6 rings: 3 matchups to watch in Patriots vs. Bills on New Year’s Eve
Coming off of their fourth win of 2023, the Patriots head to Buffalo this weekend for a Week 17 matchup against the Bills, their second contest of the season.
As we do every week, both here at WEEI.com and on the 6 Rings and Football Things podcast feed, let's take a look at three crucial clashes to keep watch as the Patriots take on the Bills on New Year's Eve:
- Bailey Zappe vs. Bills defense
Don’t get it twisted: the story on Sunday in Buffalo, at least from a Patriots’ perspective, will be Bailey Zappe.
Zappe comes into this weekend having started the last four games at quarterback for New England, winning two of them, and is coming off of a 256-yard, two touchdown performance against the Broncos last Sunday.
Now? He enters his toughest test yet against a dominant Bills defense. One of the best in football, in fact. Here’s what he told Jones and Mego (with myself and Jon Lyons) about Buffalo’s unit on Tuesday afternoon:
“Those guys are coached very well, to start it off,” he explained. “Coach McDermott does a phenomenal job with each one of those guys and from the front, the defensive line, to the backers, to the DBs, through and through the depth is phenomenal. Those guys play well. A lot of them have been playing in the league for a long time so they have that veteran mentality they understand disguising and things like that so it’s going to be a good challenge for us to go out there, have great communication, and execute our system and what we want to do on the offensive side. I’m excited, it’s going to be a great challenge for us and, you know they’ve been rolling so it’s going to be up to us to go out there and execute and all be on the same page.”
Given the fact that the Bills are allowing less than 17 points per game over their three game win streak, Zappe and co. will have their work cut out for them.
- Bills’ pass rush vs. Patriots’ offensive line
More specifically, Buffalo’s pass rush is what's made their defense so dominant this season. Tallying 50 sacks on the year, good for third in the NFL, the Bills have consistently been able to get after opposing quarterbacks all season long.
Here’s a look at their top five sack leaders in 2023:
DE Leonard Floyd - 10.5
DT Ed Oliver - 8.5
DE AJ Epenesa - 6.5
DE Gregory Rousseau - 5
LB Terrel Bernard - 5
DT Daquan Jones, DT Jordan Phillips, LB Tyrel Dodson, DE Shaq Lawson, CB Taron Johnson, DT Poona Ford, CB Rasul Douglas, DT Tim Settle, DT Linval Joseph, CB Jordan Poyer, and S Taylor Rapp have all notched sacks this season as well.
Protecting Bailey Zappe from this lethal pass rush is a Patriots offensive line that, while impressive last weekend against Denver, has struggled for much of this season. Injuries to Trent Brown, Mike Onwenu, Cole Strange, Conor McDermott, and Riley Reiff have hindered their ability to have a consistent front.
The one who’s been the epitome of reliability, however? Center David Andrews, who has played every snap for the Patriots’ offense this season. Here’s what the captain said on how they’ll try to to stop Buffalo’s blitz-heavy front:
“Buffalo has a good scheme and can bring it, whether it’s linebackers, the Star, safeties, they do a good job mixing [them] in the blitz package. So really I think the biggest thing is just knowing how you’re going to have to handle it because you can’t predict when it comes, right? It might come on first down, it might come on third down, it might come on second down. Knowing how you’re going to handle it and really all eleven guys being on the same page. Whether it’s– could be the back in the protection, might be our guy, could be receivers having to run a hot route or something. You really have to be all on the same, all eleven on the same page, for it to work.”
- Bills outside WRs vs. Patriots’ boundary defenders
The Patriots went into last week’s game versus Denver with Jonathan Jones, Shaun Wade, Alex Austin, and Myles Bryant at cornerback - a far cry from a room loaded with talent to start the season.
It sounds like, while not perfect, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has liked what he’s seen from the younger players. Here’s what he said about Wade and Austin on Wednesday:
Both those guys have not had a lot of playing time, they’re getting more and that’s a good thing,” he explained. “Each week in practice they get more snaps, more work with the guys they’re playing with, better communication, and adjustments, anticipation, things like that and then in the game, experience as well. Not perfect, but improving, getting better, trending in the right direction.”
Belichick continued: “They’ve learned from things that have happened and have tried to keep those from happening again, for the most part, again that’s trending in the right direction. And then of course just the overall contact part of the game at that position. Jamming receivers and tackling, open field tackling, leverage, playing off blocks. You know it’s something that’s not the same in practice as it is in the game, so. That’s something that game experience is one of ther things that provides for guys like that.”
After helping slow down Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy last week, their task becomes that much greater this Sunday in Buffalo.
The Bills tandem of wide receivers in Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis have once again been able to help Josh Allen play MVP-type football. Here’s how they're performing so far this season:
Stefon Diggs: 96 rec., 1,070 yards, 8 TD
Gabe Davis: 43 rec., 725 yards, 7 TD
In their Week 7 loss to New England, however, they were relatively held in check by the Patriots’ secondary. Diggs went for just 58 yards on six catches, and Davis hauled in just one ball for six yards.
Now do it again.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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