Why Buffalo Bills Defense Must Dominate Struggling New England Patriots

The Buffalo Bills are smaller favorites than some may anticipate in Week 7's action against the New England Patriots. The dominance of their defense may be the deciding factor.

Rivalry games always add a little uncertainty to NFL Sundays. When they come against the greatest head coach of all time, it’s fair to feel uncertain.

The Buffalo Bills will visit the New England Patriots on Sunday, looking to stack together a second-straight win and attempt to keep pace with the explosive Miami Dolphins. Despite a decided talent advantage, especially at quarterback, and the disarray New England has found itself in, Buffalo is only a touchdown favorite on the road.

Is that cause for concern?

Two Bills defenders attempt to tackle Miami's Tyreek Hill / © Mark Konezny, USA TODAY

Not necessarily. The luxury that is Bills Mafia promises to travel, but enemy territory will remain hostile. Furthermore, Buffalo didn’t exactly sell itself well last week. Under the bright lights of Sunday Night Football, they only narrowly avoided face-planting against a middling New York Giants team.

The Bills won 14-9, but when their opponents turned two one-yard line opportunities into zero total points, it felt like they got away with one.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has made a career out of making teams play left-handed. That means they’ll be throwing everything they have at disrupting the Josh Allen-Stefon Diggs connection. Even if that’s successful, Buffalo has the potential to keep this one non-threatening.

Simply put, there is no excuse for the Bills defense not to dominate the Patriots’ offense.

New England ranks dead last in expected points added per play and 28th in success rate. The offense sits in the bottom quarter of NFL teams in yards per play (4.5), net yards per pass attempt (5.1), rushing yards per attempt (3.4), and turnover percentage (15.5 percent).

This very well could be the worst offense in football.

Yes, injuries at corner, linebacker, and defensive tackle have hampered Buffalo’s defensive potential. But this is an offense that has made the New Orleans Saints and Las Vegas Raiders look like all-decade defenses.

Get ahead early and let the pass rush tee off against an offense that shouldn’t even be considered one-dimensional. The Bills have earned a reputation for playing down to competition, but fans have already seen two blowout victories against the league’s most mediocre teams.

Wins count the same in the standings, but anything less than a dominant showing from this defense would be a disappointment.