New England Patriots: an early scouting report on the Buffalo Bills

The New England Patriots will try a third time to wrap up the AFC East title against their familiar division foe, the Buffalo Bills.

Newly-appointed Pro Bowlers Tom Brady and Stephon Gilmore are coming home for the holidays… and the timing couldn’t get any better.

Nursing a substandard 3-5 road record, the Patriots return to Foxborough at last to finish up their 2018 season with a two-game homestand against the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets. And while anything can happen in the NFL, it would be a downright shocker if the Patriots lost either one of these final contests.

For starters, New England is a perfect 6-0 at Gillette Stadium this season. They’ve outscored their competition 201-118 at home, and now face the league’s 31st and 30th ranked offenses in back-to-back weeks.

A win against either team will sew up the Patriots’ 10th straight AFC East championship and guarantee at least one playoff game will be played in Massachusetts next month.

New England’s first opportunity to clinch the division comes Sunday afternoon against the Bills. New England beat Buffalo earlier this year at New Era Field behind a barrage of Stephen Gostkowski field goals and a timely Devin McCourty pick-six.

The Bills started veteran journeyman Derek Anderson in that game out of necessity; this time around they’ll trot out rookie quarterback Josh Allen, the team’s first-round draft pick out of Wyoming.

Allen had his fair share of detractors coming out of college. Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey called him “trash” in a widely-publicized interview with GQ, and draft pundits openly wondered whether such an unpolished prospect could translate his game to the professional level.

So far the results have been mixed, albeit in a limited sample size. In 10 games this season, Allen is completing just over half his passes and has nine picks against six touchdowns.

Normally those numbers wouldn’t cut it in today’s NFL, but Allen has helped his case tremendously by utilizing his legs. He has six touchdowns on the ground, the most of any quarterback in the league, and has also run for 506 yards, second only to Ravens QB Lamar Jackson’s 568.

The Bills have to be impressed that their 22-year-old quarterback of the future, rough as he is, is already ahead of more-prolific rushing QBs like Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, and Dak Prescott.

When it comes to team strengths, though, it’s clear that Buffalo’s lie on the defensive side of the ball. The team might be second-worst in yards gained, but the Bills are also second-best in yards allowed.

And despite earning zero Pro Bowl nominations, the team’s defense as a unit is ranked No. 1 overall against the pass. That could spell trouble for Tom Brady and the Pats’ aerial attack, which has struggled lately to put points on the board like they did in the middle of the season.

Brady is still an absurd 29-3 all-time against Buffalo and is playing this game at home, which sets the script for his 30th victory against the woebegone Bills.

Like this whole Patriots season, though, it just might come a little harder than expected.