, 2006	BUF 6, @NWE 28
Sep 10, 2006	BUF 17, NWE 19
Dec 11, 2005	BUF 7, @NWE 35
Oct 30, 2005	BUF 16, NWE 21
Nov 14, 2004	BUF 6, NWE 29
Oct 3, 2004	BUF 17, @NWE 31
Dec 27, 2003	BUF 0, NWE 31
Sep 7, 2003	BUF 31, @NWE 0
Dec 8, 2002	BUF 17, NWE 27
Nov 3, 2002	BUF 7, @NWE 38
Dec 16, 2001	BUF 9, @NWE 12
Nov 11, 2001	BUF 11, NWE 21

The New England Patriots' defense will have a distinctly different look to begin coach Bill Belichick's 10th season in Foxborough, but the three-time Super Bowl champions will be happy to have a familiar face again at the helm of their offense.

Tom Brady will be back under center to open the season Monday night after he missed nearly all of last year due to injury, and he'll be hoping to lead the Patriots to an NFL-record 12th straight win against a single opponent.

That foe is the AFC East rival Buffalo Bills, who will feature newcomer Terrell Owens in an offense that still has plenty of questions to answer after its coordinator was fired barely a week before the first game.

There aren't many concerns about the Patriots' ability to score with Brady back. The 2007 NFL MVP, who set a league record with 50 touchdown passes that year while leading the team to a 16-0 regular season, played less than a quarter in 2008 before tearing his left ACL when he was hit by Kansas City's Bernard Pollard.

Backup Matt Cassel played well in his absence as New England became just the second team ever to miss the playoffs after going 11-5.

Cassel, though, was dealt to the Chiefs and the reins of the unit are back in Brady's hands. He'll have some familiar weapons at his disposal, such as top wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker, and some new ones to use, like veterans Fred Taylor and Joey Galloway.

"I've played a lot of games, so it's not like it's the first game of my rookie season, that type of excitement," Brady said. "I think there's just an excitement for a new season and to see what kind of team we have and to see what kind of mental toughness we have and what kind of character we have."

The Patriots will also be curious to see what kind of defense they have after mainstays Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison and Richard Seymour all departed via trade or retirement. Seymour was surprisingly dealt to Oakland on Sept. 6 for a 2011 first-round draft pick.

The unit will take on a younger look, led by linebacker Jerod Mayo, the NFL's top defensive rookie last year. New England also seems to have improved its secondary after adding cornerbacks Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs and drafting safety Patrick Chung with its first pick early in the second round.

"We have a lot of good leaders on our team and especially on the defensive side of the ball," Belichick said. "No doubt about it, it's different, but I think it's good."

Whoever has played for the Patriots has been good enough the last 11 times they have faced Buffalo -- and often by a wide margin. The average score during the streak has been 29-9, and New England outscored the Bills 94-17 in two wins the last time Brady faced them in 2007.

No NFL team has ever won 12 straight against one opponent, and the Bills would have to pull off a major upset to avoid that fate. They've never won at Gillette Stadium, losing eight straight at New England since a 16-13 overtime win Nov. 5, 2000.

Buffalo added the controversial Owens following its third straight 7-9 season, but its offense has hardly clicked. After offensive coordinator Turk Schonert installed a new no-huddle attack during the offseason, the first-team offense managed three points in 15 preseason series, and Schonert was fired Sept. 4.

"(Bills coach Dick Jauron) wants a Pop Warner offense," Schonert said. "He limited me in formations and limited me in plays."

Schonert was replaced with former Bills quarterback Alex Van Pelt, who is still expected to employ a no-huddle approach.

"This is going to be a little bit of a transition for us," Owens said. "We have to take accountability, we have to go out there and jell with one another and go out there and play."

Asked Wednesday if he liked playing without a huddle, Owens said, "No, not really, but I gotta deal with it." Owens later posted a note on his Twitter page insisting that he was "clearly joking."

This will be the fourth team in the last seven years for the enigmatic but talented 35-year-old, who had his ninth 1,000-yard receiving season last year with Dallas.

Trent Edwards will be the newest quarterback trying to get Owens the ball. Edwards led the Bills to a 4-0 start last season before they stumbled down the stretch, losing eight of their last 10. He'll begin this season without his starting running back, as Marshawn Lynch was suspended for the first three games after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in March.

Another key spot on offense will be also in doubt after the Bills released starting left tackle Langston Walker on Tuesday. Second-year man Demetrius Bell will make his first career start protecting Edwards' blind side.

"I think we've come a long way," Jauron said. "We'll find out on Monday night how far we've come. It's not going to be easy, there's no doubt about that. There's a lot of worry."

Jauron has returned for a fourth season as the Bills coach even though his contract ran out last year, and he may be under pressure to show some early signs of progress.

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