New England Patriots: Plenty of questions heading into matchup vs Buffalo Bills
The New England Patriots have eight players listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, raising plenty of question marks.
The New England Patriots head into Week 13 on fire. They are riding a seven-game winning streak, leading the AFC East and tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers atop the AFC. The next team that will try and slow down the Patriots are their AFC East rivals, the Buffalo Bills.
At this point, it will take a lot to slow down the Patriots. Opponents need a perfectly executed game plan as Bill Belichick and company are on top of their game. Arguably the only thing that will slow the Patriots down is themselves, namely injuries.
The Patriots have battled injuries all season. The next man up mentality has worked to perfection. Belichick and the staff have coached up players no one envisioned being a part of the lineup when the season began. Despite the surprise playing time for some players, the Patriots have chugged right along like a well-oiled machine. Will that success come to an end this week?
The Patriots have a lot of question marks heading into this week’s game against the Bills. Topping the list of questionable players is defensive end Trey Flowers.
New England Patriots
Flowers has been outstanding for the Patriots this season. He is filling the every-down role that Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich have filled before him. The defense has been hit hard by injuries this season, so Flowers’ availability has been key to the Patriots staying on track. Flowers did not answer questions about his injury, so his status could be truly questionable heading into Sunday afternoon.
If Flowers is unable to suit up, the Patriots will be dangerously thin along the defensive line. They would have to rely on inexperienced players Deatrich Wise Jr. and Eric Lee should Flowers be sidelined. That is not good news when facing a dual-threat quarterback in Tyrod Taylor and an explosive running back in LeSean McCoy.
One way the Patriots have overcome the defensive line deficiencies is by using linebackers there. Unfortunately, this week the linebackers are also filled with question marks as Kyle Van Noy and Trevor Rielly are both questionable.
Matt Patricia may have to get creative this week when creating the game plan if any of those players are unable to suit up. In addition to those three, linebacker Marquise Flowers and cornerback Eric Rowe are questionable.
Offensively, David Andrews and LaAdrian Waddle are both questionable. Chris Hogan and Marcus Cannon have already been ruled out. Special teams ace Matt Slater is also questionable. That is a lot of important pieces that the Patriots are unsure they will have available to use Sunday.
The good news for the Patriots is that Tom Brady is no longer on the injury report. Brady had his reps limited and was listed on the injury report earlier in the week with an Achilles injury. He was not on the final injury report and will be good to go.
Next: Patriots vs Bills: 6 Players to Watch For
As long as Brady is under center the Patriots will have a shot to win. They may have to rely on Brady’s arm a little more than they have in recent weeks, but he has shown he is more than capable of carrying the load.