The final three games of the Patriots 2024 season couldn't be more difficult, and unfortunately, they start this Sunday with their final road trip of the year in Buffalo. The Bills are on an impressive hot streak right now, especially quarterback Josh Allen, who's on pace to continue his MVP frontrunning season against a very poor New England defense in Week 16.
Any game against a divisional rival in the AFC East isn't going to be easy, but the Patriots have made it far worse for themselves this year outside of the one win they got in their second matchup with the Jets. To make it even worse, they have to face the Bills twice in three weeks as they compete for the top seed in the AFC playoffs, meaning Buffalo will be even more motivated to beat the Patriots than they typically are.
New England's long list of injuries going into this game is certainly concerning, and they have already ruled out a couple of players who likely won't be on the sidelines this weekend. One of whom is cornerback Marcus Jones, who has also been serving as the team's leading punt returner this year.
Not having him in the lineup on defense or special teams nor having the opportunity to use him on offense will make the Patriots' day much tougher on Sunday as if they needed anything else to make it harder to sneak out a win.
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The absence of Marcus Jones against the Bills will impact the Patriots far more than anticipated
The Patriots have struggled to find the right returners over the past couple of seasons, but they seemed to have struck gold with Jones, especially this year. He has been a difference-maker for their special teams unit, which has become shaky recently, but he has been consistently productive. He has given the offense better field positioning all year.
Jones has also had some shining moments in the secondary, which has become more relevant with veteran Jonathan Jones not performing up to his usual standard, and that will inevitably put more pressure on Christian Gonzalez to have another lockdown game to (hopefully) keep the score from getting too out of hand.
While the Patriots do have other players to turn to in the return game, Jones has been explosive in that role, and no one on the team has come near that kind of performance in his absence.
It will make for an even longer day for the offense, as they need every little bit of help to be more successful when on the field, and it's disappointing that they'll have to figure it out the week they play the Bills.