Bills will be a true test, but the Patriots and Mac Jones should have the answers – Boston.com
Patriots
As the division rivals butt heads in this crucial Monday night matchup, the Patriots are on a roll — and the Bills are not.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen pretty much had his w…….
Patriots
As the division rivals butt heads in this crucial Monday night matchup, the Patriots are on a roll — and the Bills are not.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen pretty much had his way against the Patriots last season, but a lot has changed since then. JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF
Welcome to Season 10, Episode 13 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious-yet-lighthearted, nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup.
Remember when Tom Brady said, “I have all the answers to the test now”? That was almost five years ago, in February 2017. The Patriots had just defeated the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, 34-28. (You won’t believe this, but they actually trailed, 28-3, late in the third quarter. It’s true.) It was his fifth Super Bowl victory, in his 17th NFL season. He was 39 years old.
Brady already was established as the greatest ever to play, but that was the first time he ever made such a declaration. There’s a reason why. Playing quarterback consistently well is hard. It takes many years for even the best quarterbacks to be confident in their answers, to be able to solve playing the most important and complex position in professional sports at the highest level.
Monday night, a quarterback who has been performing an awful lot like the 2001 version of Brady is going to face the toughest test yet in his NFL career. Mac Jones, so poised and efficient that the rest of the NFL should be furious it allowed him to get to New England, will be prepared. But we’re going to find out just how many answers he really has.
Save for perhaps Brady’s Bucs in Week 4, the Bills are the toughest matchup Jones and the Patriots have faced this season. The AFC East rivals are pursuing the same immediate goal — win the division, and commence a deep playoff run from there — and they have strikingly similar strengths.
The Patriots are first in the NFL in point differential (plus-146). The Bills are second (plus-144). Both teams have 25 takeaways, tied for second in the NFL behind the Colts (27). The Patriots’ pass defense is ranked third (200.9 yards per game). The Bills’ ranks second (178.5). The Patriots allow the fewest points per game in the league (15.8). The Bills allow — can you guess? — the second-fewest (16.5).
The Bills feature a versatile, opportunistic defense (16 interceptions, including eight by interchangeable safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer) that is certain to give Jones looks that aren’t immediately familiar. Buffalo is also tough against the run, at least against anyone …….
Source: https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2021/12/04/patriots-bills-preview-chad-finn/
