loading...

Todd: All last week, Buffalo head coach Rex Ryan flapped his yapper about the Bills-Patriots being the biggest game in years not only for his team, but also for the fans that would be invading Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Officials from Guinness World Records were in Orchard Park last Sunday, as Bills fans attempted to surpass the decibel level set at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium last year (coincidentally enough, in a game that also featured the Patriots).

So the Bills and their fans were pumped at kickoff, as QB Tyrod Taylor led the offense on a ten-play, eighty-yard touchdown drive that resembled a hot knife through butter, it was that easy.  It appeared all of Rex’s pre-game carnival barking was going to pay off.

Then came the next 55 minutes.  Sure, the Pats went three-and-out on their first offensive series.  But right after that, the worm did a complete 180 and the folks from Guinness were heading for the exits in order to beat the traffic.

Talk about a team that was not prepared to face their opponent last week.  For the Bills to start the game that way and then come completely unglued like they did.  Fourteen penalties for 140 yards?  And those were just the penalties that were accepted.

In all my years of football viewing, I have never heard a referee announce three penalties on a single play, and all on the same team!  And let’s not forget the 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty assessed on the Bills for taunting…after the Patriots kicked an extra point.  Sure, lots of opportunities for taunting right after your opponent has scored…wait, what?  For all of Rex’s supposed success against Belichick and Brady, Sunday’s defeat dropped his career record to 4-11 (including playoffs) against the Pats’ Dynamic Duo.

Instead of belaboring the fact that these Rex-led Buffalo Bills are still not ready for primetime, let’s instead focus on Tom Brady improving to 24-3 lifetime against his AFC East ‘rivals’ while passing for 466 yards, the second highest single-game total of his bound-for-Canton career.  As always, Tom spread the wealth amongst nine different receivers, although not surprisingly Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman led the way with a combined 18 catches for 210 yards and all three of Brady’s touchdown passes.

Defensively, the front seven of the Pats accounted for eight sacks, their highest total since 2003.  If Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, Jamie Collins, et al continue to put that kind of pressure on opposing quarterbacks, perhaps the Pats can get away with a Revis-less secondary.  They are a talented enough group to pull it off week in and week out, even if it’s not always going to reach the lofty heights it did last Sunday.

If there’s one thing that bothered me a little about last week’s Pats win, it’s Brady attempting a deep pass on 4th-and-1 with a twelve-point lead late in the game, when either punting the ball to pin the Bills back or running the ball to at least try and kill some clock would’ve been the better option.  Even if the Pats can’t gain a single yard on the ground, they will always gain time off the clock, which is just as good when you’re leading in the fourth quarter.

Quickly turning to this week’s Pats game against Jacksonville, I expect that the Pats might run the ball a little more than they did in Buffalo, only because it would be hard for them to run it any less.  While Jags’ QB Blake Bortles surprised the Dolphins defense last week, it’s hard to envision he’ll do that for a second straight week.  That’s because this is the second straight week the Pats are facing an opposing QB for the first time, and the coaching staff always tend to come up with great game plans in those situations.

Too early in the season for a trap game, especially leading into the Pats’ early bye week: Patriots 31, Jaguars 17.

Week 3 Picks (3-0 last week, 6-0 season): Feeling somewhat emboldened by my perfect 6-for-6 start, I’m going with a ‘3 Games to Glory IV’ theme this week.  Incredibly, all three teams the Pats defeated last postseason are currently a combined 0-6.  Despite their collective shortcomings, I simply cannot envision any of them dropping to 0-3 and virtually eliminating themselves from a return trip to the playoffs before the calendar even flips to October (especially since I chose one of those team to win SB 50—oops).  Ravens over Bengals, Colts over Titans and Seahawks over Bears.

Mike: I actually laughed out loud when I heard that the Bills had the Guinness people in the stadium to measure crowd noise. That was so cute! Did they really think they were going to break the record? I bet that was a nice point of discussion in the Patriots locker room before the game.

I'm sure it was kind of like what Bill Belichick did before the Patriots played the Eagles in the Super Bowl, reading the Eagles' Super Bowl parade plans to the team before the game.

Anyway, they shut those fans up pretty quick!

I'm expecting more of the same this week from the Patriots, as they continue to roll on their Deflategate reveenge tour through the NFL. Patriots 42, Jags 10.

Week 3 Picks (0-3 last week, 1-5 season): I need to do better this week, or I'm going to fall far behind! I'll take Houston over Tampa Bay, the Jets over the Eagles and Arizona over San Francisco.

Check out more Time Out For Sports Talk on Facebook and Twitter. You can watch the TOST show here.

More From 92 Moose