Buffalo Bills riding too high heading into matchup against Patriots
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| Jim Schwartz carried off field, via Pioneer Press |
Teams should be excited after any win, especially a last second one, but carrying your coach off the field after a win in Week 5 is a clear sign you aren't used to winning, especially in comeback fashion.
Buffalo is 3-2, tied with the Patriots atop the AFC East, and are coming off an exciting win. That team is riding high, and if you aren't used to winning, it's the perfect storm for a let down game the following week. That being said, this is New England, and everybody gets fired up at the shot to take down New England, especially when first place is on the line (Not to mention Brandon Spikes going against his former team). Don't expect a let down.
New England is coming in fired up too, but the difference is that they've been in this position before. They know how to handle themselves following a big win. As Bill Belichick often says, they'll enjoy the win for the night, and then get ready for the next opponent. The Patriots are better than anyone at reseting for the next week after a win or a loss. They have also seemed to figure out their offensive line troubles, and the emergence of Tim Wright has changed the offense. New England is becoming the dangerous team everyone predicted.
Buffalo will be coming in way too fired up, against a team that is ready to go about its business and seems to have things figured out. New England's mindset is winning this week, while Buffalo will likely be dreaming about winning the division, instead of the task at hand.
It's week 6, the division will not be won this week. However it can be lost, for Buffalo that is. Should Buffalo lose this week, their dreams of winning the division will seem shattered because that's probably what they'll been thinking about all week. A loss would feel way more devastating to them than it would the Patriots, even though it's only week 6.
Anything can happen in sports, and the past never dictates the future, but the past does allow us to make these kind of posts. Buffalo is notorious for making some noise in the beginning of the season and looking ahead, before allowing an important loss to ruin their season. New England is notorious for playing week to week and not looking back or ahead.
Taking all this into consideration, it's easy to say that this could be the game that sends Buffalo's season into a downward spiral, and put the Patriots atop the AFC East. When that happens, it's hard to imagine the Patriots falling from there, but this Patriots team needs to put together a lot of consistent weeks before we can confidently say that. It will be interesting to see how Sunday afternoon plays out.
-Brian Thibodeau
Follow me on Twitter - @b_thibs34
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