6 storylines for the Buffalo Bills in Week 16 against the Patriots

Can the Buffalo Bills get out to an early lead?

One of the common themes for the Buffalo Bills since the bye week has been the fact that they are a team that gets off to a slow start. That wasn’t the case against the Carolina Panthers though as they scored two touchdowns in the second quarter and held a double-digit lead the rest of the game.

The Buffalo Bills getting an early lead this week is imperative for a number of reasons. The biggest is that it is going to force the Patriots to change up what they want to do on offense.

As noted previously, the Patriots want to lean on the run game and set Mac Jones up with easy passes to move the ball down the field. If the Bills get a big enough lead, it will force Mac Jones to throw more and this is not the strength of this team.

Last week, the Colts did a great job of this by building a 20 point lead and Mac Jones had 45 pass attempts. This is the third time Jones had to throw 40 or more pass attempts and in each of those games the Patriots lost.

The Buffalo Bills certainly give themselves a better chance to win the game if they can get an early lead and put pressure on Mac Jones to win the game for the Patriots.