NFL fans will have the chance to watch the top two teams of the AFC East battle it out on Sunday Night Football in Week 5. The Buffalo Bills will host the New England Patriots, with the Bills coming in at 4-0 and the Patriots are at 2-2. It’s the first of two meetings between these teams and the Bills already have two division wins. They will be looking to make it three.
You could consider the Patriots as the biggest threat to the Bills in the AFC East, but they are still a rebuilding team and Josh Allen is playing at an MVP level once again. While New England has solid players, they don’t have a difference maker. With that being said, the Bills must still bring their A-game in order for them to get to 5-0.
Going into this anticipated division game under the lights, we had the chance to catch up with Sara Marshall, who is the Site Expert for Musket Fire, and Marshall was able to provide some very insightful knowledge about the Patriots that Bills fans will want to look at.
Bills vs. Patriots insights for Week 5 division clash
1.) The biggest storyline heading into Sunday night is the return of Stefon Diggs where he will take on his former team. How much do you expect him to be a contributor in this game?
"Before his breakout game against the Panthers in Week 4 when he recorded his first 100-yard game as a Patriot, I would have said there probably wasn’t a high chance that he would be a big contributor. But it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that they utilized him much more just one week before they face the Bills, so I assume he will be used just as much, if not more, on SNF. Whether the Bills allow that to happen, is another story, since it can only be assumed they’ll want to shut him down."
2.) Drake Maye performed well against the Bills last season in Buffalo. Based on the first four games, do you see him lighting up the scoreboard for New England's offense?
"The Patriots’ offense has been inconsistent over the first four games, and while some of that was certainly expected with Josh McDaniels’ return as the offensive coordinator, it doesn’t provide a lot of room for predictions with how they will fare ahead of each game. They played really well against the Panthers, but it’s also the winless Panthers, so it’s tough to say how good they will be against perhaps their toughest opponent in the Bills.
At the same time, it could be argued that the Patriots will be the toughest competition the Bills have faced this year so far, so it could very easily go either way. I’d like to think the Patriots will build upon what they did this past week and finally show an offensive identity, and if they do, I’m still not sure that would translate to lighting up the scoreboard as they have over the last few weeks. They are facing the five year divisional winner, after all."
3.) What is a major area of weakness for the Patriots that the Bills could attack?
"They are pretty weak against the run, which has only been highlighted by their missed tackles to start the year. With James Cook proving to be one of Buffalo’s best weapons and Josh Allen’s ability to scramble, there’s a good chance that will be their bread and butter against this Patriots’ defense."