ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Even though most people outside of One Bills Drive are looking at the upcoming game against the New England Patriots as a measuring stick to get a better sense of how the Buffalo Bills stack up against the best of the best, the team doesn’t see it that way.
To them, it’s not a storyline. When talking to head coach Sean McDermott and players after practice, they’re treating it like any other opponent and like any other week. The Bills have a chance to be 4-0 with a win on Sunday but more importantly, a win over the defending Super Bowl Champs.
The Bills will have their hands full on both sides of the ball. The Patriots defense has yet to give up a touchdown so far this season. That means Josh Allen has to clean up some of the mistakes we’ve seen in the first three games of the season.
“We understand it's no small task to go against these guys, no matter who you are," Josh Allen said. "So, we got to make sure that we're good on our end, as far as you know, taking care of the football, with our blocking schemes, making sure that we're going to the right guys. And, you know, running routes, you know, their DBs have been really great. So, you know, we got to do a good job winning one-on-one match-ups and, go out there and try to execute the best we can."
Throws like that interception in the third quarter of the Bengals game cannot happen against New England.
“We got to a lot of things better on the offensive side of the ball," Allen said. "Myself included, especially myself, as far as ball security, making sure the ball doesn't put in harm's way as much as it has been. So, there’s a lot of things that we can learn from the last few games, obviously, we want to build on the success that we've had. But also, we want to make sure that we take count for the things that we're not doing right and try to fix those as well."
The Patriots allow an NFL-best 199 yards per game so far this season. But they have played the Pittsburgh Steelers, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets, who have a combined 0-9 record. They also have outscored their opponents 106-17.
Tom Brady has yet to throw an interception as well so as usual, this will be a tough game for the Bills one they can’t rely on a Josh Allen comeback and have to keep their foot on the gas when it comes to scoring and limiting those mistakes.