New England Patriots
vs.
Buffalo Bills
Week 8
NFL Pick
10/30/16
The AFC East has one of its regular-season divisional series finish this weekend when the Patriots visit the Bills. New England is 6-1 and hasn’t lost since its last Game against Buffalo. That was Week 4. 16-0, Bills. No Tom Brady. since the Pats have won three consecutive Games — all with Brady in the fold. Buffalo was in the second Game of its Four-Game winning streak when it beat New England but lost its most recent Game in Miami at the hands of another Jay Ajayi 200-yard rushing performance and sits at 4-3. The Patriots are a 6.5 point favoritewith a total of 47.
Brady has been superb in his return, completing 75.2% of his passes at 9.9 yards per attempt for eight touchdowns and no interceptions. The return of Brady has also meant the return of Rob Gronkowski’s great play. Gronk has totaled 364 yards and two touchdowns on 16 receptions with Brady’s preseNCe.
LeGArrette Blount has been a force at times for New England. He is averaging 80.9 rushing yards per Game and has scored eight times on the ground. The Patriots attack doesn’t slow down there as New England has Martellus Bennett, Julian Edelman and James White are all threats in the passing Game as well.
Buffalo has a fairly average all-around defense, and that’s after the shut out the Pats in the first matchup without Brady. Don’t expect them to be able to consistently slow down this version of the New England attack.
The Bills have found success, offensively, with an efficient running Game. LeSean McCoy is not certain for this Game but has been excellent this season. He is averaging just over 85 rushing yards per Game. He tweaked his hamstring in Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins when he was only able to rush for 11 yards on eight carries. In his previous two Game, McCoy had run for a combined 290 yards and three touchdowns on 7.8 yards per carry.
While not great with his arm, Tyrod Taylor has found a way to protect the ball and help with his mobility in the running Game. He has thrown just two interceptions on the season with his nine touchdown passes. Taylor has also run for 271 yards and two touchdowns on 6.6 yards per carry.
Bettorsworld Pick – Can’t discount the Bills recent success. They have put up some impressive numbers (not as impressive as the Pats) on both sides of the ball with their 19.3 defensive yards per point number good for 6th in the league (pats #1) while their offensive number of 12.1 is good for #1.
Most of the pundits out there are all over the Pats and the Belichic revenge angle. But the numbers say this one has the potential to come down to the wire. Bills +6.5