Oct 12, 2014; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills cornerback Leodis McKelvin (21) tries to tackle New England Patriots wide receiver Brandon LaFell (19) during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. New England beats Buffalo 37 to 22. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
This Sunday, the Patriots play the Buffalo Bills in a game that does not have any effect on either teams season, because the Patriots already locked up the number one seed, and the Bills lost any chance of making the playoffs when they lost to the Oakland Raiders last week. Even though this game may not matter for either teams season, both teams will still want to win this game, especially because it is a divisional rivalry game. Brady and Belichick have both mentioned how they want to work on issues, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Buffalo, on the other hand,
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wants to have their first winning season since 2004. Patriots fans will be interested to see if and when some of the starters are pulled, and there is a good chance that they will be able to see Jimmy Garoppolo for an extended period of time. While this game doesn’t have any playoff implications for the Patriots, there are still some things they have to fix and get better at.
1. Get offensive rhythm
The Patriots offense has struggled for a few weeks now, at least in comparison to the way they were playing on their week five to week eleven. Starting at the Detroit game, the Pats offense has been extremely inconsistent. Most games they seem to have one quarter where they suddenly get going and take a big lead. Three out of the last four games the Pats have been held to under 24 points, but this has mostly went unnoticed, because of the stellar defense. Especially early in games, the offense seems to be unable to get going, and has a lot of three and out’s. This struggle is due to a lot of different things adding up.
The Pats running game has been dissapointing over the last three games, as they have not managed to average more than 3.7 yards per carry in any of those games. Jonas Gray looked like he would could be in position to have a good game against the Jets, especially with LaGarette Blount being inactive, but the stiff defense shut him down quickly, and he did not get many carries. It looks like Blount is going to be the guy, that the Pats are going to stick with as their early down back, with Vereen being the passing down back like he has been for the entire season. Belichick seems to always just going with the hot hand, and if no one has the hot hand, Blount is the go to guy.
In the passing game, the offensive line is the unit that needs the most improvement. If Brady is given a bit more time, he is surgical in his attack. The Pats need to get Gronkowski more involved, and they should give Tyms some snaps, so that they have a legitimate deep threat. The offense definitely lacked a weapon last Sunday with Edelman out. Edelman is Brady’s go to guy, especially on third down or when he gets pressured. If there is any doubt about his health, the Patriots will probably rest him Sunday . If the offensive line can give Brady time this offense will be great, just as they were earlier in the season. Brady has really improved his mobility, but he can’t do everything. They will need a good line against teams like Denver or Pittsburgh in order to produce.
Next: Health and stopping Scott Chandler