Patriots-Bills Key Matchups
BOSTON (CBS) - The New England Patriots look to stay undefeated as they head to Buffalo to take on the surprising Bills.
Buffalo is also 2-0 this season, and leads the NFL in offense. It may only be two weeks into the season, but most are surprised with Buffalo's early success.
Not the Patriots though.
"It's not smoke and mirrors with them; they're the real deal and that's how we approach it," said Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork. "Right now, no consecutive games, how many we won against them, that doesn't have anything to do with this year. It's going to be a tough-fought football game."
Here are two Bills that will make life difficult for the Patriots on Sunday.
Fred Jackson vs Patriots Defense
With Jackson running around, and by, everyone in the first two weeks of the season, the Buffalo Bills lead the NFL in rushing at 190 yards per game. Jackson torched the Oakland Raiders last week for 117 yards and two touchdowns, including a 43-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Jackson has 229 yards on the ground to lead the NFL, averaging 114.5 yards per game. In seven career games against New England, Jackson only has 391 yards (good for 56-yards per contest) and no rushing TDs, but his versatility is what frightens the Patriots the most.
"There's really no weak points with that guy, he does everything well," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said earlier in the week. "He runs hard, breaks tackles, good vision, good balance, catches the ball well, outstanding as a blocker, exceptional, blitz pickup, even when they ask him to run block which occasionally they do with their different personnel groupings. He's good at everything."
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"It's just a question of what they ask him to do," Belichick continued. "He's really outstanding. He's one of the best backs in the league. I would say no weak points. I don't know what the weak points would be."
"He is so underrated," said Wilfork of Jackson. "This guy, I think I said it a couple of years ago and I know I said it last year: he is so underrated. He's just one of those tough backs. You can give him the ball 30 times if you want to."
"He has great vision. He is able to see holes and cut off the blockers," said defensive lineman Shaun Ellis. "Also in the passing game, he can catch the ball out of the backfield… He's just an overall threat."
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Jackson will be a threat out of the backfield and as a receiver, and may also be called upon to return a kick or two.
With the status of Albert Haynesworth unknown, and the Patriots hurting in the secondary, it will take a full defensive effort to keep Jackson contained. He could keep his big-number performances going against a defense that has already given up two big-yard games.
Ryan Fitzpatrick vs Patriots Secondary
Fitzpatrick has slowly made a name for himself, becoming one of the more reliable quarterbacks in the NFL. Over the past three years, he is 8-13 as the Bills starting quarterback, and is lighting up the stat sheets in 2011.
Fitzpatrick has seven touchdowns and just one interception while throwing for 472 yards in the first two weeks this season. Facing a 21-3 halftime deficit against Oakland in Week 2, Fitzpatrick led the Bills on five touchdown drives to claim the 38-35 win.
As a graduate of Harvard, the Patriots know they are dealing with a very bright play-caller.
"He's very smart obviously, we all know that," said Belichick. "[He] does a great job reading defenses and checking the plays, getting them into the right play against different looks and he's accurate and he makes good decisions with the ball, makes quick decisions."
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"The biggest thing, a Harvard graduate, so he's very smart," said corner Devin McCourty. "I think that's what you're seeing. He's running that show and it's moving pretty well… The main thing is he's not throwing interceptions, he's not getting sacks, he's not making bad plays."
"I'm the Harvard guy everywhere, every day," said Fitzpatrick this week. "There are worse things to be called, worse things to be known by I guess. To me I take a tremendous amount of pride going to school there and graduating from Harvard. I know that sometimes people use it as some kind of a joke or a sarcastic comment over there. I take a tremendous amount of pride that I went to school there and I think it's a good thing."
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He also knows not to sleep on the Patriots secondary, because they will be waiting to pounce if he makes a mistake.
"They really think that their corners do a good job and I do, too. I think they (give up) a lot of yards and I think the main reason why is they've been ahead in games and teams have been forced (to throw the ball)," said the Bills quarterback. "We really respect them here and I think they have a good defense."
Fitzpatrick has yet to win in three starts against New England. He is completing just over 60-percent of his passes against the Pats, while throwing twice as many picks (6) as touchdowns (3).
But anything can happen, as the Bills look for their first win against New England since opening day of the 2003 season.
Tune in to the Patriots-Bills game Sunday at 1:00 pm on 98.5 The Sports Hub and WBZ-TV. Tune in to Patriots Gameday at 11:30am on WBZ-TV and The Sports Hub's pregame coverage, beginning at 10:00 am. After the game tune in to the Postgame show on 98.5, and to Patriots Fifth Quarter on TV38.
