John’s Well-Educated Guesses: Week 13
It’s always been my dream to start a blog series that would
go until the end of the season. This is
one blog in that series, and I will answer for my predictions next week.
Disclaimer: My takes are almost always correct. So buckle up- buckaroo.
The Patriots are in a groove and I love it. Week 12 with the visiting Miami Dolphins had
all the makings of an AFC East dog fight.
I can honestly say I was ready for a long day after Tom and the offense
went three and out with the first drive.
That fake punt got me jacked up and the game was pretty much over after
we punched it in. It’s honestly unreal
that we can gift a team a tuddy (Thanks Ted Karras, I won’t take David Andrews
for granted anymore), and still win handily.
2-0 in the AFC East with a reasonable lead in the division already. Feels good man…Feels real good.
Only one more piece left to the AFC East puzzle in my
opinion. A road game against the pesky
Buffalo Bills is the first of three road games in a row. Then the Pats are home for the final two and
can hopefully rest some key guys.
Anyway, I gotta give Buffalo credit where credit is
due. They have hung around this year way
longer than I thought they would. I woke
up in week 7 and noticed they were 5-2 and looking pretty good. They shot themselves in the foot with that
Nathan Peterman disaster, but are still challenging for a playoff spot. Tyrod Taylor continues to overachieve, and
the Bills management knows it. Doesn’t
it seem like they want anyone but him at QB??
I think they are in for a tough situation come season’s end. They either have to give him a boatload of
money (They really don’t want to do this) or they have to let him walk to a
place like Jacksonville and watch him make the playoffs with them. (Good defense, good running game. All he would have to do it limit
mistakes) I think the Bills could do
worse, but Taylor is unlikely to bring them to the next step. Tough spot to be in. Other than Taylor, the only guy I look at
with any fear is Shady McCoy. Let’s stop
the run and make Taylor throw it from the pocket…that’s how to win this.
Only a few familiar faces on the defense. Jerry Hughes and Kyle Williams are the only
ones left from an underachieving D-Line.
(who thought giving Mario Williams and Marcel Dare $100 million
contracts would backfire?? lol) I guess
Buffalo has some good young talent in the secondary, so I will be excited to
watch out for that. Otherwise, I don’t
really know what to expect.
If Billy B and the Boys (I think I just found a new name for
my band) can take care of business they will hold at least one game against
each AFC East foe. Without the benefit
of the head-to-head tiebreaker, I don’t think any of the other teams can catch
us.
That being said, here we go:
Prediction: No sacks for Pats D – We are super
understaffed at Defensive End, and I think the priority is keeping Taylor in
the pocket. He is elusive and will be
willing to throw the ball away, so while the defense is effective, I don’t
think they get a sack.
Prediction: Pats defense keeps red zone efficiency below
50% - Bend but don’t break baby. The
defense has gotten to the point where they give up yards, but make it tough to
score tuddies. I think for every red
zone visit the Bills get at most one tuddy.
Hard to win when you kick field goals.
Prediction: Gostowski 100% - I’m saying he is back and he
is going to hit all his attempts.
Prediction: 35-17 – Yea I know I’m a homer and have
picked the Patriots every week, but this just feels right.
