Shane Vareen - 14 carries; 101 yards; 7.2 YPC

[buffalo34]

The Bills' offense completely disappeared in the 4th. Credit the Patriots with some of that for playing good D, but I heard something on the radio this morning along the lines of Buffalo running only 17 plays during their last four possessions (including punts). Fred Jackson was doing a pretty good job of shredding the Patriots so I'm a little lost as to why they did not feed him the ball a little more there. Not only did they not move the ball, but they took almost no time off the clock to boot. I guess I can appreciate the "go for it" mentality there, but if you fail to put it away in those situations, obviously it backfires on you.

 

I was thinking yesterday that JJ's got to be pretty excited about the Patriots' D. They really only allowed one TD drive of any substance, which is a far cry from getting shredded by Fitzpatrick and winning 38-35.

 

I think some of it had to do with the playcalling on the Bills offense. It was becoming very predictable (I very rarely saw Manuel under center, run it with Spiller up the middle out of the shotgun on 3rd down), and the Bills on offense decided to go for the kill instead of running clock off (and it doesn't help when Manuel's passes where uncatchable and sailing out of bounds). And on 3rd down before the Pats game winning drive we decided to throw it far short of the 1st down marker in what was a long-yardage situation. Then Bills country all knew what would happen next.

 

I swear, maybe we should stop opening seasons against the Patriots. In 2006 we were up 17-7 at one point until the McGahee 4th and 1 stop, which breathed new life back into the Pats that game who went on and won. Then in 2009 (where I attended that game) was probably by far and away the most devastating Bills loss I've watched in my short tenure as an NFL fan. I went about 24 hours without talking to anybody if I remember...

[JerodMayo51]

Naaa most interesting is the Pats struggle vs ....BUFFALO ? 

 

 

Buffalo has made a habit of playing at least 1 close game a year against the Pats.  Its a division game, division games never go as planned.

 

Its also the first game of the season, and anyone who watched can see how quickly it almost got out of control because of fumbles, dropped passes, penalties etc.  The rookie cast of WRs screwed up constantly, and Brady's only interception was because a ball his Zach Sudfeld right in the hands and he dropped it, and it flew perfectly into the oncoming defenders hands.

 

Games can get out of control in a hurry.  Who struggles vs who, especially week 1 of the regular season, is irrelevant.  

[CanuckColt]

Vereen went undrafted in our Fantasy League (12 rounds) so I picked him up in our 'flex' round at the end of our draft.

So now he is OUT for 'a few weeks' (or more).

So now 'Meathead' Ridley gets the starting job back...yuck!

[dw49]

Buffalo has made a habit of playing at least 1 close game a year against the Pats.  Its a division game, division games never go as planned.

 

Its also the first game of the season, and anyone who watched can see how quickly it almost got out of control because of fumbles, dropped passes, penalties etc.  The rookie cast of WRs screwed up constantly, and Brady's only interception was because a ball his Zach Sudfeld right in the hands and he dropped it, and it flew perfectly into the oncoming defenders hands.

 

Games can get out of control in a hurry.  Who struggles vs who, especially week 1 of the regular season, is irrelevant.  

 

 

Agree with all of that. Truth is I was just busting your buddies( am football) stones. He was on the Colt chat and threw a bucket of cold water on everyone when the Colts were up 14-0. Said something like "guys .. it's Oakland ." So I was just having a little fun with the "BUFFALO" thing. No game in the NFL is easy or a sure thing when you are struggling a bit offensively.

[GoColts8818]

Buffalo is to New England what the Titans are to the Colts, quietly play them close at least once a year while rarely winning vs the jags playing the Colts or Jets playing the Pats who do so loudly while rarely winning.

[amfootball]

Buffalo is to New England what the Titans are to the Colts, quietly play them close at least once a year while rarely winning vs the jags playing the Colts or Jets playing the Pats who do so loudly while rarely winning.

Great post. It is always interesting to me how some teams just can't beat others even when they should.

[Moose Of Woe]

Looks like Amendiola will be out vs the Jets.  That didn't take long for his Bob Sanderitis to rear its ugly head. Far from season ending, but not a good sign.

 

The good news for the Patriots is they won't need him to dispose of the Jets or Bucs. If they don't get him (or Gronk) back by week 4 VS ATL that might be problematic.

[amfootball]

Looks like Amendiola will be out vs the Jets.  That didn't take long for his Bob Sanderitis to rear its ugly head. Far from season ending, but not a good sign.

 

The good news for the Patriots is they won't need him to dispose of the Jets or Bucs. If they don't get him (or Gronk) back by week 4 VS ATL that might be problematic.

He practiced yesterday. Where did you hear he was out?

 

Pats O is very thin anyways. Jets game will be tough.

[Moose Of Woe]

He practiced yesterday. Where did you hear he was out?

 

Pats O is very thin anyways. Jets game will be tough.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000241917/article/danny-amendola-unlikely-for-new-england-patriots

 

Good news is it changed from out to unlikely. Even if he misses this week, I wouldn't expect him to miss week 3.

 

Keep in mind it's a very short week. It's not anything serious, but they'll likely hold him out to prevent re-aggravating the injury or prolonging his recovery.

[amfootball]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000241917/article/danny-amendola-unlikely-for-new-england-patriots

 

Good news is it changed from out to unlikely. Even if he misses this week, I wouldn't expect him to miss week 3.

 

Keep in mind it's a very short week. It's not anything serious, but they'll likely hold him out to prevent re-aggravating the injury or prolonging his recovery.

Yeah, I had heard he was doubtful. I am holdng out hope he will play. We really need him with Vareen out.