Buffalo Bills: Keys to victory and final score prediction for Week 8

Limit Mistakes

After last week, where the Bills had 11 penalties for a total of 106 yards, practice this week will certainly have an emphasis on cleaning up the mistakes. When playing against a Bill Belichick coached team, the easiest way to get beat is by beating yourself with mental mistakes and self-inflicted penalties like false starts or illegal shifts.

In comparative terms, when the Bills make these mistakes against a Jets team that is considered the worst team in the league and only win by eight, it should be obvious that if these same mistakes continue the final result of the game will not be positive against a stronger opponent.

With both the Bills and Patriots being led by strong minded disciplinarian head coaches, the final outcome of this game could be decided by something as small as a costly penalty at a key moment in the game. These two coaches pride themselves and their players to be mentally tough, and the winner of this game will likely be the team that was tougher mentally in Week 8.

For example, the Bills have had two Gabriel Davis touchdown catches called back in the past three weeks because of an illegal shift penalty, once early against the Titans and again last week against the Jets. Although the reasoning for these penalties could be something as small as Dion Dawkins lining up a hair too far off the line of scrimmage for an advantage in pass blocking, the negative impact that has to take away points is not something the Bills can afford.

Against a division rival like the Patriots, the Buffalo Bills need to win the game within the game which is the penalty battle. If the Bills commit fewer penalties than the Patriots in Week 8, their chances to win should increase significantly in what is assumed to be a close game dominated by defense and running attacks where every yard and point counts.