New England Patriots
The Patriots will get their best chance to see how they stack up with one of the league’s elite teams on Sunday.
The biggest game of the Patriots’ season to this point will take place on Sunday.
After a 2-2 start and a promising Week 4 victory over the Panthers, the Patriots will get their best chance to see how they stack up against one of the league’s elite teams when they face the Bills on Sunday. It also marks their first appearance on “Sunday Night Football” in two seasons, giving Drake Maye the chance to prove that his Year 2 leap is real in primetime.
Ahead of Sunday’s game, here are five things to know about the 4-0 Bills.
Josh Allen’s passing style has changed a bit.
When Allen entered the league in 2018, many knew him for his rocket arm that was prone to making mistakes. As Allen progressed, he was able to refine his mistakes and become one of the league’s top passers.
Now in Year 8, Allen has refined his game even more. Turnovers have been few and far between this season, throwing just one interception through the first four games. The reigning MVP has also become one of the league’s best intermediate passers, logging a 127.8 passer rating on such throws this season, per Pro Football Focus. Last season, Allen’s 124.4 passer rating on intermediate throws ranked third among quarterbacks who started at least half their team’s games.
Allen’s deep ball has been nonexistent this year as well. He’s only thrown 14 passes where the ball traveled at least 20 yards in the air, completing six of them for 150 yards. He’s yet to throw a touchdown on a deep ball this season, with his only interception coming on a deep pass.
Maybe that benefits the Patriots on Sunday with Christian Gonzalez back in the fold. But over the last two seasons, Allen has shown that he’s one of the league’s best players on a consistent basis, no matter what the opposing defense looks like.
They have another player who’s in contention for Offensive Player of the Year.
While Allen has continued to dazzle this year, his backfield mate has also gotten off to a strong start. James Cook is second in rushing yards (401), ninth in yards per carry (5.3), and first in rushing touchdowns (five) through the first four weeks of the season.
Cook’s also contributed in the passing game this year, recording 12 receptions for 89 yards. While he doesn’t have a receiving touchdown yet, Cook had six receiving touchdowns over the last two seasons to go with 673 receiving yards.
The Patriots should know just how good of a player Cook is. In one of the matchups against New England last season, Cook rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown to go with 26 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. Cook has also rushed for at least 4.3 yards per carry in four of his six career matchups against the Patriots.
Maybe the Patriots’ defense can give Cook more trouble this time around, though. New England ranks second in total rushing yards allowed (310) and second in yards allowed per rush attempt (3.3).
The Bills’ rush defense is the worst in the league.
Speaking of rushing attacks, the ground game matchup is favorable for the Patriots on Sunday. The Bills are second-to-last in rushing yards allowed (657) and 30th in yards allowed per rushing attempt (6.0).
Additionally, the Bills have given up a first down on 33.9 percent of their opponents’ runs, which is the worst in the NFL. They’ve also given up a league-worst 26 rushes of at least 10 yards.
All of that is certainly welcomed news for New England’s ground game, which has been relatively pedestrian to start the season. The Patriots are 25th in rushing yards (405) and 24th in yards per attempt (3.9). However, all three of the Patriots’ running backs rushed for at least four yards per carry in their win over the Panthers last week. So, maybe they’re moving in the right direction.
Joey Bosa is in the midst of a career resurgence.
While the Bills’ rush defense hasn’t been good, they’ve been good at generating pressure. They’re fourth in pressure rate (28.5 percent) and lead the league in quarterback hurry percentage (16.3), per Pro Football Reference.
Joey Bosa, who signed with the Bills over the offseason after being released by the Chargers, has led the way for Buffalo’s pass rush so far in the early season. He’s got two sacks, while his 17 total pressures are the 17th-most in the league, per PFF. Most impressively, Bosa already has four forced fumbles this season. No other player has more than two, while only 10 other players have recorded multiple forced fumbles this season.
Bosa isn’t doing it alone, though. Bills defensive tackle DaQuan Jones ranks 16th in pass rush win rate among all interior defensive linemen. He also has two sacks this season.
Sean McDermott has had the Patriots’ number.
Not only have the Bills dethroned the Patritos as the king of the AFC East, but they’ve also dominated their division rival. Since Tom Brady’s departure in 2020, McDermott and the Bills have gone 8-3 against the Patriots. New England has only scored more than 21 points in three of those games. However, one of those games was the Patriots’ Week 18 victory over the Bills last season, a game in which both teams played their backups for the majority.
But even when Brady was the Patriots’ quarterback, McDermott had good success at slowing down New England’s offense. Brady threw four touchdowns to five interceptions in his six games against McDermott as a member of the Patriots, according to the Boston Herald‘s Andrew Callahan.
The Patriots also haven’t recorded a 400-yard offensive performance against the Bills over the last four seasons.
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